Haskell, Sister NP January 2, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 390. Dear Sister Haskell:
I have said some things in regard to the feelings which you and Brother Haskell have had toward W. C. White. Now, my sister, I must write to you. I have before spoken to you in regard to the spirit of criticism which you have cherished. By indulging this spirit, you do great harm to yourself and the servants of God. Those who know W. C. White should not be harmed by your words, but they have been, and they suppose that I am in full harmony with you in these things. The Lord alone presented matters to me in their true bearing.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 1)
The Lord is displeased with you because you exalt yourself and depreciate others, whom He loves and whom He has chosen to do His special work. He has His appointed agencies, through whom He works. The Lord alone presented matters to me in their true bearing. Your words were of a character to belittle the servants of God. It is the attribute of Satan to criticize, to accuse, to disparage; and you have cultivated this defect until both you and your husband have regarded this as right and even praiseworthy. Do you think God looks with pleasure upon your words, your influence in actions, your contempt of W. C. White. The Lord has presented to me his character in a light altogether different from that in which Sister Haskell has presented it.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 2)
In nearly all our ministers here she finds something to criticize. She picks flaws in them, and speaks evil of them, and makes little things appear objectionable. The Lord has presented to me that this need not be. It hurts her own soul and the souls of others. Sister Haskell, if you had the Christ-love in you, if you had learned in the school of Christ His meekness and lowliness, you would never have dared to think or speak as you have done. I had this opened before me that last night I tarried in Stanmore, before leaving for Balaclava. It nearly killed me. I could not feel natural or act natural. I was like one in a maze.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 3)
When the lawyer asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ said, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” The lawyer answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all mind, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Said Christ, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” [Luke 10:25-28.] The lawyer saw himself condemned by the law, while he admitted the righteousness of the law. He at once began his self-justification, self-vindication.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 4)
This represents your case. You are not a doer of the commandments of God. You exalt yourself greatly, and disparage others; and because others do not regard you in the same light in which you regard yourself, you are dissatisfied, annoyed, and irritated. I want to tell [you] from the Lord that by the ideas you entertain, you are doing your husband more injury than you have any idea. You can prove his ruin, for all these seeds planted by you will bear their objectionable fruit. The Lord knows all about this matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 5)
I cannot get copied the matter I wish, but I will now write a few pages. I have been as one stunned, for I have been instructed that your experience has not been of the right order. You were not inspired by the Spirit of God to put on your magnifying glasses to see if there was something you could criticize in W. C. White. He needed your uplifting in the place of setting down. This that has been opened before me is an offense to God. It is your way, but it does not represent God’s way. I had not supposed that Brother Haskell would take your view of matters. He himself has made mistakes, and if others err, that is no reason why he should feel, as you say, all stirred up, and just provoked and mad in regard to one of the servants of God. Such feeling cannot honor God or do credit to himself.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 6)
The light given me is that the Lord would have blessed us in being firmly united in our work, but that night in Stanmore I was surprised that a woman who claimed so much knowledge as a teacher, and who felt no hesitancy in becoming matron and preceptress of the school at Avondale, should have so little understanding in regard to the instruction in Matthew 18. Cautions were given me; the attitude of you both made it impossible for us to desire to connect with you in our labor. The principles you work upon are not right. God cannot commend your spirit or your course of action. Did you both feel that it would be a credit for you to show no respect for W. C. White, my son? He does not put himself forward; he does not seek the highest place, but he has been willing to take almost any position in order to help, strengthen, and bless others. The Lord has given him his work ever since he was a little lad, and the Lord has been working with him, but because he has not in everything coincided with all your plans, you have a grudge against him. You say you cannot harmonize with him. If there was more of Christ and less of self abiding in your souls, your attitude would change.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 7)
You have placed yourselves where I cannot harmonize with you. I have not had the same confidence as formerly that we could work together and be to one another all that we might be, and that God would have us be. This could not be now as it might have been. I need not expatiate upon this. Your course has not been right, and God cannot bless either of you in pursuing it. You have placed yourselves where the Lord cannot bless our efforts in working together. The word was spoken, “How can two walk together except they be agreed?” [Amos 3:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 8)
Your power of criticism and Elder Haskell’s power of imagination are both under the condemnation of God. The Lord led me to do everything in my power to place you where you would receive proper recognition from your brethren, and what have you done to show that you appreciated the efforts made? The Lord has given W. C. White his work, and it is recognized as of God. Your course of action would cut off his influence from the school board and from the work. You have set him aside, but God has said that He will work with his mind and with his judgment if he will walk humbly with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 9)
Since that meeting in the house at Stanmore, before leaving for Melbourne, I have felt that I could not be to you as I have been hitherto. I love you both, but you have yourselves built up the barrier, and who shall remove it? It has cost me the greatest trial; it has cost me keen agony of soul to write this; and yet it must come to you; then my duty will be done. Think me not your enemy because I tell you the truth. I am your friend, and shall be ever ready to help you if I can.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 10)
I must tell you that the spirit which was exercised in the mission in London was decidedly wrong. The very same spirit was shown in the disparagement of Sister Ings. This work God will not and never can sanction. It is not His spirit that has prompted such actions. It is a spirit that must be cleansed from the soul. Sister Haskell’s way toward all who do not see things as she does is not the way of the Lord. Hereditary tendencies have been cherished, and have controlled her spirit and actions. You both need to view all matters from the divine side. You should feel the preciousness of the souls for whom Christ has given His life and the constant agency of His Spirit to recover and save.
(14LtMs, Lt 1, 1899, 11)
Lt 2, 1899
To the Sanitarium Board Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia January 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 582-583. + To the Sanitarium Board Dear Brethren:
I write to ask if you will not make some substantial donations to our sanitarium at Summer Hill, Sydney. I understand that you are having a large patronage, and the sanitarium is well furnished and abundantly provided with every convenience. I have requested Dr. Kellogg to help us in establishing a hospital in Cooranbong, and he is raising a fund for this purpose. We shall do all we can to put up this building, with some donations to help us. Dr. Kellogg thinks he can raise a thousand dollars to furnish the building.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 1)
This hospital has now become a necessity more than ever before. The interest here in our camp meeting exceeds anything we have ever seen in any meeting in America or in any other country. Right through the holidays, with all their exciting amusements, we have had on weekdays as many as twelve hundred people at the tent—earnest, intelligent people. Many children of outsiders come in. On last Sunday there were about four hundred in attendance at the children’s meeting. These meetings are under the direction of Sister Peck. She has the children arranged in classes under appointed teachers whom she instructs and assists in the work. The kindergarten methods are followed as far as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 2)
Dr. Caro or some one of his associate workers gives a health lecture every day, usually at about 5 p.m. This follows the service at three o’clock, at which I am to speak; I speak several times during the week upon practical religion, temperance, home training, etc. The evening is devoted to the exposition of Bible subjects of special interest to the people. The Sabbath question is now being presented.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 3)
Last Sabbath and Sunday afternoon I spoke to a large number—twelve hundred on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday evening Elder Daniells spoke to two thousand. I have never seen anything like the interest we are having.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 4)
We had to hire a large tent for meetings. An excellent one was secured at a rent of fifteen pounds. We can buy this tent for sixty pounds (three hundred dollars) additional. We think it is too much, but a tent must be bought so that we can continue the meetings. The whole city of Newcastle is stirred, and the interest reaches to Maitland, twenty-two miles away. We have never seen in any camp meeting a better class of hearers than we have here. They are noble-looking men and women. I have just come in from the tent, where I spoke to three hundred people in regard to the duties of fathers and mothers in the home. This is the second time I have spoken today.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 5)
Yesterday I had an interview with Dr. Caro. He laid before me the situation of things. The sanitarium at Summer Hill is in distressing need of bath and treatment rooms. The house they occupy was only a private residence, and is altogether too small. There are only two small treatment rooms, separated by a temporary partition, which extends only partway to the ceiling. The men have one side, and the women the other. It is simply ridiculous to give treatment in this way. We would have a much larger number of patients if we only had a suitable building. It is necessary for several persons to take baths in the same room at the same time. I tell you everything about this bath room is about as bad as it can be.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 6)
From the light God has given me there is no need for us to be in this situation. The Lord has directed me to appeal to those who have abundant facilities and every advantage. It is their duty to restrict their outlays, and help those who are in need. The Lord is not pleased with the free use of money when there is very little to show for the expenditure. Remember that we are your neighbors, doing the very same work that you are doing in America. My husband and I made every effort to establish the sanitarium in America, and the means which we invested in donations to that institution would give us a suitable building here, so that we could have a good showing. We know that means is being invested in enterprises where there are very little returns. This is not according to the way of the Lord. We ask that some of this money be sent to us, so that we can obtain a building which will give character to our work.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 7)
The light that I have is that means is spent in various lines where it will not produce in solid results one-hundredth part of what it would accomplish in this new field. We cannot draw from our churches here the means for this work. The light given me is that I should present our necessities to the sanitarium, and call in earnest for help to establish a sanitarium in this country. I would that Dr. Kellogg, and his associates on the Sanitarium Board might see afar off, and then some of the means being swallowed up in one way and another in America would come to us as God would have it. In the name of the Lord I ask that this may be. We have no money with which to procure health foods. We have no place to establish our health institution. We have fitted up as best we could the rooms of a private, hired dwelling house at Summer Hill, but we have not one-hundredth part of the advantages that you have in your American institutions.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 8)
I am directed of the Lord to call upon you to do something for us, and to do it now. From the light given me of God, I know that the boards and managers of our sanitariums in America have a duty to help us. Help is needed in this country now, while there are those of experience here to manage the interests of the work. Some division of your funds must be made for this purpose. This should have been done long ago. I am instructed that this can be done now, if you are not so lavish with means in enterprises that will not accomplish one-hundredth part as much as may be accomplished with the same means in this far-off land.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 9)
Little help will be given us by the doctors in this country. There is occasionally one who appreciates the principles and speaks well for our work, but the physicians generally do not want sanitariums established, and they will make it as hard for us as possible. The hospitals here are numerous, but the nursing is not on the best lines, and in some of them patients are roughly handled. We should have an institution which is a commendable example of right arrangements and right methods, as well as of right principles, but time is passing, and we have nothing to do with. See how little we have in this country to give character to the work. A good sanitarium here will count more in giving efficiency to all our work than it could possibly do in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 10)
Wealthy men come to our sanitarium, look at the miserably constructed bath rooms, and say, “I can never consent to take treatment in such a place,” and they leave the institution disappointed. But the place is the best we could provide with the means at our command. Again, I say, Give us something to work with. Have you not many things about the sanitarium that could be spared, that would be useful here, things that have been laid aside for better and improved appliances? Some of these things, if presented to workers going out empty-handed to open up work in new fields, would have made them feel rich.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 11)
The money spent in Gospel Wagons would have been far better used if invested in something solid and abiding. It is true that the Gospel Wagons will accomplish some good. But I saw that there would be disappointment as to the final results. In contrast with this, another work was presented to my sight. Tents were being taken to different places during suitable seasons of the year. Camp meetings were being held in many localities. These were conducted by able, God-fearing men, assisted by suitable helpers. Children’s meetings were held, and revival meetings, to bring the people to take their stand for the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 12)
Wherever such meetings are held, young men who have received an education in medical missionary lines should feel it their duty to act a part. They should be encouraged to speak, not only on medical missionary lines, but also upon the points of present truth, giving the reasons why we are Seventh-day Adventists. These young men, given an opportunity to work with older ministers, will receive much help and blessing.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 13)
God’s work is one the world over, but how little is this recognized. During the years since we have been in Australia, there should have been a transfer of means and facilities, that we might have the advantages that are so much needed. There has been a decided neglect. Some little help has been given, but it is very small when compared with your rich abundance and our pressing need. Where there is abundance of facilities, means are going out for that which in the end will accomplish but little good. Difficulties will be ever arising, and continued apparent necessity for the investment of more means.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 14)
The people in Battle Creek have not been without instruction concerning these things. It has been presented to them again and again. They have been warned of the Lord’s displeasure at the investment of so much in one place. When they sent missionaries here, they should have seen what was needed and provided for their passage money, and [for] facilities with which to make a beginning in the work. Instead of this, directions have come from Battle Creek to push forward the medical missionary work, to make a beginning, to put this work in the forefront. We cannot make bricks without straw. The work would now be greatly enlarged had we not been continually handicapped by the lack of means. Large donations have been made to establish the institutions at Battle Creek, and God now calls upon them to use some of this in His work in other lands. It all belongs to God, every dollar is His, and He is not pleased with your neglect to do the work that needs to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 15)
Here at Newcastle the interest to hear the truth astonishes us. We had expected only a small meeting here. Before going to Brisbane there were presented to me many companies stretching out their hands, imploring, “Come over, and help us. We want light. We want the true gospel.” And one who had authority said, “They are as sheep without a shepherd.” [See Mark 6:34.] A very large company were reaching out their hands saying, “Come and help us. We are starving for the bread of life.” I thought that meant Brisbane, and was sure of it on seeing the interest there. But the interest here is beyond anything I have ever seen before in any camp meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 16)
The many pleasure lovers flock to the horse racing and cricket matches, enjoying their holiday to suit their own taste. But the class attending our meeting has been of altogether a different mold. They want something that they have not. Hundreds, yes, thousands, have come to the tent, and have listened with deep interest to the Word of God. And this meeting is only twenty-two miles from where our school is located. We shall have to build a meetinghouse here.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 17)
I have just received between two and three hundred pounds, an old debt due on a cottage sold years ago in Oakland, California. We are in distressing need of this money. I want every farthing of it to invest in buildings for the school. We must provide additional room for our students [for] the coming year. And there are half a dozen other things I want to do with this money, right in our conference. But there is the need of help in Brisbane. At the camp meeting there we were much surprised by the favors shown us by those in positions of trust, and the attendance at the meetings was far beyond our expectation. Since the meeting, Elder Haskell and his wife have been struggling almost alone.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 18)
Brother Pallant was obliged to leave in order to receive treatment. He has been very sick from overwork and because he did not properly care for his health. He feels the travail and burden of souls, and is a man on whom we could depend to present the truth in clear lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 19)
Brother Wilson still lies apparently at the gates of death, but the prayers of God’s people are put up without ceasing in his behalf. He and his wife are laborers to be trusted. In every place their influence is the very best. We have by faith brought Brother Wilson to the feet of Christ, and we sincerely hope that it may be for the glory of God to spare his precious life. His wife holds him by faith. Elder Haskell visits him often, and prays for him and encourages him.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 20)
If he is raised up, it is the great Physician alone whose all-skillful touch has done the work for him. And we pray in his case as in every other case, “We greatly desire that our brother shall live. We know Thou canst raise him from the grasp of the enemy Death, for Thou art the Lifegiver. Thou knowest our longing desire that he should live. His life is wholly dependent upon God. Now we wait with great hope, yet saying as we always do, if it is for our good and for Thy name’s glory, do this for us, for him. But Thy will, not ours, be done.” Thus we offer prayer constantly for our brother.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 21)
Now Elder Haskell is the only minister left to carry the Brisbane interest. Souls are embracing the truth, a church is being raised up, and a meetinghouse must be built. There is no other way to do if we [are to] save souls for Jesus Christ in this country.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 22)
When the draft I have mentioned came to us at this place, I wanted to thank God with heart and soul and voice. I said, Now our hospital is the very first consideration. Dr. Kellogg is working for us in America, and we shall work here as God gives us opportunity. This money from the sale of my house is my own. I am at liberty to use it in His cause as I shall see best. But we could see plainly enough the situation in Brisbane, and I said to Willie, I feel that now is our time to invest means in the Cooranbong school and in the hospital, but the need at Brisbane means most to us now. I had pledged five pounds. In the place of that, I shall send them one hundred pounds. But one hundred pounds more must come from some source. This will not enable them to purchase land and build, but to hire land and commence to build. The building is a positive necessity, so I have cut out one hundred pounds from my little store of means.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 23)
Now another need comes up. I must relieve the necessity of the sanitarium at Sydney, letting them have one hundred pounds to build the bath rooms which they need so much. This sum is a small mite, but it shall go as far as possible. I could do no more, I thought; we must have something to live on; and bills are unpaid for the groceries we have been using.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 24)
The interest here is beyond anything we expected, and the work must be followed up. We have only a hired tent for this meeting. We are raising a fund to purchase a tent at once. Next week, when this hired tent is returned, we must have something to supply its place. A donation to this fund took ten pounds of the draft. And so the entire sum is being appropriated if we help them to begin the sanitarium bath rooms, which they will have to move if they find a place which they can purchase, or if they can obtain means to build.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 25)
You see what I have done, and now I have borrowed money from the Wessels family, who have done so much for Avondale. This borrowed money must be repaid very soon, and I must hire means to do it. We have not made as much improvement as the Lord has signified must be made on the school ground. The royalty on my books sold in foreign countries has been dedicated to the Lord, and has been invested in those countries in just such work as we are trying to do here. Thousands of dollars have gone this way in helping the cause in Europe, where help is so much needed. I needed every dollar in this new world. I can see no way but that I must have the use of these foreign royalties to appropriate here. It is needed to do the same work they are doing in Europe. While my life is spared, the mites must be gathered up from every source to put things here in the best shape to do the work in the medical lines, to educate people how to treat the sick, and to show them a sample of what can be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 26)
When W. C. White was in America, he should have been instructed to raise means for facilities to work with here. But he is delicate about asking for means. He will give away the last dollar of what he has; but he had no means from which to draw in America, so he drew several hundred dollars on my account to invest in health foods, in order to make a beginning here. This has not yet been returned to me. Then I have helped the Southern Field to the amount of hundreds of dollars, when every farthing was needed here to furnish us with proper facilities. In years past, the members of our family have invested in the work in America, in the sanitarium at Battle Creek, in the printing office, in the Tabernacle, in the schools, and in establishing the work on the Pacific Coast.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 27)
Now as we are straining every sinew and muscle to establish the work here, we wish that those in America who have the benefit of the institutions there, with their abundance of facilities, would realize their obligation to do something for this field. We are carrying the work to new fields, building meetinghouses, and now must have a sanitarium built in some location in Sydney, with its branch offices in Newcastle and in some city in Queensland, where it will be as the Lord has revealed—an enterprise which will give character to the work of advancing the truth, preparing a people to stand in the great day of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 28)
January 4, 1899
I have not been able to sleep since half past one o’clock. We must have the facilities to work with. Last night and the night before I seemed to be in meetings where our necessities were being reviewed. We were considering what should be done. One stood up among us, and the word of the Lord was spoken: “Those in America can relieve the situation here, and should have shared with you their abundance years ago. The sanitarium has been blessed of God; it is the Lord’s, and the managers there could have done a large work in establishing and equipping a sanitarium in this new world had they placed themselves in the situation of the workers in the new field, which is constantly opening doors, requiring something to be done at once.”
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 29)
I was bidden, “Bear the message clear and definite. God demands of them a work which should have been done when I sent my workers to break new ground in Australia. While the aggressive warfare was being carried on, and the light given upon health reform, institutions should have been established to give character to the work. The sanitarium at Battle Creek could and should have given of her abundance to relieve the situation in Australia.” This neglect has placed us years behind. Prejudice will keep many in this country from helping in the work, for Satan does not want such work to be established.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 30)
Relief could come from America, but while next to nothing has been done in the line of preparing the way for health principles to be made prominent in Australia, everything has been absorbed in America in various enterprises that will not accomplish one-hundredth part of the work that might be accomplished by investing the means in this new field where God’s experienced servants have been called to labor. God has imparted abundantly to the sanitarium at Battle Creek, and in its prosperity it might impart from the riches of its abundance to the work He has signified should be done in Australia.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 31)
Our brethren have not discerned that in doing this work they would be helping themselves. Churches would be raised up, and the cause of God, which is one, would have stood in a prosperous condition years ago. God is not pleased with this neglect. While the angels are holding the four winds, a message is to enter every field in Australia as fast as possible. There is no time to be lost. The fields are all ripe for the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 32)
Means has been absorbed in different impulsive movements that do no real good. But if for every expenditure they could show good results that would not change the principles they should work upon. They were helped in raising funds to make a beginning, and now God demands of them to restrict their supposed wants and give of their abundance to start the work in this new world. Means are now to be transferred from the riches of the sanitarium to create institutions where the work has been wading in difficulties, and where it must stand on vantage ground to make the truth all that it should be.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 33)
The institutions at Battle Creek could have accomplished nothing without God, and the power of God will be their efficiency, giving to evangelizing movements all their success. While man can indeed accomplish nothing without God, the Lord has in His plans and providences chosen to consummate nothing in the work of saving souls and bodies without human co-operation. Immeasurably inferior is man’s part in the work which God has ordained to be accomplished in this country; yet that work, which might have been and should have been done, has been indispensable to the result which should now appear in solid, helpful buildings and other needed facilities. Satan has worked with all his agencies to block the wheels, but if man will co-operate with God, a great work will be accomplished in Australia.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 34)
I could write much more of the instruction given; but you have enough to act upon. “We are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] The cooperation of divine energy and human endeavor will make a success. God will find place in all the aggressive warfare to save the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 35)
I have had instruction from God that there is danger of planning for the outcasts in a way which will lead to spasmodic movements and excitable actions. These will produce no real, beneficial results. A class will be encouraged to do that kind of work which will amount to the least in strengthening all parts of the work by harmonious action. Spasmodic movements will absorb means that ought to strengthen the work, which is represented as God’s building, God’s husbandry. The working of God is to be manifest in that way which will establish confidence that the work is of God’s devising, and that sound principles underlie every action.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 36)
The time has come for no more delay. The Lord calls for the sanitarium in Battle Creek to do a work which should have been long ago. The work here must not be crippled and go halting at every step. The good seed must be sown in its season. The plough and all the necessary implements must be used in the labor of tilling the soil, and all the conditions of seedtime and harvest must be duly observed or there will be no increase. Both in temporal and in spiritual things, in every branch of business, every department of study and science, God designs that the all-pervading principle shall be harmonious action—the co-operation of the human agencies with the Divine.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 37)
In our individual salvation we are laborers together with God, and through our surrender to God we become channels of light, instruments in saving the souls ready to die. In seeking to establish the work in this country, you would have been co-operating with God in obedience to Christ’s word, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” [John 13:34.] This will lead men to do many things in co-operation with unseen agencies, setting in operation ways and means of saving souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 38)
We call from this field now for help that we must have. In imparting of your abundance, you will receive again. But there must be no reckless scattering of the means in doubtful enterprises as there has been. Every enterprise that costs money is to be carefully considered, with much prayer. I tell you that which has been presented to me: Had you done the very work which God would have had you do, there would have been a far different sentiment created in this country, and a far different showing. The work and cause of God need not have been crippled. But for want of means, God’s means, we have been unable to do the very things God signified should be done. We must be laborers together with God. But men have managed the work in hand very much after their own ideas and their own ways. Time, strength, health, have been taxed to the uttermost, yet there is much vain work. The Holy Spirit is needed to make its marked impressions on the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 39)
The Lord calls upon me to set these matters before you. I feel no hesitation in telling you at the sanitarium that you who received help to build up the work in America are now called upon to help in your turn to establish the work in this new field. I know you may present other fields just as destitute, but as God has placed me and my helpers in this new field to do the work here, our very first business is to see that money, time, and strength shall make the work self-sustaining. The Lord who has made you beneficiaries of His grace, and claimants of His bounty, now calls upon you to withdraw some of the means from the varied channels to which it is constantly flowing. Let it be put where it will make a showing, distinct and decided, in this new missionary field. We are commissioned to educate youth, that they may go forth into missionary fields and preach the gospel to every creature. The schools in America are not to be the only places where our youth shall be educated to preach the gospel.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 40)
We are instructed as to the work to be done in this country. Divine and human agencies are to be connected in all the achievements in the mechanical and agricultural, in scientific and spiritual lines. The work is to go forward solidly. It must not be desultory [or] haphazard. The religious training of youth to do medical missionary work is called for. We must be true to the advanced ideas to which God has led us. We must observe the laws of co-partnership between God and man. We must come under the prescribed conditions of God, that all the terms of partnership may be kept. The one party is infinitely able to do great things. Human agents are weak and helpless, and absolutely dependent; but God invites them to co-operate with Goodness, Wisdom, and Power. They are invited to come into co-operation with the great Benefactor.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 41)
The Lord Himself has in His Word proclaimed the principles on which this co-operation can be conducted, and He expects that every worker, every fellow laborer, will cordially receive His directions, and obey every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And the success of the human agents in this partnership will be proportionate to their faith and love and earnest zeal to advance the work soundly and healthfully as the conditions are specified. We have a guide who must in no case be left out of our individual plans. All who are laborers together with God must be sure that they are moving in wisdom; they must make no plans according to their own ambitious impulse. God is our teacher, our guide, our front guard, our rearward.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 42)
I call on all who are in positions of responsibility, Be careful how you employ your influence and power to gather up means from various sources and make it flow in channels to do a certain work, when by so doing you cripple the work in regions beyond. Divine influences, with an unselfish, strong, loving, working faith, will make us laborers together with God. The earnest, intelligent human agent is not to drift with the current, but is to think soberly, sensibly, in regard to the work which must be done. At the peril of our souls we must know the prescribed conditions under which we are called upon to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. It is God’s will, not our own, that is to rule.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 43)
Haphazard work must not be done now, when means are called for to enter new fields. Our religious movements must not be made according to any individual mind. All work must be done under the laws of principle which the will of God has established. He demands that all who co-operate with Him in the great enterprise of saving souls shall work as Christ worked, “Let all,” said my Guide, “be warned.” Much Christian zeal and effort has been awakened. A liberal expenditure of means, time, and exertion is required.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 44)
Lines of work have been started that were needed, and that should be carried forward with urgent Christian enterprise. But they could not advance in Australia because the very agencies God had appointed to help the work in this field have built up barriers and multiplied obstacles and hindrances to success. We have been hindered. The means gathered from churches they did not need, but Australia did need that means. I have done all I could do in giving money, time, and labor; but the work has been exceedingly hard because of our lack of means and the lack of sound judgment on the part of our brethren in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 45)
As the truth is carried into the cities by means of tent work or camp meetings, the minds of the people are stirred, and souls have been converted to the truth. Then they cannot be left in a disorganized condition, as sheep without a shepherd. The great Master-worker has directed that those who have been prospered by God to do His work shall walk softly before Him. No soul has ever yet been converted by harshness, contempt, or denunciation. Brother is to come close to brother, heart touching heart. Like our merciful High Priest, we should minister to our brother with a tenderness of feeling for his infirmity.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 46)
There should be no neglect to aid and support such a work as is called for in this Australia field. We are handling momentous truths, and God would have every one sanctified by the truth which he has accepted. Mutual confidence must be encouraged, “Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] We are doing to the utmost of our ability in the line of means and in the line of labor. As far as our school and sanitarium are concerned, they are part of myself.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 47)
I read in a book a few lines which I will here transcribe: “With God’s blessing these Sunday schools will make of us a noble people. Say what you will about common schools and popular instruction, they cannot rear up a great and virtuous people without the Bible. Let the common schools qualify your son to read, and your Sunday school put him into communication with God’s Word, and you have a guarantee that common education may prove a blessing, but none at all on other terms. What avails learning as the common school imparts, if its pupils are left to derive their sentiments and opinions and principles and habits from the morality of the street, the grog shops, sixpenny theaters, from cheap knowledge, cheap novels, and penny newspapers? I am free to say that I know of no reliable, comprehensive provision against the overflowing corruption, none applicable and likely to be applied to that great class of young persons who most need our efforts, beside the system of Sunday school instruction, faithfully carried out to the full extent of its capabilities, and to the extent of the grievous want.”
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 48)
The school we have established in Cooranbong affords the means of obtaining a knowledge of God’s Word through the day school. The Word of God lies at the foundation of all study, and is made the sword of the Spirit. The teacher appeals to facts, to doctrines, a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” every day. This is the means to raise up a holy people. Let the children be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and let all, young and old, sit as in the school of the prophets every day to learn from God out of His Word. We must have as teachers men and women who commune with God, and the leaven of truth will do its appointed work, and men, women, and children will be prepared to do all-sided missionary work.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 49)
I have much more to say on this point, but not in this communication. Let my brethren remember that the medical missionary work cannot possibly be carried forward in this country unless institutions are established for the work to be done. As the right arm is to the body, so is the reformatory health missionary work to the third angel’s message. But the right arm is not to become the whole body. The work of seeking the outcasts is important, but it is not to become the whole body of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 50)
At this camp meeting the very work that should be done has been done. The children’s meetings, or Bible kindergarten, has done a good work. The lessons given are repeated by the children in their homes, and the mothers show their interest by preparing the children neatly for the school. Most are children of parents not of our faith. The seeds of Bible truth have dropped into the soil of the heart. It is no easy exercise, but it is doing good. Impressions are being made upon the hearts of parents and children. The good these meetings have done the great day of God will reveal. This is a large field to cultivate. Let this work be carried on. Where can the talents be better used? These workers are sowing for a harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 51)
The tentmaker from Sydney has been here to view the large tent, and has agreed to make one fully as large for a smaller sum than we would pay for this one. This will require about three hundred dollars.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 52)
I want this that I have written to do the work God designs it should do, and we want our brethren in America to consider the word spoken to me a few weeks before we entered this field at Newcastle. “Say ye not, There are four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is this saying true, One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor. Other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.” [John 4:35-38.]
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 53)
This field has been thoroughly canvassed with our books. Family after family have had Patriarchs and Prophets, Great Controversy, and other important books. The field is all ripe unto harvest. The city of Maitland is twenty-two miles from here, and many come from that place to these meetings. Some come and remain overnight on the ground in order to hear the evening discourse. All the suburbs are stirred up on the subject of truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 54)
Be assured that we have advanced by faith and not by sight. Now is the time to work. The word is given me, Work while the light shines. Let the power of influence now in our favor be improved. There are those who have been on this ground who are the appointed representatives of our faith; they are the light which is to shine amid the moral darkness. The world is to have the light. Men are not to be left in darkness, to accept the words coming from the popular pulpit, or that which professed Christians bring into their lives.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 55)
The path to the city of God is made dark and objectionable by the professed followers of God, or bright if the Sun of Righteousness shines upon them and the church reflects the light, holding forth the Word of life. The practical working power of the Holy Spirit must supply the illustrations and proofs of the Word. The teachers may announce the gospel principles, but those who know the truth are to demonstrate and exemplify these principles, showing the truth in practice. This, compared to a mere profession, is as gold to the dross.
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 56)
Men, women, and children are anxious to know what they shall do to inherit eternal life. The Lord’s commission to us is, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” [Isaiah 60:1-3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 2, 1899, 57)
Lt 3, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. NP January 5, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 2MR 239; 9MR 81. + [Dr. J. H. Kellogg:]
“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work; (as it is written, He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) being enriched in everything to all bountifulness which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgiving unto God; whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; and by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” [2 Corinthians 9:6-15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 1)
The work should be established in this place, and will be; for thus the Lord saith. We might be years in advance if our brethren in America had stood unflinchingly [at] their post of duty to hear and obey the Word of the Lord. Let no more time be lost. You that have so many advantages, do your work unselfishly. It is God’s work we are doing, and you will not find the work in your hands restricted if you follow the will and Word of God. Share your advantages with us in this field, that the work may stand on a true basis, and have the influence and character it should possess. Your minds may not now be prepared to see the importance of surrendering yourselves to do what ought to have been done when we were appointed to come to this field. You may not be able to see at the first all the particulars involved in this request of God to impart.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 2)
It is the very essence of all right faith to do the right thing at the right time. The special work has been laid out, and you are called to do your God-given duty in our onward march in this country, by furnishing us with facilities, that we may work. Christ’s dignity and office work is in imparting such conditions as He pleases. The followers of Christ are to become more and more a power in the proclamation of the truth as they draw nearer to the perfection of faith and of love for their brethren. I am assured that God has provided for our work in this field His divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our human resources are unequal.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 3)
He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illuminate our minds and purify our hearts. He means that all-sufficient facilities shall be provided for the working out of His plans in this field. Our work is reformative, and it is God’s purpose that the excellence of the work in all educational lines shall be as an object lesson to the people of Australia, for the consummation of the last glorious work to be done in our fallen world to save the perishing.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 4)
The Lord would have you no longer confine to a few places all the great facilities that concern the moral and spiritual advancement of His work in this field. The word of command is, Go forward. You to whom I have given much are called upon to impart. Place your means where it will help in giving light to darkened nations and to the islands of the sea. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This means: Put on the armor of righteousness. Christ must become to you, and also to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We must no longer wear our own citizen’s dress, but put on the wedding garment. Thus we shall be prepared to sit at the table as friends of Christ. We must wear the livery of heaven, and conduct the warfare at His charges, under His bloodstained banner. Our dignity, our defense, and our exceeding great reward must be found in obeying the orders of our General. There is to be no reservation.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 5)
The word of the Lord came to me saying, “I have spared your life to do My work, and wherever I send you, go, and I will send mine angel with you. In no case should you be feeble in your request for the advantage of means. Wherever I send you, go, and speak My word, and I will be thy mind, I will be thy judgment. All the advantages are Mine. The means and facilities are Mine, and there should be no withholding. But selfishness, a desire to control, has kept the advantages in one place, so that everything is overbalanced. Call for the means God designed you to have long ago. Hold up My work. Give honor to no human instrumentality, but to God, that My name may be a praise in the earth. The Lord He is God, and before Him there is no other.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 6)
“My work in this portion of the world has been greatly hindered. Money has been used unwisely, and that when there is great distress for means to build up the work in new places. Go not forth in hesitancy. I will be with thee. Ask of My people the means that should have gone to advance the work in the Australian field. Those who stand in responsible places in the work need wisdom in regard to the best methods of proclaiming the last message of mercy to the world. I have a work to be done in Victoria, in New South Wales, in all the Australian field. Call for the means which ought to have been flowing where there are no facilities to build up My kingdom, where it will tell the most in magnifying My name.”
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 7)
I have withheld this from you, for I did not feel worthy of any such trust or commission, but now when I see such a necessity for means, I must speak. The money in God’s treasury is not to be expended capriciously in a single instance, for the Lord has a place for all the blessings He has given you in the sanitarium. There should be less close dealing with helpers. Give a just compensation to those who are worthy. Let them take the responsibility of using the Lord’s money. Let them impart it where they shall see there is need.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 8)
You, Dr. Kellogg, hold too much power in your own hands. Ways and means are found for you to do almost anything you set your heart to do. You ought to have seen that facilities should have been provided for this field with the workers. But you have had scarcely a thought of this. The Lord has set these things before you again and again, yet you have not seen our necessity. You are a man of thought, and where did you expect us to obtain means to take the work from the very beginning and carry it to the point where God’s workmen can work to advantage before this people? The sanitarium we have tried to establish here is not nearly as well equipped as the one in the old house where we began the work in Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 9)
Everything was new then; the A B C was to be learned. That was the day of small things. But through God’s blessing on the donations of His people and the wisdom and understanding He has given you and others who work with you, the sanitarium has become a praise in all the earth; yet you send us your students without advantages to carry on any enterprise, as though we here in Australia were on the same footing with yourselves. God demanded more than this of you. Not that you yourself, individually, were [not] willing to do [more], just where you are, in your line; but God required far more than this of you in such a field as this, among English-speaking people, [who] could be reached without an interpreter.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 10)
I now break the trammels that have bound me. I am no longer to hold my peace. I am told to cry aloud and spare not. We must have a sanitarium. I want you to offer my house and all I possess in Battle Creek for sale. The sanitarium can use this property if they need this building. Let me have every dollar that can be obtained from my property, and I will invest it here. I will make this offering to the work and cause of God in Australia. But tell our people not to put it down to the very lowest figure.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 11)
I have had an idea which I now relinquish, that sometime I might again live in Battle Creek. But no; I can do better work here. And I will not meet the criticism, the envy, the jealousy, and the strife of tongues in Battle Creek. I hoped that sometime I might have the chair that my husband used so long in his editorial work, that I might have the old sofa that I prized so highly. But it costs money to transport these things. I make this last surrender of all I possess in Battle Creek. Surely it will be no harder to raise the means for buying this property than to raise money to invest in gospel wagons.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 12)
Dr. Kellogg, you have been a true friend to me since my husband’s death, and I now ask you to take my property in Battle Creek, and realize as much from it for me as possible. If you have, in the sanitarium, facilities that are second to the very best you are now using, we would make an exchange. Send us the facilities which you know we have not. We want a printing press, and everything needed for an outfit for the sanitarium.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 13)
I place this matter before you. I have just appropriated two hundred pounds of the three hundred that came to me from the Pacific Press. I placed this means in the hands of the Union Conference of Australasia, with advice to send to Elder Haskell fifty pounds to use in building a meetinghouse in Brisbane, and to use one hundred pounds for laying the foundation of bath rooms for the sanitarium at Summer Hill. But every dollar is to be invested in the work where there is distressing necessity. The rest of the means goes for the buildings in Cooranbong. We can do very little of that which ought to be done, for we have simply nothing to do with. And you must know this, for we have laid it before you again and again. But now the Lord has brought the matter before me in such a way, and His will has been made known so plainly, that I must speak.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 14)
When God sends me to any field all should understand that He [has] a work to be done in that field under His own direction. It is robbery of God to withhold the means which He required to be used in that field. We are now years behind, and I have worked and struggled in every way to advance, to uplift, and to broaden the work in this field. My own means I have used freely. Then we have donations from Africa. These were timely. I thank God for the means that helped us in our emergency. But the means needed at that very time should have come from America. The Lord has now made clear my duty, and I call to you for help. My Husband’s influence and my own were exerted to establish a sanitarium at Battle Creek; and now that a similar work is to be done in this new field, we want you to show for us here the same interest that was shown for you.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 15)
We cannot afford to be handicapped any longer. We see that meetinghouses must be built in every place where the truth is carried. One of the very first things to be done here is the building of a church. Great things have been done in Cooranbong, and as soon as camp meeting is over, we must make a beginning on a hospital, that our sick shall not have to be taken to Sydney or to Newcastle. A branch office will be established in Newcastle. There is a wonderful interest in the medical missionary work to be done in this city, and already persons are consulting Dr. Caro about going to Summer Hill for treatment. The Doctor says, I hope they will not come, for the condition of things at the sanitarium would make no favorable impression upon them. It would belittle us in their eyes.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 16)
Last night, when Dr. Caro spoke in the large tent, it was packed with people who listened with the deepest interest. The doctor talked sensibly, and he has the confidence of the people. We are having a most wonderful time here in every line of our work. I think no less than two thousand people have attended some of the services.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 17)
Now we must purchase a tent to take the place of the one we have hired. I pledge ten pounds to this tent. And yet I have only money enough left to settle my grocery bills at Newcastle. If people want to know how Sister White is getting rich, they can make us a visit, and they will find that her riches are laid up beside the throne of God, in the bank of heaven, by being invested to advance the work of God. We have no time to lose. We must make no delay. We must reach the people where they are.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 18)
God would have us advance and in the sight of this pleasure-loving people reveal that we have an infallible teacher, and that we are under His teaching. The people say, We have no one here to explain the Scripture to us. We see that you have the Bible by heart, and we shall read the Bible now in altogether different light.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 19)
Sara has just come from the campground to my room. She said there were fifteen hundred out last night to hear Dr. Caro’s lecture on the training of children and the necessity of observing the laws of health. After he ceased speaking, there was a storm of applause.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 20)
An appointment was made for me to speak this afternoon, January 5, 1899, on the subject of religious training and Bible education. I have spoken several times to the crowd, five times in morning meeting, three times in committee meetings, and several times in council meetings.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 21)
Just now is the time to deepen the impression made on the minds of the people. We must let them see that something permanent is to be established. A church must be erected at once. Wind and storms are frequent here. During our first few days’ experience of wind and tempest, the tents suffered severely, and some are now being repaired for the camp meeting in Ballarat. I am urged to attend his meeting, but I would like rest. I have yet to speak on the ground three times—Thursday, Sabbath, and Sunday—and then I must go home. I have been within twenty two miles of home, but have not been there once during the meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 22)
We have never seen so great an interest in any place as at this meeting, and it means much to us. If we have a church here in Newcastle, it will mean a great strength to the Avondale school. The Word of God is truth. We try to teach the people that many who read the Bible, many who attempt to teach the Bible, do not explain it correctly, because they do not read it with a converted heart. “He that converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” [James 5:20.] This converting power comes only through the Holy Spirit moving on the human mind, and it is that that enables men to understand what the truth of the Word comprehends. This is the light which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world. This light shines upon every true student of prophecy, and the light that illuminates the Word shines beyond him who reads it, coming into his understanding, and shining forth from him.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 23)
The pure light of the Holy Spirit’s application enables us to see all things clearly. This light is shining today upon the understanding of the people who hear the Word. Precious souls have embraced the truth in Awaba. They have borne a clear, decided testimony in the meetings here. Awaba is halfway between Newcastle and Cooranbong. Thus it is formed a link between Newcastle and Dora Creek, where meetings are held every week. Morisset is a station five miles farther on on the way to Sydney. And the towns and cities between Morisset and Sydney are to have the standard of truth uplifted. We find that Cooranbong has the best climate for health of any of these places, and it is indeed the place for a center. And here is Maitland, a thriving city only twenty-two miles from Newcastle, and beyond Newcastle is Seymour and many other towns on the line to Brisbane. You see we are located where we ought to be, and where our influence can go forth to these important places.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 24)
The cities and their suburbs are to be entered and worked. The standard of truth is to be entered in all these places. We know that our school is just where it should be. If we had workers and sufficient tents, we should now go straight on to Maitland and open the work there. All these places have been worked by canvassers, but the rule not to enter into conversation when visiting has been a barrier to our workers. God has given the voice, the power of speech, and words should be spoken and the seeds of truth sown, and the great work done. We have a great work to do. The light given me is [this:] The Lord hath sent you to take hold of this work, and those who understand what you have done in planting the standard of truth, and building up and extending the work should know that you need to be supplied with means required for the work. You have been too slow to call for the means which is essential.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 25)
In this English-speaking country there is no difference of language as an obstacle to our reaching the people. And the truth has not been presented and rejected. There are thousands of honest souls praying for light. The Word of God is to be presented as it is in Jesus. It is not enough to present the Bible as other books are presented. That it may be understood savingly, the Holy Spirit must work upon the heart of the receiver. The same Spirit that inspired the Word must inspire the readers of the Word. Then we shall hear the voice of heaven in all its harmony, and impressions will be made and an intelligent knowledge attained. “Thy word, O God, is truth,” will be the language of the soul. [See John 17:17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 26)
We have a serious, solemn work to do, and we have no time to lose. You can help us; you must help us. I press the matter now as never before. If the Lord has sent His workers into these new fields where poverty abounds, He means that His work shall be sustained, that facilities shall be furnished to place His work above beggary. At every step we have had to struggle with poverty. Do the best we can, the work has had an appearance of cheapness that does not in any way correspond with the grand, uplifting truth we bring to the people. None should obtain the idea that money is very plentiful with Seventh-day Adventists, that we can even cast our pearls before swine. In this direction we may do a work that needs guarding.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 27)
We should ever have the Spirit of Christ, and we are to do the same class of work that He did for a suffering humanity. This always ought to have been the fruit of the branch that abides in the true Vine. But there is danger of allowing one line of the work to absorb all the power and the means. There is danger of loading down everyone with this class of work, because of the intensity with which it is carried on. This work has no limit; it can never be got through with, and it must be treated sensibly, as a part of the great whole. It must not be allowed to consume the means that should sustain the ministry of the Word, that should open the work and lift the standard in the highways as verily as in the hedges. The gospel wagon is an absorbing of money, of time, and what does it leave behind? Experience will show that the results are not proportionate to the expenditure.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 28)
Camp meetings, large and small, are needed, to give the proper kind of education in religious exercises. They give also the discipline of organization and order. There is such a thing as conducting gospel work in a way that does harm to the workers. This is not the way to accomplish the work which must be done for our world. We are not to follow the methods of the Salvation Army. Preach the truth, then pray the truth. Have more camp meetings to bring the truth before the people in its very simplicity. Do as we have done: Help the people to go to the camp meetings. Provide food and lodging for them. Let the meetings continue one or two weeks. This will require consecrated, self-denying, self-sacrificing labor. Much time should be spent in prayer and close searching of the Word, humbling the heart before God, searching the Scriptures, and not merely reading the Word. Let all obtain the real facts in their own souls through belief that the Holy Spirit will teach them because they have a true hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 29)
A very limited amount of good may possibly be done with the Gospel Wagon. But if the workers have a real love for souls, they may find more effective ways of working. Plans should be followed by which each working force may know and understand what kind of work it is doing, and may be able to gather up the sheaves. Never let them obtain an experience of a shifting, changing nature. Expend money in a work in which each worker may see something of the results, and know that God was with him. We want to have every day an individual experience in the things of God. We must have stern guardianship over our individual selves if we are kept by the power of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 30)
I am troubled when I see so many ways devised to expend means which from the light God has been pleased to give me, will result in very little advancement unto eternal life. I know that other methods could be devised which would be less expensive, and would leave a much better after-influence. This experience would help the workers in gaining the preparation essential for every one to have—a humble, meek, and lowly spirit, that cares far less to make a show than to have an abiding Christ. The Lord has been working for His people; will they follow on to know the Lord, or will they try to find a more congenial way to work? God help us to plant our feet on the eternal Rock.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 31)
My brethren in the Lord, I am writing some things that I cannot well refrain from writing. I want to say that I have been so pleased with the report Elder Tenney has brought of your spiritual zeal and devotion. But, my brethren, rest not; a great responsibility is upon you, and you are gathering more responsibilities than you or any of your associates can carry.
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 32)
The Gospel—what a treasure house of knowledge! It is not as a pool that evaporates; not as a broken cistern that loses its treasure, leaving mud and decaying vegetation behind; not as a fountain that once sent forth a living, refreshing, cooling stream, but has ceased to send forth its cooling waters. Your life may be a living spring, that leaps from rock to rock, refreshing the weary, the thirsty, the heavy laden. But guard yourself that you do not take on all you can see to carry. Study carefully, “What shall I do that I may work the works of God?” [John 6:28.]
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 33)
The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. Christ said to the woman at the well, “If thou hadst known who it was that said to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.... Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:10, 13, 14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 3, 1899, 34)
Lt 4, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. and Associates Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia January 6, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 264-265; 4MR 414-415. + To Dr. Kellogg and all who are connected with him in the Sanitarium Board and councils Dear Brethren:
The past night has been to me one of great burden. I was in a meeting where there were about thirty members of your board and councils, and I said, God has given me a burden which I have long carried, and now the time has come for me to lay this burden upon you. Years ago, when the work, newly started in Australia, was in need of help, our brethren in America desired me to visit this field. They urged that as one whom the Lord was specially teaching, I could help the work here as others could not. I felt no inclination to go, and had no light that it was my duty. The journey was a dread to me; I desired to remain in my home, and to complete The Life of Christ and other writings. But as the matter was introduced, and the responsible men of the conference expressed their conviction that I, in company with others, should visit this field, I decided to act in accordance with their light. I feared that my own unwillingness to go was the reason why I had no more evidence on the point.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 1)
So I made the long journey, and at the conference held in Melbourne immediately after our arrival, I bore a decided testimony. The Lord gave me tongue and utterance to reprove, to entreat, and to present principles of the greatest importance to the people and to the work. The burden was heavy upon me, and just before the conference ended, I was stricken down by severe illness. For eleven months I suffered from malarial fever and rheumatism. This period of severe physical suffering was made a blessing to me. And although not raised up in answer to earnest prayer, I found a compassionate Saviour, who loved me, and revealed to me His presence. The comfort and blessing I received in answer to prayer helped me to bear my great suffering. I decided that God had determined something concerning me which I could not see nor understand, and I was content to trust all with Him. I could commune with God, and had visions of hope.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 2)
I kept saying, “God knows what is best; He sees in my humanity that which I do not see. ‘Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.’ I will not murmur, I will not fret, I will not give up to discouragement. I will leave myself perfectly surrendered to God. He will not leave nor forsake me while I put my trust in Him. He will transform me into His image, and accomplish His will in me.” I saw others who were working at cross purposes with God, murmuring and complaining at Him. While God was meaning one thing for them, they meant another thing for themselves. But I yielded up my will to my Saviour, and Oh, what peace, what comfort, what enlightenment, was mine.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 3)
My right hand was not afflicted, neither my head nor my heart; and during my illness I wrote twenty-five hundred pages of letter paper—letters of warning, reproof, caution, and encouragement to the brethren in California, in Battle Creek, and in Africa. In great feebleness I went to Adelaide, and remained three months. There I began slowly to improve, so that I could walk a little. Then came the second annual conference in Melbourne. The Lord worked through me during that meeting, and there it was decided that we must visit New Zealand. In company with W. C. White and Brother and Sister Starr I went to that country, where I spent nearly one year. While there, and ever since that time, I have been engaged in constant labor.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 4)
In the meeting before which I seemed to be speaking last night, I related the difficulties we had to meet in establishing our Australasian school, and traced step by step our experience in this country. It has been push, push to advance the work, and up to the present time, it has advanced slowly.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 5)
Recently I have had a decided experience. Light has come to me from the Lord that Sydney, Maitland, Newcastle and the suburban towns must be worked. Several small companies were presented to me, and with them several larger ones, two especially, that were stretching out their hands imploringly, saying, “Come over and help us. We are starving for the bread of life.” In the larger companies, some were praying, some were weeping. A voice said, “They are as sheep without a shepherd. I will feed My flock. I will give them the living bread from heaven.” In the congregations seen in the camp meetings at Brisbane and Newcastle, I recognized the two large companies I had seen calling for help. We have never attended meetings where a greater interest was manifested than in these two places.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 6)
We had planned the work in Newcastle with the expectation of having a small, thinly attended camp meeting. And there was no prodigality in the expenditure of means. We invested nothing for the sake of attracting sightseers. Only one tent besides my own was floored, and this for safety of health. But at the very first meeting, held on Thursday evening, the large tent was filled to overflowing, not less than twelve hundred people being present.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 7)
On the first Sabbath of the meeting we knew there was in the camp the mighty host of the heavenly angels, with their General at their head. The outward elements seemed to be working against us, but the Lord gave freedom to the word spoken. The heavenly streams of the love of God flowed into our hearts, and some not of our faith took part with us in thanksgiving and praise to God. Some of our brethren were so blessed that their countenances revealed the Holy Spirit’s work. Everything moved appropriately. When the rain came down in torrents, we poured out our hearts in songs of praise. Many bore testimony that it was the best Sabbath meeting they had ever enjoyed.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 8)
January 10
Through the holidays, in the afternoons and evenings, we had most intelligent audiences, from one thousand to twelve hundred. On the evening after the last Sabbath, Dr. Caro gave a lecture on the Power of Habit, illustrated by limelight views. He presented the downward course of the drunkard, from the innocent boy to the sin-hardened criminal. The tobacco curse, the liquor curse, the opium curse, were all vividly presented, and the doctor made a powerful appeal to the immense audience of nearly three thousand people. Solemn and instructive was this object lesson, not a word of trifling or levity was uttered by the speaker, and his voice could be heard all through the congregation. We thanked God for this lesson, which all appreciated. At the close, several hymns—“God Be With You Till We Meet Again”—and others—were shown on the screen, and sung by the whole congregation with an earnestness and feeling that made my heart glad.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 9)
On Sunday at the afternoon meeting there were twelve hundred people who listened attentively while I spoke upon Christian Temperance. In the evening Elder Daniells spoke with much power to two thousand people. The collections from the two services on Sunday amounted to $48. The collection for the entire meetings were over $200. Throughout this meeting the people have been as orderly and interested as at any such meeting that I have ever attended.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 10)
Newcastle and all the suburbs are deeply moved. I never attended a camp meeting that seemed so much as if the stately tread of the mighty host of heaven was among us. Several ministers and a number of workers remained, and evening meetings will continue in the large tent. After Newcastle and its suburbs, Maitland must be worked. We see that God has given us influence with the people. They have open ears to hear, and hearts that respond to the truth. Now is the time for our work to be firmly established in this locality, and we ask for help that this may be accomplished.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 11)
The visions of my head in the night season have revealed to me that the fields about us are opening all ripe for harvest. Laborers are needed who will put forth the proper effort.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 12)
During the camp meeting, lectures on health topics were given almost every day, and they awakened a deep interest. This should be followed by a well-established medical mission. But where can we look for men and means? We ought to have in Sydney a well-equipped sanitarium, able to establish branches in other cities.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 13)
The pitiful beginning of our sanitarium in Sydney was the very best we could do under the existing circumstances. The lack of experience and faith among our brethren in the sanitarium work, and their financial discouragement, prevented their giving needed assistance. It was a difficult matter to raise money for the rent and for the furnishing of the building. I tried to help by paying the rent for one room, which I furnished at a cost of about $130. Then I paid the rent of a small bedroom for the use of our ministering brethren who visited Sydney.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 14)
Brother and Sister Baker rented two rooms for their own use, and the conference allowed Brother Semmens a pound a week for a part of his time to be used in the work. I lent him £20, and this, with Dr. Kellogg’s gift of money and health foods, was the greater part of his capital. Brother Semmens took in a few patients, and he served in almost every capacity, making no complaints. By the strictest economy, the rent was paid, and little by little the place was meagerly furnished. The Lord recognized these efforts, and blessed the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 15)
But I often questioned with myself why some of our brethren in America, keen-minded men who had tact and quick perceptive faculties, did not discern our need and give us help. Here we were in this new world, with only a very few churches, mostly composed of poor people who were not prepared to give financial aid to the work. How could we meet the requirements in establishing churches and conferences, and build up the work in medical missionary lines? We needed health foods, but we had no money to purchase material or machinery with which to prepare it.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 16)
Then I thought of what we had done and were doing here to help the poor, to lift up the bowed down and oppressed, to clothe the naked and feed the hungry, all of whom were just as precious in the sight of the Lord as the same class in America. In a variety of ways we were carrying on the very same line or work that you are doing, but we had not numerous churches to draw upon. We helped one man pay for his place, advancing him money to be returned when he was able. Another must have money to pay rent on his place. To another we loaned a cow. Those who were wounded and sick and ready to die we took to our own home, feeding and nursing them free. For ten days we boarded one boy and his nurse, Sister McEnterfer giving them both treatment. Then came another boy with an injured knee. Sister McEnterfer gives him treatment daily.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 17)
But it is not our duty to let all the Lord’s money flow in these channels. There is a sacred, solemn work to be done in lifting the standard high among those who have yet to hear the very first call to the gospel feast. Every kind of work is to come in its order. We are to lift the voice and proclaim the message upon the highways, and gather in all who will come to the marriage supper of the Lamb. This we are doing. We are placing our camp meetings in cities and towns where the message of present truth has not been heard. We do not at first proclaim to these souls doctrinal subjects of which they have no understanding. The very first and the most important thing is to melt and subdue the soul by presenting our Lord Jesus Christ as the Sin-bearer, the sin-pardoning Saviour, making the gospel as clear as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 18)
When the Holy Spirit works among us, as it surely has done at the camp meeting in Newcastle, souls who are unready for Christ’s appearing are convicted. Many come to our meetings and are converted who for years have not attended meetings in any church. The simplicity of the truth reaches their hearts. It touches all classes. The tobacco devotees sacrifice their idol, and the liquor drinker his liquor. They could not do this if they did not grasp by faith the promises of God for the forgiveness of their sins. Is it not worth a decided effort to save these souls? This work is not neglected in any of our camp meeting labor. It is a part of every gospel mission. We are instructed first to let the truth as it is in the word come before the ones who will hear and receive the message. Then they become worker with us and with God, and a strong force is raised up to labor harmoniously. Then we must build a church, making a center where believers can worship. This is our work. Thus the work has gone in Brisbane, Queensland, and in Newcastle. Now, shall we carry on this work? Shall we in every place raise up a company of believers who will unite with us in uplifting the standard of truth and working for rich and poor? Or shall we set every talent to work for the lowest out cases?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 19)
God says, “Begin in the highways; thoroughly work the highways, prepare a company who in unity with you will go forth to do the very work that Jesus did in seeking and saving the lost.” This is the kind of work that Sister White has ever seen should be done. We are not to strain every spiritual sinew and nerve to descend to the lowest depths, and make that work the all and in all, neglecting to bring to the Master others who need the truth, who are bearing responsibilities, and who will work with all their sanctified ability for the high places as well as for the low places.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 20)
The Lord will work through human agencies, but the workers must themselves first be worked. Then through these is seen the display of the grace of Christ. “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” [Psalm 32:2, 1.] These with the peace of Christ in the soul have a right to peace. They believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; they accept Christ as their personal Saviour. O, these camp meetings are just what is needed to reach all classes and convert all who will come to Christ, and give themselves to Him as a continual, holy sacrifice.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 21)
Section 2
January 11
The word of the Lord came to me again last night. I had written some plain things, and I was troubled. I could not sleep. It seemed so hard for me to present the things I had traced with my pen. I was not reconciled. I felt that I ought not to be compelled to say what I had said, that my motives would be misinterpreted. If those who are accomplishing large things in the health work in America have not spiritual discernment to take in our situation, which has been laid before them over and over again, how would they interpret the statements I had recently sent to America? I could not sleep till long after midnight. Then I was instructed again. One of great dignity said, “We are laborers together with God. Ye (as a people) are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Again it was urged upon me that in our helpless embarrassment the Lord had laid out lines of relief, has presented a solution of our difficulties, and I was to send to America the words I had written, with many other like words.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 22)
Our work in this country is as a work in a new world. It was not the design of God that this work should be so hard and advance so slowly. But men, if left to work at cross purposes with God, will spoil the web. The Lord designs that there shall be a true pattern in Australia, a sample of how other fields shall be worked. The work should be symmetrical, and a living witness for the truth. God would have us cherish a noble ambition. He desires that the character of our work shall be in harmony with the great truths we are agitating to awaken the world from its death-like slumber. Everything that shall be done here should be solidly established, as an object lesson to be applied to spiritual things. The work here should be such as to inspire students and those who are to become missionaries with hope, zeal, and sanctified ambition, and put new life into the elements found in this Australian new world.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 23)
Had the men who bore the responsibility of the Battle Creek Sanitarium been able to see afar off, had they cherished the principles of God’s Word, they would have loved their neighbor as themselves. But selfishness is woven into their work, [and] a desire to carry out ambitious projects in various lines. Because of this, we were left all alone to struggle with the difficulties of the situation here.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 24)
The Lord says to His people in America: “When I send My servants to establish My work, and build up the interests essential to give it character, I call upon My people to sustain that work with their prayers and with their means. Because they have neglected to do this, the medical work in Australia, which should have been a noble work, is a work of which God is ashamed. The testimony borne by such meager representations, brings the most sacred truth into disrepute; it dishonors God.”
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 25)
The truth as represented in the medical mission work and in the school is deserving of better advantages, that it may be a better witness for God. When the truth is presented before the world, all the buildings and equipments employed should be a correct representation of God’s work. This might have been so here. Thus God designed it should be. The abundant wealth in Battle Creek should have been shared with us. But other lines absorbed the interest. God’s property was used to gratify ambition, to do some great and wonderful work in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 26)
The Lord declares: “When I sent My servant, whom I have called to make known My will, why did not you in America understand that you who have been established for long years should do a work in co-operating with her which you have not done? Who was it that carried out My directions in laying the foundation of the institutions in America, which have grown to such large proportions? And when My servant was sent to establish the same work in a new field, could you not see that He who owns all the gold and silver was calling for your co-operation? You had obtained a standing fully abundant and ample. And when the work was to begin in a new field, I would be with My servant to indicate the work, and you should have been ready to aid in lifting up the standard of truth by precept and example in a way that would recommend it to a gainsaying world.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 27)
“My watchmen are to call upon all to come to the gospel feast, to do high service for the Master. Could you not discern that when the same work was entered upon in Australia, it required means? The God of heaven has been dishonored. You have found a place to invest means in various enterprises, as though it was a virtue to leave my work in other lands to struggle in poverty and nakedness. You have not shared your abundant facilities as you might and should have done, even though the sacrifice required might appear large to you. If you have a share in the world’s redemption, you must consider the workings of God. In Australia it has required a great sacrifice to establish the medical work, even in a cheap and meager way, while you have had everything, and yet continue to purchase what you could do very well without. Place your money where the work of God demands help, that medical missions in new fields may be looked upon as a success. The work here should have been placed on such a basis that after a time it would become self-sustaining.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 28)
“Upon whom has the Lord laid for so many years the burden and travail of soul for the work in America? Who has borne the burden and wretchedness of the people who are constantly working at cross-purposes with God? The needs and errors of the laborers in responsible places have called for a heavy, soul-wearing work. Did you suppose that any amount of wages could be a recompense for this? Nothing that earth can give is of sufficient value to recompense the travail and burden of soul, the agony of mind, that has been felt in seeing the people working at cross-purposes with God, endangering the work, and making it necessary for God to withdraw His prospering hand from the Publishing Association and from the conference.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 29)
“Then the test came upon the sanitarium. God has given them prosperity, not to be a means of self-exaltation, but that they might impart of their substance. When My servants were sent to Australia, you should have understood that God would work through them, and you should have exercised liberality in apportioning the means to advance the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 30)
“The medical missionary work should ere this have been established upon a solid foundation. There should be no withholding of means. The Lord has let His chastening hand fall upon the Review and Herald Office because they would not heed His voice. Self-sufficient managers hedged up the way, that His work should not advance. The Lord now calls upon the Battle Creek Sanitarium to extend her work, and to place the health institution here upon a proper basis, and make it a signal to exalt the truth. This should have been done two years ago. The withholding tends to poverty. The work I have appointed My servant to do has been to labor for the cause in America, and in the different places where the truth is to be established as a praise in the earth. In Australia the appearance presented by the health institution is objectionable. It is not a proper object lesson, for it is no just representation of the truth.”
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 31)
The message, “Sell that ye have, and give alms,” is to be given. [Luke 12:33.] There must be means in the treasury to support the gospel ministry. Our brethren in America who are engaged in medical missionary work can by appealing to the outside people obtain help, because theirs is not a denominational work. Did you never talk with God in regard to this matter? You could have co-operated with me, whom God has sent from my home to carry very many heavy burdens in this new world. I knew your duty, and knew that for some reason you were neglecting a most solemn responsibility, and that this neglect was keeping us here before the people in humiliation and was belittling the work of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 32)
Mary of Bethany, in gratitude for her brother’s restoration to life, and in full faith in Christ as her Saviour, broke her alabaster box of precious ointment and poured its fragrant contents on the head and the feet of her Lord. Indignation was expressed at the supposed waste. Some even of Christ’s own disciples who ought to have known better said, “To what purpose is this waste?” They thought that the ointment was thrown away when poured on His head and His feet. “The ointment might have been sold for much,” they said, “and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? She hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” [Matthew 26:8-13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 33)
My Brother Kellogg, God has not set you to the work of using my writings in urging upon the churches the necessity of investing their means in the medical missionary work. In doing this, you draw from the conference the money which should be used in destitute missionary fields. If you draw means from the world, let the portion our brethren have be left for carrying on the work of God in suffering missionary fields. Your projects are now absorbing altogether too much. The selling [of personal property] and giving alms means a much greater work than you comprehend. The Lord bids me now call upon the churches for their liberalities to help us in this foreign field. He does not want Dr. Kellogg or any minister of the gospel to gather up the resources which are so much needed in missionary fields, where the experienced workmen are crying unto God for money to build up sanitariums and hospitals, and raise up churches.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 34)
God has waited long for our people in America to come to their senses. He sees our poverty and our distress because we cannot possibly accomplish the work which we have been appointed to do. He sees how others are grasping the donations that should be apportioned to those workmen whom God has told what to do in order that His work may stand in its exalted, pure, and holy character in this new world. The Lord did not send me here to Australia to be left with a requirement to do, and nothing to do with. He has appointed a work for me which I must see accomplished. If our school and sanitarium only had the means that has been misappropriated in Battle Creek since we have been toiling here, we should now stand on vantage ground.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 35)
Pleasure-loving, horse-racing, billiard playing, cricket matches, and all that can attract the attention and eclipse the light emanating from the throne of God, abounds; and what have we as a people had to represent the character of our work as God’s standard bearers? God has waited for you in America to send your gifts where the fields are white for the harvest. Should you not have some thought as to how [you] could gather from our conferences the means which you promised to our school, giving us pound by pound, according to that which we could raise? Shall that agreement be broken, when by strong appeals the means are gathered in here from those who are sacrificing almost the necessities of life?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 36)
Have our brethren no thought with reference to all these workers, so crippled and bound about? We can see the great harvest field, but are almost without facilities for gathering in the sheaves. Shall the coldhearted, unbrotherly neglect manifested by our churches continue? God has bidden us to call, and call again. He says, “Break up this calculating policy. The means are Mine, the work is Mine. I sent My servant to carry heavy burdens and stand firm for principle.”
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 37)
Are our brethren afraid that we cannot possibly use the means to such advantage as they can use it? Let them try us. Was anything wasted in breaking the box of ointment as a gift to Jesus? That gift was no waste.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 38)
That ointment might have been sold for bread and clothing. Thus a small number of destitute persons might have been fed for a short time; but it would have remained to be seen whether they would have been really benefited. Mary would have lost her one opportunity for that act of ministry to her Lord. She could not have bestowed that gift which to her seemed but a feeble representation of Christ’s boundless love. Mary’s act was immortalized, for it showed her love for her Saviour. Christ Himself bound up that sacrifice of love with His own sacrifice, the greatest the world has ever seen.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 39)
Mary represents the church, and her act has a lesson for the church in all ages. Christ has not bidden us bestow all our labor and our gifts upon the poor. We have a work to do in behalf of those who are fulfilling His commission, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” [Mark 16:15.] I call upon my brethren in America to lift up their eyes, and see that the fields are ripe unto the harvest. The tears dim my eyes, and I cannot write.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 40)
My workers call me into the orchard to see the ripening peaches, so large and so beautifully tinted. I go with them; they are enjoying a feast of fruit, but I am thinking of the harvest of precious souls to be garnered. I think of Newcastle, of the people, nearly three thousand crowded together inside and outside of the tent, with strong, hearty voices singing hymn after hymn, as though they were putting their whole souls into the expression of their feelings. Some of these people would come to the tent long before the opening of the service, for fear they would not secure a seat. Oh, I looked, and thought of the great heart of mercy that gave His life for these souls. Now if we can only work so wisely as to help them obtain a foretaste of heaven—the burden of their song; if we can lead them to cast their souls upon Christ, and find the peace and rest that come only from Him, then my longing heart will be satisfied.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 41)
The time has come when no physical, mental, or moral power is to be wasted or misapplied. We should now as never before give heed to the words, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah 27:5.] Christ is our strength. He is able to outwork the enemy. With one hand we are to lay firm hold of Christ; with the other hand we must encircle souls ready to perish, and fasten them to Christ by earnest, living faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 42)
Section 3
January 12, 1899
While I was in Queensland our present situation was presented to me by the figure of a building in process of erection. The builders were full of earnestness and determination to complete their work, putting into it their very best effort. But the second time I came to look at the building, it was not half completed, yet the builders had gone to other work. I said, “What does this mean?” The answer came, “We began to build, and were not able to finish. We had no money with which to purchase material, and had to stop building.” I awoke in great distress of mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 43)
Again an illustration was presented before me. There were elaborate buildings, abundant facilities, and many plans for new improvements. I asked, “Who owns these buildings? The answer was, They are supposed to be the Lord’s property.”“Well, who owns that building not yet half completed?”“Oh, that too is the Lord’s building, but you see the builders could not complete it, for they had nothing to build with.” This represents the comparative situation of the work here and in America—the superabundance in the one place and the great lack in the other.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 44)
My teacher said, “This is chargeable to the devising of men, but no reflection should be cast upon God. The abundance in one locality was amply sufficient for completing the unfinished building and providing facilities for carrying on the work of God in other localities. God is not partial. He does not work in this way. The stewards entrusted with the outlay of God’s means chose to build up that which was under their own supervision; but the same enterprise in the new world of Australia they leave in the condition represented by this unfinished building. Such policy and principles are wholly worldly. They should find no entrance among God’s people. The Lord is dishonored before the heavenly universe and before the world. That house must be built. The sanitarium in Sydney must be put in working order. The Lord never works capriciously. He designed that His work should stand forth before the world more evenly proportioned.”
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 45)
At the Brisbane camp meeting, and during our visit to Rockhampton, our brethren were raising money to carry on the work of building the College Hall, containing chapel and recitation rooms for the school at Cooranbong—work which had come to a standstill for want of funds. Our brethren in Queensland are poor, and have large families to support. While they were being drawn upon to raise the amount apportioned to their Colony, they were told of the promise made by the General Conference that for every pound raised in this country, the conference in America would donate a pound.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 46)
In the night season I found myself presenting these matters before our brethren in America. I told them what poverty existed in this country. I dreamed that one of our stewards brought in the amount collected from men, women, and children in Queensland. The promise of our American friends that we should receive pound for pound had encouraged these hard-working people in Rockhampton to give to the very utmost of their ability. Then the responsible brethren in America turned to the ones who were so anxiously waiting to see what they would do. They said, “We thought you understood that we cannot now fulfill our promise to duplicate your gifts. Circumstances have made this impossible.” I find myself at night waking up and crying, “O Lord, pity Thy poor people, whose managers do not consider the wants of the cause in this land. They cannot see afar off.”
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 47)
Now at the commencement of the year 1899, seeing the work that might have been done and that is not done, and knowing the will of God in the matter, I appeal to our brethren in America. I ask you to send us help. It need not pass through any conference organization. The more the people in Battle Creek have had to work with, the more they have sought to gather, and the less they have felt the necessity of advancing the work in this new world and other English-speaking countries. The more these stewards can gather from the churches, the less they feel like sharing with the workers who have toiled faithfully in other fields.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 48)
Except the Echo Office in Melbourne, we have in Australia no institution to give character to the work. We are using for a sanitarium a common dwelling house not half as well adapted to the work as was the first building which we had at Battle Creek. Is it not just as important that the half-finished building represented to me should have money and facilities to complete it, as it was that the institution in Battle Creek should be built up? Have not I a right to demand in the name of the Lord that this should be done? Help us to establish our sanitarium, that we may stand as co-workers with you in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 49)
I can hold my peace no longer. I must cry aloud, and spare not. I must lift up my voice like a trumpet. I say to our churches, If you have property and lands or money, consecrate it to the work of God. We need a portion of it just now, without delay, that we may have something to give character to the work in this new world.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 50)
Of all countries, Australia most resembles America. It is her sister. All classes of people are here, and God’s watchmen are called to stand on the walls of Zion, and to give the warning, “The morning cometh, and also the night”—the night wherein no man can work. [Isaiah 21:12; John 9:4.] The Lord has moved me. My spirit burns within me to think that this destitute field should be treated as it has been treated.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 51)
I have tried to set things before you, but O, the attempt seems so meager, so far short of the reality. Will you refuse my plea? Will you eke out your means in scanty measure, as you have done? It is not I who appeal to you; it is the Lord Jesus who has given His life for this people. In my request I obey the will and the requirement of God. Will you fail to improve this opportunity of showing honor to God’s work here, and respect for the servants whom He has sent to do the very work that is being done in guiding souls to heaven?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 52)
You can erect for us a sanitarium, to stand before the people of Australia as a monument of your Christian zeal and liberality. God will recognize every effort made to help us lift the standard of truth in every city and in every suburb. You owe the Lord much, vastly more than you comprehend or can ever compute. Will you recognize this obligation?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 53)
That which is given to start the work here will result in strengthening the work in other places. Cannot my brethren see that as your gifts free us from continual embarrassment, our labors can be extended; there will be an ingathering of souls, churches will be established, and there will be increasing financial strength. We all have the sufficiency not only to carry on the work here, but to impart to other fields. Nothing is gained by withholding the very means that will enable us to work to advantage, extending the knowledge of God and the triumphs of the truth in regions beyond. This people have witnessed our poverty and humiliation. Now let them witness that God is not limited in resources, that the greatest, grandest truths ever given to the world are not to be trammelled for want of means. Is it not time that the tide of the battle shall be turned?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 54)
The Lord is good. Though I am now seventy-one years old, He gave me strength at our camp meeting to bear my testimony to thousands of people. Ten times I spoke to the crowd in the large tent, and six times in meetings mostly with our own people. I am expected to go next week to Ballarat, Victoria, to attend their camp meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 55)
But my work has been made unnecessarily hard by the constant dearth of means. To save expense I have almost always travelled in second class cars. This has been very trying for me in my feeble condition. The small compartments are often crowded, and we frequently have to ride all night in cramped, uncomfortable positions. Then the air, contaminated by so many breaths, makes it very painful for me to breathe.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 56)
My son has often urged me to ride first-class. I asked the difference in the fare, and said, No, we cannot afford it. If I travel first-class, my secretary must go with me. I am never left alone in travelling, for I might die suddenly; but the Lord has cared for me thus far. I am the Lord’s whether I live or die, but I do not want to throw away my life.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 57)
When starting on our journey to Brisbane, a telegram was received from Elder Daniells, the president of the Union Conference, saying, In no case let your mother travel second class. The knowledge that Elder Daniells had taken thought for me in my age and feebleness touched my heart. I was glad it was night, so that no one could see my falling tears.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 58)
On our last journey from Melbourne, we thought we had secured a second-class compartment to ourselves. The cheap excursion train had passed over the road the day before, and it was supposed that our train would not be crowded. But we were disappointed. Ten, instead of eight, the usual number, were packed into our compartment. I had a most painful headache, and could scarcely breathe. I feared that the journey would cost me my life. We had been assured by the guard that we could have the compartment to ourselves, but he could not control the crowd.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 59)
The night journey between Brisbane and Rockhampton was a terrible experience. I had risen at one a.m. to write for the morning mail important matter relating to the interests of the work in America. Then after this, an all day and an all night journey, such as I have described, was too severe a tax upon me. I could not breathe without pain, and it seemed at times that I should die from exhaustion. So we have travelled. The lack of means has led all our workers to make these long night journeys in crowded, second-class cars, and this when worn with camp meeting and committee work.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 60)
After I had so long wrought in the battle in America, my brethren sent me to this country; but I still carried the burden for the churches in my native land, especially for the institutions in Battle Creek. Thus my labor was doubled. Our merciful God would not have had my brethren leave us with so little revenue to do with. The course which has been pursued in this matter has made a record in the books of heaven for which some of God’s stewards must answer.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 61)
Concerning these matters I am now informed by One who cannot lie, that of your abundance you might have imparted to us until the work in this new world was firmly established. The actual state of new enterprises is strictly watched in this country. In medical or educational institutions, the value of the work is estimated by the moral, intellectual, and financial forces that are engaged for their advancement. The fact that men of ability are forced to work in the manner we have been compelled to do here, determines in the eyes of the community the efficiency and breadth of the church that can permit such a state of things to exist. And the standing of the work goes far to determine the kind of material brought into the church. The work must remain in its crippled, stationary condition, unless there can be a different work done, and new churches formed with the intelligence, piety, self-denial manifested in the early days of the work in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 62)
The work here must not be left as a building half completed. I have said that it shall not be. I am now appealing to parties in America for loans of money. Now, just now, one or two hundred pounds is worth more to us than double that sum will be in the future. I know not that my appeal for loans will be successful. Already I have borrowed several thousand dollars, and have loaned it to the Avondale school.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 63)
I understand that a plan has been thought of for the erection of additional buildings in Battle Creek to accommodate the poor. God has not laid this burden on Dr. Kellogg. The churches should not be sapped of their funds for such enterprises.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 64)
Think of the necessities of our mission fields throughout the world. The London mission is in distressing need of help. There is a most solemn and important work to be done in that vast city. We have able workmen there, and God designs that they shall have advantages to do some of the same work which Christ did when He was ministering in this world. So in Scandinavia and in the Central European field, means are required to advance the work in its different lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 65)
Already Dr. Kellogg has more burdens than he can possibly carry if he accomplishes the very work God has for him to do. The doctor will see no limit to the means that can be used in medical missionary lines; but there is a special work to be done at the time, and no man or interest must interpose to hinder its accomplishment.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 66)
Is Dr. Kellogg filled with love and interest and sympathy for fallen humanity? So am I. But I know that a movement to erect more buildings in Battle Creek, which the Lord has cautioned our people not to do, and to gather in more people who might better never see Battle Creek, will bring results for evil that are not now foreseen.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 67)
Not all the institutions now at Battle Creek should have been there. Our people have found excuse after excuse for extending the work, establishing new enterprises, and erecting more buildings; but these excuses are no more valid with God than are those now urged for the enterprise contemplated that is not the way of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 68)
The last warning messages are to be given to the world. The living oracles are to be uplifted. The churches are today barely able to hold their ground against opposing forces, but they are told that if they take hold of this work for the poorest classes, the Lord will bless them. But no blessing will come to any enterprise that has against it the Lord’s plain, “Thou shalt not.” And God has long been warning His people not to center any more responsibilities in Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 69)
God calls for men to rally under Christ’s bloodstained banner, give the Bible to the people, multiply camp meetings in different localities, warn the cities, and warn those who shall come to the meetings. But God does not propose that all the money coming to the Sanitarium shall be absorbed in hunting up those in the slums. Something should be done for this class, but the revenue of the churches is not to be appropriated to this work.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 70)
Home and foreign missionary work is to be done in connection with the ministry, resembling the work which Christ did. The present time is burdened with eternal interests. The Lord does not lay upon His people the duty of giving such a large proportion of their time and means to the special class of work which Dr. Kellogg is doing. We are to unfurl the standard of truth before a world perishing in error. God does not require the workmen to obtain their education and training in order to devote themselves so exclusively to the poorer classes. Some can engage in that work, and let them draw their means largely from those outside of our faith. This work might be presented in such a way that every dollar would be drawn from our people and there be no resources left for aggressive warfare in new fields. Yet this labor in new fields is the work for this time and is establishing churches to help in the very work of caring for the needy and destitute in different localities.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 71)
It is essential that men be raised up to open the living oracles of God to all nations, tongues, and people. Let the brethren in America consider that the Lord expects them to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. The Lord has made us depositaries of sacred trusts—truths to be given to the world. Among our workers there are some who can still say, “That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life: ... that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.” [1 John 1:1, 3.] Decided effort should be made to bring the third angel’s message prominently before our world. There are some who will be true witnesses. They will give the trumpet a certain sound. They are living epistles, known and read of all men. Through Christ Jesus they will be the life of the church. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 72)
The church needs fresh power and vitality, and there is great danger of taking on lines of work that will waste their energies, instead of bringing life into the church. Men of all ranks and capacities, with various gifts, are to stand in their God-given armor, to co-operate harmoniously for a common result. They are to unite in the work of bringing the truth to all nations, tongues, and peoples, each worker fulfilling his own special appointment. In some cases there will be deficiencies to be supplied; in others it will be necessary to set things in order, and to check extravagant movements. The intellectual, the rich, the poor, are to have the gospel preached to them, and all have a work assigned to them. To every man is given his work for the upbuilding of the cause of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 73)
There is a wide field of action, and in their plans and devising, all need to consider the result. Everything is to move according to the divine plan. Men would set things in a strange medley of confusion if they had their way. The whole body must be fitly joined together, that each member may promote the great designs of Him who gave His life for the life of the world. Thus “the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” [Ephesians 4:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 74)
God makes provision for His cause to move harmoniously. Our young men must be educated to do their work and bear responsibilities according to their entrusted capabilities, and they must have Christ formed within the hope of glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 75)
Again I appeal to my brethren in America to consider the state of the cause, not only in America but in foreign fields. Let not the work for the poor and debased draw the means from our churches so that they shall neglect the needs of the work all over our world. This has been done, and will be done again unless there is a decided change of operations. The great question of our duty to humanity is a serious one, and much of the grace of God is needed in deciding as to the best way to work in order to accomplish the greatest amount of good. There is no question but that it is duty for some to labor among the outcasts, and try to save the souls that are perishing. But there is such a thing as leading men to center all their energies on this class, when God has called them to another work. Satan is inventing every kind of plan to enfeeble our churches. He seeks to place them where they will not become strong and have the work of God abiding in them so that they may overcome the wicked one. We must not be ignorant of his devices.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 76)
We have truth, great and new truth for the world, and we must speak the truth to the churches. But in many places it is next to impossible to find entrance to any house of worship, even in the woods. Prejudice, envy, and jealousy are so strong that often we can find no place in which to speak to the people the Word of life. If camp meetings can be held in different places, those who wish to hear can have the opportunity. Those who are starving for the bread of life will be fed.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 77)
After the meeting, there must be diligent and faithful labor. Workers should be kept in the field to search out all who are interested. They should work as if searching for the lost sheep. At our camp meetings many come from curiosity to hear and see some new thing; but they do hear and they do see, and many come to a knowledge of the truth. Thus churches are built up, and the work is advanced in right lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 78)
The Lord has presented to me that the enemy is still working with all his power to center the work in Battle Creek contrary to the Word of God. One thinks that the warning does not mean him, because it is of necessity to enlarge. Others agree with him, and they make necessities that absorb the very means that should be paid to the laborers in the field.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 79)
There must be no belittling of the gospel ministry. No enterprise should be so conducted as to cause the ministry of the Word to be looked upon as an inferior matter. It is not so. There is danger in Battle Creek that through glowing representations, men will be drawn out of the path where God bids them walk. The Lord calls for more men to labor in His vineyard. The words were spoken, Strengthen the outposts, have faithful sentinels in every part of the world. God calls for you, young men; there are duties for you to do in connection with your ministering brethren. You may receive an endowment of strength from on high, and go forward with faith and hope in the path where God bids you walk. The Word of God abideth in the young, consecrated laborer. He is quick, earnest, powerful, and he has in the counsel of God an unfailing source of supply.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 80)
Again I make my appeal: let not our young men be deterred from entering the ministry. The Lord calls for whole armies of young men, men who are large-minded and large-hearted, and who have deep love for Christ and the truth. The cause of Christ and humanity demands sanctified, self-sacrificing men, those who can go forth without the camp, bearing the reproach. Let them be strong, valiant men, fit for worthy enterprises, and let them make a covenant with God by sacrifice.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 81)
After a camp meeting, let the young men work in connection with experienced laborers who will pray with and for them and will patiently teach them how to work. It should be kept before the youth that there is no work more blessed of God than that of the gospel ministry. The highest of all work is ministry in its various lines. It is not great and learned men that the ministry needs; it is not eloquent sermonizers.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 82)
God calls for men who will give themselves to Him to be imbued with His Spirit. They will not be sluggards, but as expositors of His Word they will put forth their utmost energies to be faithful. They should never cease to be learners. They are to keep their own souls all alive to the sacredness of the work and to the great responsibilities of their calling, that they may at no time or place bring to God a maimed sacrifice that costs them neither study nor prayer. The measure of capacity or learning is of infinitely less consequence than the spirit in which the work is done. But the ministry is no place for idlers. Make full proof of your ministry. God wants young men to proclaim the truth. Thousands of places are to be worked. Let there be no parleying with flesh and blood. Seek the Lord earnestly. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly. This may be the privilege of every soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 83)
The increase of the ministry will require an increase of means, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Bear in mind, my brethren in America, that the Lord requires of you self-sacrifice. The sacrificing is not all to be done by one class. When you lay out money, consider, Am I encouraging prodigality? When you help the poor and wretched consider, Am I helping them, or hurting them?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 84)
There is altogether too much spasmodic work. In India and many other countries, much hard labor is required in order for the people to understand the minister, or the minister to understand the people. In those countries where there are the fewest impediments, where the people speak our own language, be sure that the needed facilities are provided. In England and Australia the truth can be carried by those who speak English. Then let these countries have educational advantages, and means to advance the work and train workers to carry the truth into the darker, heathen nations.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 85)
God requires that every institution in America shall assist in providing these facilities. By building up the institutions in the English-speaking countries, they will have several plants constantly increasing in usefulness and facilities. Thus the work may be done far more rapidly.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 86)
The Lord has sent to these places His servants who have had experience and who can carry forward their several branches of the work. To withhold means from them is to neglect the Lord’s direct requirements. Not one-hundredth part of the work has been done that could have been accomplished if the workers in America had imparted to others of their great mercies. They would have seen prosperity in England. They would have sympathized with the workers who are struggling with difficulties there, and would have had the heart to say, “All ye are brethren.” [Matthew 23:8.] The strengthening of the work in English-speaking countries would have placed them where they would have had twentyfold more influence than they have had to plant the standard of truth in many places.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 87)
The spirit of covetousness and selfishness, like threads drawn into the web, has been working in our American institutions, until the spirit that should control them has been lost sight of. This has deprived them of great blessing.
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 88)
The enemy will invent every device in his power to prevent the light from shining in new places. He does not want the truth to go forth as a lamp that burneth. Will our brethren consent that Satan shall any longer succeed in his plans for hindering the work?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 89)
Time is rapidly passing into eternity. Will any one now keep back from God that which is strictly His own? Will any one refuse Him that which, though it cannot be given without merit, cannot be denied with ruin? He asks the whole heart; give it to Him; it is His own, both by creation and by redemption. He asks your intellect; give it to Him; it is His own. He asks your money; give it to Him; it is His own. “Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] Yes, purchased by the life-blood of the Son of the infinite God. Your bodies are not your own, though they may be sacrificed to lust. Your souls are not your own, though you defile and tarnish them. They are God’s, to be used, not to glorify self, but to glorify His name. The Lord has given to every man His work, and the holy angels want to see you doing that work. As you shall watch and pray and work, they stand ready to cooperate with you. When the understanding is worked by the Holy Spirit, then all the affections act harmoniously, in compliance with the divine will. When the affections fasten on the objects which occupy [the] mind, then men will give to God His own, saying, “All things come of thee, and of thine own we freely give thee.” [See 1 Chronicles 29:14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 90)
God forgive my brethren that they have not done this. The very Being who filled all heaven with splendor, and who is worshiped by the heavenly host, came to our earth, humiliating Himself as a man, that we might be exalted to share His glory. Shall we not also sacrifice that others may be uplifted?
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 91)
Christ invites us, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite ones.” [Isaiah 57:15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 4, 1899, 92)
Lt 5, 1899
Kellogg, J.H. Refiled as Lt 138, 1898.
Lt 6, 1899
Brethren and Sisters in Ballarat Camp Meeting “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January 14, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3SM 351-352; UL 28. + To the Brethren and Sisters in Camp Meeting at Ballarat:
From the beginning to the close, our camp meeting at Newcastle was one of continual work in spiritual lines. There was no Conference business to attend to, and this was as it should be. Our camp meetings ought not to be burdened with the transaction of business. At this meeting there was earnest seeking of the Lord, as there should be in every camp meeting. On the first Sabbath, after I had spoken to the people, we called forward all who wished to become children of God, and those who had not the evidence of their acceptance with Him. A number came forward and bore their testimony. Then we had a season of prayer for them. The Lord was with us. On the second Sabbath, also, the invitation was given to those who desired to seek the Lord. A large number responded, and a special meeting of prayer and counsel was held with them.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 1)
There were those at the camp meeting who in the past had had a precious experience, and they realized its value, but they greatly desired to obtain a fresh, vital current from the Source of all power. We felt that great interests were before us, that great results depended upon this meeting, and we were not disappointed. We have the promise of the Holy Spirit if we love God and keep His commandments, and we never felt more sensible of the willingness of the Lord to bless and sanctify, refine and ennoble, His people than at this meeting. We have seen the salvation of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 2)
The presence of the Holy Spirit was felt by those not of our faith. We had expected that this would be a small meeting, but the attendance of the outside people from the first to the last was larger than at any other camp meeting we have had in Australia, and we have never seen a better attendance at any of our camp meetings in America. The people come from all directions, some from Maitland, twenty-two miles away, and some from a longer distance. At many of the afternoon and evening meetings during the week the large tent was full, and there was a wall of people standing around the outside. Even on weekdays, the congregation numbered twelve hundred, fifteen hundred, two thousand, and at one evening service nearly three thousand. And this at the holiday season, when in the city there are all kinds of games and amusements to attract the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 3)
At the close of the first week, we took a vote of the audience as to whether the meeting should extend over another week. The vote in favor of this plan was so large that we at once decided to continue the meetings a week longer, holding them over the third Sabbath and Sunday. I am sure that this was right, as the attendance on the last Sabbath and Sunday was even larger than it had been before. The people came not merely as sightseers, but to listen to the Word of God. The whole community is stirred by the truths presented. In all the suburbs of Newcastle, the people are saying, “Are these things so?” and the interest extends to other places.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 4)
Our camp meetings should ever be of such a character that the convicting, converting power of God will be with us. We are too readily satisfied with a ripple upon the water, when it is our privilege to expect the deep moving of the Spirit of God. Many have educated themselves to expect little, and they receive little. We need faith and love and a sound religious experience, not a religion as changeable as the waves of the sea. A religion dependent upon moods and feelings is not satisfactory. Every one of the workers needs the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Self must be submerged in Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 5)
Then there will be no one-sided movements, no uncertain, restless actions. Those who are handling sacred things will be weighted with the Spirit, and will become intelligent Christians. They will not be dwarfs. Neither will they dwarf others through professing to know the truth as in the living Oracles, while they do not have a daily, hourly consecration to God. None can honor God unless self is daily crucified in them, and there is no self-exaltation, no striving to be first. All who have any relation to Christ must know His life by an experimental knowledge, else they are none of His.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 6)
Satan is playing the game of life for the souls of men and women. We are living in a time when he has come down with great power, working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. None will need to take the side of the power of darkness, and stand under his banner, unless they choose to do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 7)
All who unite themselves with Christ should consider that they are His soldiers. They are to obey orders, and not fret like children at everything that does not harmonize with their ideas. They are not to indulge the spirit of criticism, except with themselves; every one should closely investigate his own heart, for out of it are the issues of life. Sure it is that all who do their very best to place themselves in right relation to God will walk with Him as did Enoch. Then they will have with them holy angels as companions in the place of evil angels.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 8)
We praise the Lord that at the Newcastle meeting we heard no criticism or complaining. There seemed to be with all a spirit of harmony. If Satan can excite criticism among any of the Lord’s professed people, then it is communicated like leaven from one to another. Give the spirit of criticism no quarter, for it is Satan’s science. Accept it, and envy, jealousy, and evil surmisings of one another follow. “Press together,” is the command I hear from the Captain of our Salvation. Press together. Where there is unity, there is strength. All who are on the Lord’s side will press together. There is need of perfect unity and love among believers in the truth, and anything that leads to dissension is of the devil. The Lord designs that His people shall be one with Him as the branches are one with the vine. Then they will be one with each other.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 9)
We are to seek most earnestly to be of one mind, of one judgment, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit of God, and nothing less, will bring us into this state. This is God’s agency, and only as the Holy Spirit brings us into unity can we be representatives of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 10)
There is no hope for the success of any religious organization where criticism is cherished as a fine art and called spiritual discernment. Men might far better be blind to other’s faults than to be inspired by that keen, detective spirit that will watch for defects in those whom the Lord loves, and through whom He works. We all need to humble ourselves, not to have an exalted idea of self. We must all give heed to the words of Christ, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29, 30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 11)
Every Christian should beware of picking flaws in others, and thus destroying the influence which God would have them retain, that they may be a blessing to His people. In every one of our institutions, all are either receiving an education in straight, perfect lines, forming the character according to the character of Christ, or they are receiving an education in the opposite direction. In every camp meeting there is opportunity for close, critical self-examination. If individuals will seek to rid themselves of every thought and action that is not of a Christlike order, they will, if worked by the Holy Spirit, see the necessity of washing their own robes of character and making them white in the blood of the Lamb, and their minds will become as the mind of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 12)
The greatest sorrow of heart I have borne has been caused by the want of love and unity among brethren. In word and spirit and life we are to express Christ, not the peculiar ideas and notions of self. By these ideas many have been trammelled and clogged all their life long, and they knew not what was the trouble.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 13)
I want to impress this upon my brethren who shall assemble in camp meeting at Ballarat: Do not lose this opportunity of committing your particular concern for yourself into the care of Jesus Christ. Lose sight of all others except Christ. We want Christ in our humanity, and Christ wants to abide in us. We are human and fallible, every one of us, and unless Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, we shall make wonderful blunders in estimating our fellow workers according to our pattern and measurement. God sees beneath the surface. He sees all the good, and He marks all the evil. Leave to Him the work of passing judgment on your brethren.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 14)
Have a care for the young men and young women who are now forming their characters. Converse with them, and help them all you possibly can. Let no one educate the young men and young women in the science of picking flaws. Let not the youth hear you finding fault with those who do not please your fancy. The youth are Christ’s servants, to be cared for, to be encouraged in good, pure, holy thoughts. They need no lessons in evil surmising. Satan stands ready to instruct them in this line. Teach them to be kind, to respect and love one another as Christ has loved us.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 15)
Keep the perfume of Christ’s character in your own words and actions. Let querulous complaints forever cease. Then there will flow into your heart the sunbeams of the righteousness of Christ. God will bless you, and make you a blessing.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 16)
We are individually held responsible to God for our influence in the home, in the church, among all with whom we associate. We are to receive our traits of character from an indwelling Saviour. He says, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” [John 15:4.] The kind of fruit we bear, in words, in spirit, in action, testifies whether we are abiding in Christ or in ourselves. If we abide in ourselves, the taint of a disagreeable disposition will often manifest itself. Christ says, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.” [Verse 5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 17)
You may have had good advantages for gaining an education, but unless you are under discipline to Christ, your education will be of no real benefit to you. You will not form a right character. “If a man abide not in me,” Christ said, “he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire.” [Verse 6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 18)
O, how much we prize and glorify self! How much we wrestle for the supremacy! How much we keep self in the foreground and Jesus Christ in the rear! Let all who assemble at the Ballarat Camp meeting bear in mind that it is the place to pray, the place where God will meet with them. Let us not profess to be Christ’s followers, and yet follow our own mind and spirit. If we do this, we shall reveal such weakness of character as in no way represents Christ. We must be born again. We must have a new life from above. And this new life can be preserved only by daily watchfulness and prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 19)
Men must become as little children; they must keep as humble as a child. Then they will indeed see Jesus Christ by faith, and [they] can reveal Him to the world as the uplifted Saviour. They can represent Christ in character by daily living Christ, showing that they have learned of Him His meekness and lowliness. In all our dealing, in all our business and relation one with another, there should not be a thread of the old habits of selfishness, self-seeking, or self-exaltation. This is the great barrier that separates the soul from God.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 20)
I want to cry to my brethren, Clear the way for Jesus Christ by self-renunciation. Let the great work be done in us and for us, so that we shall not say, “See what I am doing,” but, “Behold the goodness and love of God,” for “his gentleness hath made me great.” [Psalm 18:35.] The Lord will work wonderfully for you in your camp meeting if you will renounce self, and do every little duty in the name of Jesus. We are to write the name of Jesus on all that we do and on all that we have. We are to express His love in our words. We can reveal His Spirit in the very tones of our voice, in the expression of our countenance, in our walk and conversation. We are to imitate Christ in all His perfection. Constantly we are to improve our powers, that we may do better work for Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 21)
I entreat of you, my brethren, to leave the darkness and come to the glorious light of the Sun of Righteousness. To be a Christian means more than many suppose. It is the character, not the placing of our names on the church books, that makes us Christians. What manifestations will appear when Christ, abiding in the heart, is shining in the faces of those who love Him and keep His commandments. Truth is written there. The man is transformed into Christ’s image. A worldling may pass by and not mark the change, but those who have had communion with Christ discern the expression of Christ in word, in spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 22)
The influence upon the heart is seen in a habitual gentleness, a more than human love. The sweet peace of heaven will be in the soul, and will be revealed in the countenance. There is no striving for the highest place, no seeking the supremacy. There is a constant changing from glory to glory, from character to character. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 23)
Do you feel that this experience is beyond your reach? It is the very experience that you must have. The truth sanctifies the receiver. Uplifting, refining, sanctifying truth is the only thing that can lift us out of ourselves, and bring up into open communion with God. In our life in this world the human and the divine are to be united. The things of the Spirit are not discerned by any strength of intellect that man may possess. He may be a minister of the Word, opening the Scriptures to enlighten others, but this in itself will not fit his soul for heaven. The highest eloquence is not religion. Leaders and teachers may suppose they know all that is worth knowing, but God designs that every teacher shall be a continual learner. When we cease to be learners, then we are no longer fit to be teachers. Every worker needs to come to Christ and learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart in order to find that trust and rest and quietude in God which it is our privilege to have.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 24)
Christ’s glory was manifested while He was working at His trade in the carpenter’s shop. He was assailed more fiercely by temptation than were other youth, according as there was more at stake in His life. But He overcame the wicked one. The Saviour in His human character resisted all the assaults of Satan. Just as Christ overcame temptation, so every one of us may overcome. And He says, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne.” [Revelation 3:21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 25)
It is a battle for life, eternal life, and if we are indifferent in the warfare, if we are not overcomers here, we shall never see the King in His beauty.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 26)
There is something to learn besides that which is contained in school books, something that the greatest intellect, unaided, cannot reach. It is the power to recognize what belongs to the life of the Christian. In the schoolroom, in the carpenter’s shop, in all manner of business, in all kinds of trades, the abiding Christ will be revealed by all who possess Him. Beholding the glory of Christ’s character, they will carry it unto the home life. Their lips will not utter foolishness, their tongues will not frame deceit. The living Christ, shining out in the character, will be carried to the house of mourning, to the sick bed. He will bring comfort to the suffering. He will be manifest in the heavenly life which, in all humility of mind, His followers live.
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 27)
It is the duty of all believers to turn away from beholding Satan. Then they will not reflect his character in their words, in a peevish spirit, in evil thinking or evil speaking of their brethren. Those who have an abiding Christ will do none of these things. God has forbidden us to cherish any such thoughts or feelings. All have the privilege of catching the divine rays of light from Christ if they will look unto Him. The greater their need, the more open will be the way to Christ. They may seek His face, and flash back the light of the glory of God. To them that have no might, He increaseth strength. All who live Christ’s character will be like Him. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” [1 John 3:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 28)
There will be no irritable tempers in heaven, and certainly we want no irritable tempers here on earth. Satan’s subjects have this kind of character. Let every Sabbathkeeper seek most earnestly to have Christ mold and fashion the human mind to His divine similitude. We shall have to fight the devil without and within. Unholy hands, unruly tongues, quick tempers, these are foes we have to meet; but through Christ we are able to bring them into subjection. Looking unto Him we may say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” [Philippians 4:13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 6, 1899, 29)
Lt 7, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January 22, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4MR 362. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
Once more I sit by my writing table to trace a few lines to you this morning. I have had such a season of exhaustion, and have suffered so much, that it was not best for me to write. The very simplest thoughts would not come. I have been so weak that I could not remember. I ought not to be writing now, for it taxes me to think. Although I was full of pain and very weak, I braced myself up until the American mail was off. But there was a limit at last, and now I am about a cypher. I have done very little since the camp meeting. The deep interest in the meetings drew me out. I spoke Sabbath and Sunday afternoons and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and in the morning meetings all I dared. But I found danger in attending morning meetings, because the immense congregations in the afternoons and evenings made the atmosphere in the tent unsafe for me.
(14LtMs, Lt 7, 1899, 1)
The Lord sustained me through the camp meeting. I attended some council meetings which called out from me the reason why the Holy Spirit does not work among us. It is the unbelief in God and the lack of confidence in one another. It is the work of the power of darkness to lead us to suspect our brethren and stand apart as criticizers. At one meeting I think I read and talked to the ministers for two hours. I needed to brace up all I possibly could to do the work the Lord had appointed me to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 7, 1899, 2)
There was, apparently, with Brethren Robinson, Hare, Hughes, and others present, deep feeling. Brother Robinson went into the bush to pray, and while he was wrestling with God, Elder Daniells, W. C. White, and about ten others went also into the bush to pray, and they came right to the spot where Brother Robinson was praying. He to told them he had broken his heart before God, and laid self on the altar of sacrifice. He wanted self to be consumed. He wanted to put away his habit of criticizing and judging his brethren, and to bring himself to task. A great blessing came upon him. All prayed most earnestly, and talked freely and confessed and prayed and kept confessing, until the fog that had hidden Jesus from their sight was cleared away, and they were all greatly blessed.
(14LtMs, Lt 7, 1899, 3)
I never saw in meetings a more solemn impression of the Spirit of God upon the people as upon those who came to our encampment. People would come twenty or thirty miles, and remain all day. Many would come an hour before the meeting, so as to get a seat. It was a most solemn time for us all. But I was carrying a heavy load for Battle Creek, as well as for our brethren in Australia. I could sleep but little. I had a solemn message for those in Battle Creek, and when I left the campground, I carried my burden with me.
(14LtMs, Lt 7, 1899, 4)
I want to write you more, but my weakness forbids this.
(14LtMs, Lt 7, 1899, 5)
Lt 8, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. NP January 23, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in TDG 31; 11MR 276. + Dr. Kellogg:
Night after night I am in much burden and perplexity. In my letter dated December 18, 1898, I mentioned the Gospel Wagon. Soon after the photograph of this wagon came, I was looking at it alone in my room, when there seemed to be presented before me the present and future effect of this method of labor. I must say that your investment in this wagon was not the best way of investing means. This method of labor is not the best for the successful accomplishment of the work of God , neither does it give the workers the best experience in winning souls to Christ. It may awaken some thought, but whether it will give the necessary impression of solemnity and order, whether it will ripen the harvest, is very uncertain. It does not leave on the mind the impression that leads to conviction of sin. The hearers are led to think, It would be pleasant to unite with this people, to drive about and sing and gather a company to whom to read the Scriptures.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 1)
Dr. Kellogg, you are represented to me as having your day and opportunity to develop into a trustworthy man, not a man who can act in only two or three lines, but a man who can help the work of God to bear [His] stamp and His likeness. It is your place to fall into line in God’s providence. See that the truth is inscribed on your banner at all times and in all places.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 2)
All human beings are dear to the heart of God, for they are bought with a price. As a nation the Jews refused to receive Christ. He had led them in their travels as their invisible, infinite Leader. He had communicated His will to them, but in the test they rejected Him, their only Hope, and their only Salvation, and God rejected them. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name.” [John 1:12.] To all who receive and obey the conditions, God’s gifts flow steadily, without repentance, without recall. God has imparted His gifts to man to be used, not according to hereditary ideas, not according to natural impulse or inclination, but according to His will.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 3)
No one can become clean and spotless, fit for God’s service, without first becoming as a little child, willing to be taught as Moses was taught. The Lord instructed Moses in His will, and Moses was to repeat these instructions just as he received them.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 4)
My brother, you are safe only as you work out of self into perfect conformity to the mind and will of God. You have not yet reached this place. You have never made that surrender of self that will place you where you can bear the likeness of Christ. At times, you have been in great danger, the more so because you have not steadfastly kept Christ, your Pattern, ever before you. There is a work to be done for you. All self-glorification must be cut away by a realization of the fact that you are only the Lord’s steward, and that to Him you owe every faculty you possess.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 5)
Who has given man inventive power? Who gives man the scientific skill which bears the stamp of heaven? Who gives him organizing tact, power to restore order to distracted elements? Who gives him power to place God’s work upon a solid basis of industry and durability?
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 6)
It is God’s will that those to whom He has entrusted talents should look ahead, and with far-seeing judgment, with tact and ingenuity, establish the work aright. This is not done by making the proudest show among the nations of earth. God designs that those whom He has appointed to do His work shall have ingrained in their character the words, “All ye are brethren.” [Matthew 23:8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 7)
When Christ was upon this earth, His brothers thought He was devoting Himself too constantly to constant labor. They determined to stop His work, to find for Him periods of rest. The word came to Christ as He stood before the people, “Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.” Looking about Him, Christ answered, “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” [Matthew 12:47-50.]
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 8)
There are in this country, Australia, those whom the Lord has used to lay the foundation of His work in different places. The brethren in America should remember that in this country, which so nearly resembles America, a work is to be done similar to that which has been done in America. You only need to reflect, to reason from cause to effect, to see the prejudice and opposition that the workers here have to meet in business and religious lines. In this hour of need, those in America who have become strong through the power of God are to relieve the necessities of those who are holding up the work in other countries. To this end, they are to brace all their energies, inspired by an unselfish desire to help their fellow workers to plant the standard where the truth has not yet found a standing place.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 9)
Before Jesus of Nazareth commenced His public ministry, John the Baptist was to fulfil his mission as God’s appointed messenger. His message was to prepare the way for God’s work in a fallen world. His voice was to be heard, not in the synagogues, but in the wilderness, saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”“This is he,” writes the evangelist, “that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” [Matthew 3:2, 3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 10)
We need to understand the meaning of these words. Those who feared God were to think for themselves. They were no longer to leave other men to do their thinking. Their minds were no longer to be chained down to erroneous maxims, theories, and doctrines. Ignorance and vice, crime, and violence, oppression in high places, must be unveiled. The light of life had come to this world to shine amid the moral darkness. The gospel would now be proclaimed among the poor, the oppressed. Those in humble life would be given opportunity to understand the real qualifications necessary for entrance into the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 11)
And today men from the lower ranks are to take their place in obeying the command, “Go forward.” By faith they are to meet difficulties, not daring to yield to the strife and babble of unbelieving tongues. They are to press forward from one degree of success to another, praying always, and exercising that faith which answers prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 12)
Thank God for men who understand something of pioneer work, who can wrestle with difficulties, who will not fail nor be discouraged. Notwithstanding the false reports that have gone forth from babbling tongues , doing the cause of God great injustice, God still works through His instrumentalities, continuing to make clear, to those who will see, the precious things of heaven and the responsibilities of the spiritual life.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 13)
God designed that the work in this country should be built up, and those standing in responsible places in America should have realized their duty with regard to it. But Satan drew a veil of tradition over their eyes, so that exchanged the sentiments of God for the maxims of men. The work of God was marred, and it still bears unhealed wounds. Men have gone into wrongdoing, but so imperceptibly that they do not realize that their moral perception has been darkened. The same temptations overtake them again and again. Again and again they do things which show not the image and superscription of God. Some will continue to take sides, not with God, but against Him, until the Lord says, “He is joined to his idols; let him alone.” [Hosea 4:17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 14)
There is need for a variety of gifts in the Lord’s work. Read carefully the fourth chapter of Ephesians. The entire chapter is a description of the Lord’s manner of working. “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” [Verses 11-13.] Every gift is to be acknowledged as essential to the success of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 15)
Experienced men are needed for the work in this country, men who are not narrow in their measurement, but broadminded, with quick, perceptive faculties, who can discern a thought and catch its meaning without a week’s time in which to think it over. Those who are laying the foundation for God’s building are addressed in the words, “Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] The agencies of God are many! But all those who are willing to work according to God’s plan are included in the words, “Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” God’s servants are to move so that no spiritual gift shall be lost. Their will is to be held in abeyance, and when God’s time comes, the rod will blossom. What form the work will take no one can know, but God’s servants are to be minutemen, able to understand the ways and will of their Leader.
(14LtMs, Lt 8, 1899, 16)
Lt 8a, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January 15, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother in Christ Jesus:
I have written some things which I dared not withhold, for I would be responsible if I did. Have we not to consider that we have immortality only through Jesus Christ? Should you fall, as is not an impossibility, who will take your stewardship? Have you considered this important question? I am instructed to warn you that you have been gathering altogether more responsibilities than the Lord has laid upon you or any one man to bear. Your stewardship is gathering stronger and firmer walls about you. These walls may fall upon you.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 1)
We have a great work to do. I have. You have. And yet you continue to gather that class of work which you love to do, yet has not been appointed of God for you to do. It would crush the life out of you, because you are a mortal man, and your brother is mortal. Whatever his profession may be now, he needs less to do in order to have time to care for his soul. He thinks it is no use for him to claim to be a Christian, and yet it is not because his heart is hardened, but because he thinks he cannot reach perfection. It will not hurt him for you to manifest always that you have genuine brotherly love that has not been chilled to death by pressure of business. If you should act more the friendship of the tender affection of relationship as brothers it would not hurt Willie.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 2)
Sometimes things happen as always is the case in business matters, when you suppose some one is to blame. Your brother is not being infinite but finite. Through want of proper hours of rest his mental and physical force almost come to a standstill and results show the same. Is that faithful steward deserving of the least censure? No; he could not prevent the result. He has double the work to do he should have, and is far more promising a subject for you to work upon than many you do not know and who are in no way related to you by blood ties.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 3)
Now my brother, give your brother, who is as true to your interest as it is possible for him to be, a chance to save his own soul, which is precious in the sight of the Lord. He has a wife, and children who need a father’s tender instruction how to save their souls, that there may be a family reunion in the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 4)
Another point. Your work may have far more power in being exercised in interested effort for those to whom the message is to go in the highways. For this work God has appointed you. I think it well for you to consider these things. You can help much by exercising your God-given talents in the Women’s Christian Temperance work. You may modify some of the erroneous maxims that are coming in to spoil that organization; and Sister Henry can do a good work in this line, not by compromising truth or righteousness, not by changing the banner you all hold fast, but by guardedly weaving in principles in your instructions that shall change the mold.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 5)
While we are to hold the standard high, we are not to separate our influence from the highest and take up the lowest class. That work is to be done; you need so much to have the divine Counsellor by your side and feel it enough not to follow your own judgment. We are living amid the perils of the last days. We know not what will come next.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 6)
I thought I had not strength to write a line, but I am pillowed up in bed to write this. I thank you for your kind thoughtfulness in writing me. I also thank you for the interest you have taken to raise the money to begin our work here. We will have a meeting now and see what help we can obtain in building. We have applications almost daily for the afflicted ones which a hospital should receive. Sara is called here and there and elsewhere. I am so thankful that money came to me as it did from the Pacific Press, for what Elder Haskell would have done, or the sanitarium in Sydney have done just now, I know not. But one thing is certain, it came at the right time. Be not afraid, I shall not allow one penny to go to any other purpose.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 7)
Our business now is to go to work and erect a building which shall be no shame for the Lord to look upon. He knows how much we need this building at once. Meetinghouses are needed in Brisbane, Queensland; they will have it because they simply cannot do without it. A meetinghouse absolutely is to be built in Queensland and one now in Newcastle. I thank the donors for their kindness in raising this fund. I thank the Lord for this.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 8)
I have not seen any plan from you. It may come today. My mail came last evening, and sometimes letters do not all come until next day. May get your plan today. I am too weak to write more now. If Sara knew what I was doing, I should be blamed.
(14LtMs, Lt 8a, 1899, 9)
Lt 9, 1899
General Conference NP January 24, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in WM 275; TDG 32; FLB 138, 140; Ev 682-683. +
To those occupying important positions in the General Conference:
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 1)
Dear Brethren:
The Lord requires that principles be followed which are different from those that have been followed in the past. We who believe in Christ and receive His grace are members of His great firm. “Ye are God’s husbandry: ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Every one engaged in the work of God exerts an influence. The General Conference has had an influence, and this influence would have been increased had it kept to its legitimate work. But its influence became of none effect when it embraced so many interests, thus mingling the sacred and the common. Because of this, the voice of the General Conference lost its sacredness. But by the strictest observance of principles that cannot be corrupted, it may win back what it has lost. The people may then be addressed in the words, What God has cleansed, call not thou common or unclean.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 2)
Satan commenced his work in Battle Creek through men who occupied important positions in God’s work, but who were not the men for the place; for they had no correct sense of its sacredness. The work of the gospel must be exalted. But careless work has been done in the selection of men for certain positions in the church.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 3)
In the sixth chapter of Acts we are shown how when men were to be selected to fill positions in the church, the matter was brought before the Lord, and most earnest prayer was offered for guidance. The widows and fatherless were to be supported by contributions from the church. Their wants were not to be relieved by the church but by special donations. The tithe was to be consecrated to the Lord, and was always to be used for the support of the ministry. Men must be chosen to oversee the work of caring for the poor, to look after the proper distribution of the means in hand, that none among the believers should suffer for the necessaries of life. These men must not be like Judas, who robbed the treasury to enrich himself. They must not be men who would work in a scheming, underhand manner, but men who would work faithfully and unselfishly for others. They must be “men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, and wisdom.” [Verse 3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 4)
When these men were found, they were set before the apostles, “and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased, and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly: and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.” [Verses 6-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 5)
The Word of God shows plainly that there is a special work to be done for the people of God. This work requires men who can use their talents with wisdom. They are to be men who will do the work of God conscientiously, men who are free from all selfishness, all covetousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 6)
This is presented in the Old Testament Scriptures. Moses spoke to the children of Israel, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone: the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as he hath promised you!) How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, ... and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken, is good for you to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 7)
“So I took of the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.” [Deuteronomy 1:9-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 8)
The great mistake of placing in positions of responsibility men who have no genuine religious experience has been made at Battle Creek, the center of the work. Men were appointed by men to act in important places, who should never have been entrusted with the handling of sacred things until they gave positive evidence that they had been converted. These men were not able to bear test and trial, and the leaven of fraud and injustice brought in because of their course of action has not yet been purged from the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 9)
We need now to review the past, that we may see where the Word of God has been disobeyed in our transactions one with another. We need to show genuine repentance. Little regard has been shown for the Word of God. Little heed has been given to the testimonies of His Spirit. Those at the center of the work have been continually warned that truth and righteousness should always be exercised. But notwithstanding this, men have been retained in office who were not worthy, who were full of covetousness. Their work did not leave a right impression upon the cause of God. Sacred things were clothed with commonness. The leaven of covetousness and selfishness pervaded every institution, every church, to a greater or less degree.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 10)
Finite men have felt capable of carrying responsibilities that they were unqualified to carry. They did not feel the necessity of obtaining the essential qualifications for doing the work of God successfully. Men have been placed in positions of sacred trust because they were supposed to be sharp businessmen. They were full of worldly policy. They did not deem it essential that their judgment should be controlled by the Holy Spirit, but went forward in their own way. These men, full of self-sufficiency and self-importance, were placed in charge of the most solemn work.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 11)
Has not God seen the departure from righteous principles? Has he not seen men working contrary to truth and righteousness, practicing dishonesty in the handling of books? Has He not heard the appeals made in behalf of the Southern Field, and seen the money raised to relieve the situation there? How was this money used?
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 12)
Heaven saw all the scheming for higher wages. Those who bore the laboring share of the work were not the ones who benefited by this scheming. The corrupting influence that has created so much disaffection in the world’s business houses, has been felt to a degree in the business working of the Review office. God looked down from heaven, and was displeased. All impurity and irregularity, all perversion of righteousness, must be cleansed from every institution, every church, every household, every individual, before God can bless us as He desires to.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 13)
The Lord [did] not design that one man shall carry all the responsibilities. “And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning until evening? And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God: when they have a matter, they come unto me: and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his law.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 14)
“And Moses’ father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou are not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: and thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 15)
“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: and let them judge the people at all seasons; and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so it shall be easier for thyself and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, ... and they judged the people at all seasons, the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.” [Exodus 18:13-26.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 16)
When preparations were being made for the building of the tabernacle, God said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, and understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning work, to work in gold and in silver, and in brass, and in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wisehearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee.” [Exodus 31:2-6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 17)
“Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wisehearted man, in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it. And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning. And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made.” [Exodus 36:1-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 18)
This is the way in which the Lord has arranged matters. He designs that men shall be appointed to do His work. Confusion is not to enter the work. Men should be chosen who will stand shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, in the great work for this time, for there are wonderful things to be done. Dr. Kellogg carries too heavy a weight. Others should be qualifying themselves to bear responsibilities, so that if one drops out of the work, there will be others who can step in to prevent a break. It is the duty of all who have a connection with the Lord’s work to diligently cultivate his powers. He is responsible to God to do his very best.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 19)
Everything is to be done as in the presence of a holy God. Right principles are to be maintained when dealing with those who are small as well as with those who are influential. There is to be no haphazard work done in the service of God. The reason why so many difficulties arise is that those who complain most, who require perfection in others, exalt self and excuse their own defects.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 20)
In God’s Word we read of the qualifications which must be possessed by those who connect with His work. “If a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, ... and hath not oppressed any, hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; he that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly, he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord.” [Ezekiel 18:5, 7-9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 21)
God requires moral perfection in all. Those who have been given light and opportunities should, as God’s stewards, aim for perfection, and never, never lower the standard of righteousness to accommodate inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. Christ took upon Him our human nature, and lived our life, to show us that we may be like Him by partaking of the divine nature. We may be holy, as Christ was holy in human nature. Why then are there so many disagreeable characters in the world? It is because they do not suspect that their disagreeable ways and rough, impolite speech is the result of an unholy heart. We ought to be holy even as God is holy; and when we comprehend the full significance of this statement, and set our heart to do the work of God, to be holy as He is holy, we shall approach the standard set for each individual in Christ Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 22)
No one can be Omnipotent, but all can cleanse themselves from bitterness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. God requires every soul to be pure and holy. We have hereditary tendencies to wrong. This is a part of self that no one need carry about. It is a weakness of humanity to pet selfishness, because it is a natural trait of character. But unless all selfishness is put away, unless self is crucified, we can never be holy as God is holy. There is in humanity a tendency to suspicious imagining, which circumstances quicken into lively growth. If this trait is indulged, it spoils the character and ruins the soul. It is written, “Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 23)
“Nicodemus said unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.” [John 3:3-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 24)
The Lord never withholds His wisdom from those who are truly consecrated. Those who fear God and seek Him daily walk in security. The men who humble themselves even as a little child are the men who will be taught by God. The Lord is not dependent on any man’s talents, for He is the Source of all perfect gifts. The very humblest man, if he loves an fears God, is the possessor of heavenly gifts. The Lord can use such a man, because he does not strive to work himself according to his own standard. He works with fear and trembling lest he will spoil the pattern. His life is an expression of the life of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 25)
The man who does not honor himself can fill a place in God’s plan that no self-sufficient man, however learned and well-prepared he may think himself to be, can fill. It makes every difference whether a man walks with God, or whether he is satisfied to walk with himself, glorifying his own abilities.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 26)
It is the fragrance of our love to our fellow men that reveals our love for God. It is patience in service that brings rest to the soul. It is through humble, diligent, faithful toilers that the welfare of Israel is promoted. God upholds and strengthens the one who is willing to learn Christ’s way that he may bear the divine likeness.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 27)
God would have His workers in every line look to Him as the giver of all they possess. All right inventions and improvements have their source in Him who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Whatever we do, in whatever department of the work we are placed, God desires to refine and ennoble us. He desires to control man’s mind, that he may do perfect work.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 28)
The delicate touch of the physician’s hand, his power over nerve and muscle, his knowledge of the delicate organism of the body, is the wisdom of divine power, to be used in behalf of suffering humanity. The skill with which the carpenter uses the hammer, the strength with which the blacksmith makes the anvil ring, comes from God. He has entrusted men with powers, and He expects that they will look to Him for counsel. Thus they may use His gifts with unerring aptitude, testifying to God’s glory that they are workers together with Him. Thus they purify their souls by sanctification of the Spirit through the truth. In their experience, the words of Christ are fulfilled, “The pure in heart shall see God.” [Matthew 5:8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 29)
All should feel that they are working to one great end. The work in every department is God’s, and those who do that work with exactness, without blunder, represent God’s perfection. But God’s work cannot be perfectly done by men who are selfish, who devise plans and methods whereby they can strengthen themselves and stand high in the esteem of the world as wise men.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 30)
Those who have any part in the work of the Lord are to show that they love and fear God. The Lord desires them to be as sensitive as a child to wrongdoing, cherishing a vivid conviction that all the strength of soul and body comes from above. Those who become careless and opinionated, must be separated from the work, if, after kind admonition and earnest prayer, they refuse to repent. They are workers of evil, and God cannot hold communication with them.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 31)
It means much to learn to do God’s will. He who is entrusted with the training of youth in our schools or institutions needs to learn daily in the school of Christ. God says, Ye are my husbandry; ye are my building. He is seeking to control the hearts of men and women. If they will be controlled by Him, His name will be glorified. They may walk with certainty, knowing that they are laborers together with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 32)
By the acceptance of Christ, as a personal Saviour, in whom we humbly trust, we are cleansed from sin. He calls, “Follow me.”“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29.] The mercy of Christ has made us overseers of His workmen. The record of the opportunities and privileges that are now ours will be irrevocable. Shall we be among those who shall respond with joy to the words, Where is the flock that I gave you, my beautiful flock?
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 33)
There are always two parties in our world. One is ready to hear the call of God, and obey, saying, “What wilt thou have me to do?” [Acts 9:6.] The great anxiety of the other is to discover what is the most pleasant to do. Inclination must be severely tested, for inclination is no evidence of duty. Take everything to God in prayer. Let those who have an experience in the things of God make no hasty decisions in selecting men to fill important positions. Let no man strive to be placed in position, but let everyone be careful in regard to accepting a position of trust. Let them subject themselves to close self-examination. Let them counsel with the experienced followers of God, and seek by earnest prayer to know their duty. Let all be willing to be led and guided by God. Do not think that because you have made mistakes, you are excluded from the work of God. There are many with great opportunities who make great failures.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 34)
God desires all to consecrate themselves, soul and body, to Him. Young men and young women, learn that as you use the talents God has given you, you will obtain a genuine experience, a real knowledge, that will make you dissatisfied with yourselves. You will see the great work that is to be done. You will see the need of cutting away all habits and practices that are hurtful, lest you shall hurt some other soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 35)
There are conscientious young men who are preparing to move into line, to strengthen the outposts. If they walk humble with God, He will talk with them, and instruct them. To them I would say, Work where you are, doing what you can to pass along the truth which is so precious to you. Preserve simplicity, and then, when there are vacancies to be filled, you will hear the words, Friend, come up higher. You may be reluctant to advance, but move forward with trust in God, bringing into His work a fresh, honest experience and a heart filled with the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. As you thirst for the water of life, ask Christ for it, and He will give you to drink of the water of life freely. He will be to you a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 36)
Open the door of the heart to the knock of Christ. Welcome the heavenly Guest. Then you will not lift up your soul unto vanity because you are placed in a position of responsibility. There are truths in the Word of God the meaning of which you scarcely comprehend, but these will open to you in their native beauty and loveliness; for Christ is your teacher. If you have improved the past, it is still yours, because you have garnered the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 37)
You have a treasure of knowledge to which you are constantly adding. Thus you are being raised up to a higher level of service. Impart all that you receive, and keep imparting to receive. The secret of wining souls is only learnt by wearing Christ’s yoke and copying His meekness and lowliness. Only thus can you find constant rest. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” [Daniel 12:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 9, 1899, 38)
Lt 10, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January 14, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Te 258; 2MR 32-33; 10MR 296. + Dear Brother:
The American mail went yesterday, and yet I am not at rest. I am held to the point. I am talking with you, Dr. Kellogg, with my pen, as I was talking with you last night in the visions of my head upon my bed. I was in a company of several men and women, and Dr. Kellogg was one of the party. We were talking of the work to be accomplished in Australia. I was saying, Dr. Kellogg, it is necessary for you as a physician to see some things before you can comprehend them. After you see, you will understand. Walking side by side with you, we came to the building called the Health Home. The doors of several rooms in it were open for your inspection. You said, “Some of these rooms are larger than is required; others are altogether too small. Having two or three bedsteads in one room is all a mistake. Privacy must be respected.”
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 1)
Thus you went from room to room, speaking of the mistakes in each room. When you came to the bathrooms, your face grew white, as though you were going to faint. You could not find words to express your disgust. You said, “This is calculated to counteract all the good that this institution might do. We are workers together with God. Does not God look with abhorrence upon such rooms? They are not fit to take patients into. How can any one put his religion into his work with provisions as are made here?”
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 2)
As we left the building Dr. Kellogg said, “I see things in a new light. I am condemned. I did not have the slightest conception of the disadvantage you were working under. Yes; things might have been made every way different. I thought I was trying religiously to do my best; but while I made an effort to act from the principle, Love God supremely and thy neighbor as thyself,” I was in all my plans setting things in operation in a way that neither showed supreme love to God or that love Christ has expressed we should have for our neighbor.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 3)
“I have been covetous and selfish, and I knew it not. I have been practicing a species of idolatry for the work I was handling. I should have thought and planned unselfishly, taking into consideration the necessities of the work in Australia. Then my eyes would have been opened to see that had I loved the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength, I would have prepared less abundantly for the sanitarium in Battle Creek, and would have shared with my brethren in Australia who were toiling and struggling in an effort to create something that would enable them to exercise their natural tact and acquired ability, and develop into able, trustworthy men, as laborers together with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 4)
“I have felt in some respects too much like Nebuchadnezzar. I am in positive danger of thinking, Is not this the wonderful work that J. H. Kellogg has done? Have I not power above any other man to carry out my will and my purposes? Am I not exalted? Even in the great work of doing good to the oppressed, I have expressed selfishness and covetousness. I have planned so that all profits, as far as possible, should be retained where they would be under my own management. This is not self-denial or self-sacrifice. Yes; you have stated the matter correctly. I might have helped; I might have seen and known that God required me as His entrusted steward not to rest until institutions were established in Australia that would correspond better with the greatness of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 5)
“The Lord has known the thoughts of my heart. Every design, every plan, to keep matters within my own oversight has been covetousness. The Lord has made me His steward, and I should have been interested to see my part of the work thoroughly done in establishing a sanitarium in Australia, without loss of time. I should have seen that it was so equipped that the workers could work to advantage. Then God’s servants in Australia could have carried forward the medical missionary work successfully. They needed this help; it was their due.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 6)
“God is not partial. In His providence He has made some men successful managers, not because they are any more virtuous than their brethren. They receive their talent of wisdom and tact from God. If God could have been better glorified by our placing a portion of the abundance entrusted to us to carry on the work in another part of the Lord’s great vineyard, that all might have a fair chance, we should have considered it our privilege to do this. I have not exercised my mind as thoroughly as I should have done. I am as a man awakened out of sleep. I have treated my opportunities and privileges as though I had created them. It remains with us as brethren, as servants whom the Lord has called, to hear His voice and obey it.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 7)
“I am determined to crucify self and be a worker together with God. I am determined to let other men have a chance in their dire necessity to handle some of the goods God has entrusted to me in their behalf. I believe I am converted. Christ is a Saviour for the whole world. It is the bounden duty for those living where the work that was first established by self-sacrifice has become abundant to help those who are struggling to plant the standard in new fields.” We are not to continue to build and increase our facilities year by year, while those who are in other parts of the Lord’s vineyard are struggling, pushing, planning, in order to make a foundation that will properly reveal the character of the work, and their calling as God’s stewards.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 8)
“We are to be divested of all selfish ambition. Then we shall be able to overcome temptation. We shall understand the mysteries of Christ’s work. Every branch of the living vine will bear the fruit of the parent stalk. We cannot comprehend the fullness of Christ. We cannot measure the length, breadth, height, and depth of His work. After we have put every nerve and muscle to the stretch in an effort to do this, we shall find there is an infinity beyond.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 9)
“I am coming to my senses. In the past I have given you really no chance. Brethren, let us now plan a building. We shall wait no longer. We will kill this avaricious, covetous desire to handle all the means, forgetting that others as well as ourselves can magnify the truth by showing what correct principles can do. I have had everything poured into my hands, while my brethren who are just as well qualified as myself, and who have just as deep a religious experience, have been left with such scanty provisions that they have been obliged to pinch and study economy in every line. They have had such meager facilities that what they have done cannot possibly give character to the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 10)
“It is God we have robbed by not supplying the necessities of our brethren from the rich treasure over which God has made us stewards. It shall be so no longer. I have had no stinted Saviour to present to the world, but I have taken glory to myself for the prosperity He has given me. I have allowed you in Australia to work in narrow lines, but how narrow I never knew until my eyes were opened. Now I will not rest until I have redeemed my mistake. By wrong calculations I have hindered the work, when God made me His steward to see and relieve the necessities of those struggling to find a standing place.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 11)
“‘All ye are brethren.’ [Matthew 23:8.] We stand in the harness together. We who are in America will not require and retain everything, while our fellow workers have nothing, and the cause of God is estimated by its manifest poverty. Christ loves the workers in Australia and other portions of the field, as He loves those whom He has made His stewards in trust in America.” As Dr. Kellogg spoke these words his face was pale, and he spoke as under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 12)
The Lord has a work for all to do. He sees the weakness of every worker. He sees that only a few reach the highest standard. Christ came to represent the Father. The Father hides Himself in thick darkness, but He sends us His representative, Christ Jesus, who “being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”—the cruelest, the most painful and degrading death. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” [Philippians 2:8, 9.] Philippians 2:1-7.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 13)
God is revealed in Christ. The Saviour lived a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, and this life all His followers must live. This is necessary for the transformation of character. Work for those who are ready to perish. Keep the truth before people as you are given opportunity in camp meetings. The influence of camp meetings exerts an influence for good. The laborers themselves first drink of the water of life, and conviction comes to souls through the Holy Spirit’s working. Establish the work done by these meetings if you would do justice to the souls you are seeking to save.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 14)
Truth must be presented in regions where the truth is unknown. The work specified in (Isaiah 58:9-13) must be done. Sin is not to be cloaked as a matter of little consequence. It is to be presented as guilt against the Son of God, The exceeding sinfulness of sin is to be held before the people just as it is. Then show them the uplifting Saviour, telling them that immortality comes only through belief in Christ, through receiving Him as a personal Saviour. Immortality is found in Christ alone.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 15)
In order that it may act most effectively, the truth must be often repeated. The world, with its activities, its pleasures, its bribes, hides a man from seeing himself as he is. Satan holds constantly before the seeker for truth those who profess to believe in Christ but who testify by their fruits that they know Him not, for they manifest selfishness and covetousness and bring these attributes into the church, saying as an excuse for sharp practices and dishonorable methods of dealing, “It is the Lord’s cause.”
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 16)
Some cultivate selfishness by striving to make their part of the work a success. But the apparent success gained by retaining that which should be freely imparted to help the work in other places is not true success. God’s people will not be excused for working in accordance with worldly policy. The gospel of Christ calls for individual work. The fruit of this work is seen when consecrated workers show that they realize that to them has been committed the sacred oracles of God, and that they are not merely to speak the truth, but to be doers of the Word of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 17)
“Hear, ye that are afar off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high; his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” [Isaiah 33:13-17.] The Lord God is not asleep.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 18)
“Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also as the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things will he stand.” [Isaiah 32:1-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 19)
The Lord knows us by name, as verily as He knew Cornelius. Let us all realize that He is acquainted with each one of the human family. He put His estimate upon Cornelius, calling him, “a devout man, and one that pleased God, with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.” [Acts 10:2.] The heavenly angels are wide awake and ready for action. They knew that Peter was living by the seaside, lodging with one Simon a tanner. Nothing is hidden from God. This chapter opens before us the necessity for divine and human cooperation. The Lord designs that under His direction humanity shall instruct humanity. Every opportunity should be improved to bless humanity. God works to unite man with his fellow man to accomplish his appointed work. The greatest privileges and blessings are granted to those who will be co-workers with Christ to sustain and encourage each other.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 20)
Christ has included the whole of the human family in His great purpose of redemption. He feels an untold solicitude for human souls. To as many as receive Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe on His name. Not only does the Lord blot out sin and transgression, but as man works out his own salvation with fear and trembling, God works with him, to will and to do of His good pleasure.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 21)
“Ye are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] The spiritual powers God has given man are to be exercised. Sin, reigning in the mortal body, has kept man working at cross-purposes with God, but the man who accepts Christ has consecrated his highest powers to God for the benefit of his fellow men. The Holy Spirit was given to call into exercise the higher powers entrusted to man, and he who yields himself to the control of His Spirit lays hold of Christ with the living grasp of an earnest, definite faith, an intensity of love that nothing can quench. His life is bound up with Christ. His religion is not made up of selfishness and covetousness. His study is, Where does the kingdom of God need building up most? Is it not where God’s stewards are struggling the hardest to establish the work on a solid basis, that they may receive to impart?
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 22)
The highest character is given to the gospel of our Lord and Saviour by winning souls to Christ, to receive and glorify God through the truth, to become acquainted with the mystery of godliness as expressed in the words: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath appointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” [Isaiah 61:1-3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 23)
The mediatorial arm reaches from the highest heaven to places of the deepest woe and corruption. Christ, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, came to this earth, clothing His divinity with humanity that humanity might touch humanity and also link itself with divinity. Thus men and women may become laborers together with God. Whatever may be the nature of our woe, there is a balm in Gilead, there is a physician there.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 24)
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His vineyard. What a work was Christ’s as the people followed Him into the retired places to hear Him preach. All day He spoke to them, warning them in regard to repentance and faith, self-denial and self-sacrifice. In this country the fields are ready for the sickle, ready to be garnered. Were Christ on earth today, He would say, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” [John 4:35.] The Lord calls upon those in America to come to our aid. For your own good, arouse, and work on the principles which have the Word of God for a foundation.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 25)
The whole heavenly universe is calling for men who will work unselfishly, men who will see what they can do to establish the work in this very field, Australia, that the workers here may be placed where they can co-operate with you in America in giving the last warning message to the world. This is the principle that we must work upon, and that we should have ever have worked upon. No side issues should have been brought in. One-quarter of the buildings now piled up in Battle Creek are all that should have been centered there. Twenty years ago centers should have been made in other cities, and the banner of truth uplifted. Light has been centered too much in one locality. Had we been provided with means and workers in Australia, the work done in different cities would now have become a telling memorial. We would have been enabled to have worked in the same lines as has been followed in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 26)
God would have the churches in America study their Bibles and look over the neglected portions of the Lord’s vineyard that have not been worked. Principles are to be carried out that have not been acted upon. A portion of the abundant facilities in America should have been used to establish the work in Australia and England, countries where the least expense is entailed in advancing the work. The Lord is displeased by the selfishness manifested by leaving His servants in such destitution. One hundredfold more could have been accomplished in London than has been accomplished, if the workers had been provided with some of the abundance seen in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 27)
Men who can help to bear responsibilities are needed here. Christ is at work to redeem and restore, and this is a time of special grace. It is essential that the efforts made to advance the work in America be made to advance the work in Australia and England. With facilities we can do much to reach the people. With added forces rallying round the standard, men can be prepared to go into regions beyond, to foreign countries. People need the truth. All over the world men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls hungering for the light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. There is a great work to be done. Souls are perishing in their sins. It is time that the Lord's people awoke from slumber.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 28)
In every place the temperance question is to be made more prominent. Drunkenness, and the crime that always follows drunkenness, call for the voice to be raised to combat this evil. Christ sees a plentiful harvest waiting to be gathered in. Souls are hungering for the truth, thirsting for the water of life. Many are on the very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in. Cannot the people who know the truth see? Will they not hear the voice of Christ saying, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.” [Verse 35.] Then came the pitiful lament from the lips of the Saviour, “The laborers are few.” [Matthew 9:37.]
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 29)
It requires sanctified ability, tact, and skill to gather in the ripe sheaves. He that winneth souls is wise. We want men who believe the truth for this time, who are doers of the Word. Souls are perishing out of Christ. Many are weary and heavy laden with sin. They do not feel safe in their religious faith. Pray for them; teach them how to believe, how to claim the promises. It is the privilege of every worker first to talk with God in the closet and then to talk with the people as God’s mouthpiece. We must receive light and blessing, that we may have something to impart. Men and women who commune with God, who have an abiding Christ, make the very ground they walk on holy because they are cooperating with holy angels, who minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, are needed for this time. We need the melting power of God, the power to draw with Christ. The deep love of God must be expressed in words of encouragement, in words of intercession.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 30)
Many, many all about us in this section of the country are aroused in the most wonderful manner. Now is our time to work. We are to win souls, not drive them. We are to persuade them in Christ’s stead to be reconciled to God. Personal labor is needed, visiting from house to house, opening the Scriptures to them who do not comprehend them. The Lord Jesus calls for soul winners, and those who go forth to gather the sheaves should have the prayers of the whole church, that they may go as sharp sickles into the harvest field. There are more sheaves to gather in than we can possibly know now. Laborers for God, those who travail for souls, are few.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 31)
The Holy Spirit, attending the worker together with God, enables him to gather in the sheaves. It is not learned men, not eloquent men, who are to be depended upon to do the work now needed, but humble men, who are learned in the school of Christ, who are meek and lowly in heart, who will give the invitation to the supper, “Come, for all things are now ready.” [Luke 14:17.] Those who beg at midnight for loaves to feed the hungry souls, will be successful. The law of God is that as we receive we are to impart. All the churches in our land need the self-denying, self-sacrificing spirit of Christ. God’s people are no longer to continue in sin, they are to lay hold of the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. If human hands have never been laid upon them in ordination, there is One who will give fitness for the work if they ask for it in faith. In the name of the Lord I entreat you, Ask and receive the Holy Spirit. But this Spirit can only be received by those who are consecrated, who will deny self, lifting the cross and following the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 32)
Who will be on the Lord’s side? Let this question ring out in America, in Australia, in England, and in every foreign country. We need bold, sanctified soldiers, men who have purity of knowledge because they are doers of the Word. They will be able to see what must be done to gain life, life, eternal life. We must have purity of character. This is now, as it ever has been, our only safeguard in the formation of character. As we walk in close companionship with Christ, we shall be brought into conformity with the divine likeness. “Nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee, e’en though it be a cross that raiseth me.” In Christ is our completeness. We must put away sin, or we are worthless servants. We are to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. We must raise the standard of character, or we shall never see God.
(14LtMs, Lt 10, 1899, 33)
Lt 11, 1899
Brethren Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January 25, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in TDG 33; ML 358. + Dear Brethren:
A great work is before us; it is not our own devising or planning. All heaven is interested in this work, and those who engage in it must stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel. God would have us stand with our faces to the front, watching every movement of our leader and prepared to obey orders. To every man He has given his work. God has given men and women faculties that are not to be wasted in idle contemplation and fitful emotion, but employed in decided action. Our abilities are not to be absorbed in abstraction, and neither are they to be used in idle bustle. Everything in the outside world is stirred by a power from beneath. Those who know the truth must be filled with an inspiration from God Himself. The lamps of the soul must be kept trimmed and burning.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 1)
The work we do is the least part of our taxation. It is the sin which has attached itself to all the activities that wears us out. God did not design that labor should be anything but a blessing. Man never could have been happy without something to do. When man had no dark, condemning thoughts before sin came, his own companionship was not a burden, for he could contemplate all nature with the most satisfactory results. But the slimy track of the serpent has left its trail of misery in a hardened conscience. Labor does not bring misery; it is carrying lawful things to excess which taxes the powers of mind and body. A life of the hardest labor is more satisfying than a life of idleness.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 2)
The Word of God is plain and distinct upon this point of labor. No man or woman who is converted to God can be anything but a worker. There certainly is and ever will be employment in heaven. The whole family of the redeemed will not live in a state of dreamy idleness. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. In heaven activity will not be wearying and burdensome; it will be rest. The whole family of the redeemed will find their delight in serving Him whose they are by creation and by redemption.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 3)
But if ever there was a time when every nerve and muscle should be put to the stretch it is now. “What does it profit my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? ... Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.” [James 2:14, 17, 18.] The last call to the supper is now being given. The lamp of the soul must be kept trimmed and burning by being replenished with the holy oil. See Zechariah 4:11-14. In the name of the Lord let every soul now depart from all iniquity, lest the day of the Lord overtake them as a thief. The truth is to be proclaimed in clear, straight lines but always as it is in Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 4)
We need to beware lest we bring upon ourselves the rebuke of God as found in Revelation 2:4, 5 and 3:1-3. Would it not be well for us to be jealous of ourselves and be doers of the Word of God? “If there be therefore any consolation of Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 2:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 5)
Who, I inquire, are doers of the Word of God, and not hearers only? How many live their profession? If we would draw men from the pit of sin, we ourselves must have a firm foundation beneath our feet, else the world will draw us into its plans. The closer we keep to the feet of Christ, humble, meek, lowly, distrustful of self, having a firm hold of Jesus, the more power will we have to convert sinners. It is not the human agent who moves the soul, it is the heavenly intelligences co-operating with humanity that impress truth upon minds. It is not our finite power that creates the influence over others, it is the presence of the One who says, “Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:20.] The power we have to overcome temptation is given us by Christ, who works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 6)
To represent the truth aright, we need divine tact, gentleness and kindness. The love of God must flow naturally from a heart made tender and sympathetic. We need to hold close communion with God, lest self shall rise up, and words be spoken that are not appropriate. As the dew and the still showers fall upon the withering plants, so let words fall gently when seeking to win souls. God will surely work for those who seek Him for wisdom. We are not to wait until opportunities come to us, we are to watch for opportunities and be prepared always to give a reason for the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear, lest we shall impress hearts unfavorably.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 7)
If you keep your heart uplifted in prayer, God will give you the right word at the right time. When an opportunity does present itself, let no excuse lead you to pass that soul by because you do not feel inclined to undertake the case. The Spirit of the Lord will help those who work faithfully for the Master, that the truth may be spoken in love. It is the Holy Spirit that makes the application.
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 8)
The truth is to be spoken in a straightforward, plain manner, but it accomplishes but very little when the pen or the voice becomes severe and harsh. The region of human passion must be passed, else misapprehension with all its erroneous consequences will be the result. Our work is to prepare the way of the Lord, and make ready a people to stand in that great day when it will be too late for wrongs to be righted. Our warfare is aggressive. The truth is not to be left out of our message, but is to be proclaimed as a plain, “Thus saith the Lord,”“It is written.”
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 9)
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12.] We must warn and entreat and pray. But be careful when advocating the truth to give no one occasion to rightfully accuse us of advocating treason. We must be firmly rooted in God. The crisis is very near. The test will come, but for Christ’s sake manifest at all times His meekness and lowliness. Then the Lord can work in our behalf. We are to go forward in His name, fearing even to bring a railing accusation against Satan. We should, if possible, live peaceably with all men, advocating the words, “It is written;” for the end is near. Go forward in the name of the Lord, uplifting the banner on which is inscribed, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” [Revelation 14:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 11, 1899, 10)
Lt 12, 1899
Walling, Addie; Walling, May “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January 26, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 13MR 105-110. + Dear Addie and May Walling:
Newcastle has been considered the hardest place where we could begin labor, but during our camp meeting we had special evidence that the Spirit of the Lord had prepared the way before us. There has been nothing like it in our entire experience. There was such perfect order among those who came to the grounds. There was very little of the usual strolling about the grounds for sightseeing. There was no murmuring or complaining. There seemed to be a holy hush, a quietude, upon the entire encampment.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 1)
The ground was large, containing about five acres, with a piece of brush at one side. From the brush there ascended many earnest prayers from ministers and church members.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 2)
We had our old family tent which we purchased from Brother Hickox at the Brighton camp meeting. This was occupied by members of my family. We had also a dining tent and a cooking tent. W. C. White had a tent on the ground. We had also two pleasant rooms, about two minutes’ walk from the ground. I had one of these, and the other was occupied by W. C. White, May, and the twins. The measles was prevalent, and W. C. White’s family were attacked. All who came to the campground had to return home. W. C. White himself was threatened. But by the last week of the meeting the trouble was over, and the whole family were on the campground.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 3)
The grounds are very pleasant. There is a thick mat of grass, so that but few tents had to be floored. The use of the ground was granted us free. The steam tram cars stopped at the encampment at the time of the afternoon and evening service. This was not their usual stopping place, but the managers seemed ready to favor us. Indeed all seemed ready to accommodate us, and glad for the opportunity.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 4)
We have never attended a meeting where such an intense interest was manifested, and we have never seen a more promising congregation assembled. People came from all the churches, and in our social meetings excellent testimonies were borne by church members. All were free to express themselves that the meetings were a blessing to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 5)
Nearly every day a health talk was given by one of the doctors from Sydney, usually Dr. Caro. The physicians are doing all they can in advancing the health reform and medical missionary work. This finds favor everywhere. There has been strong solicitation for a branch of the medical missionary work to be planted in Newcastle Merchants, bankers, the very first class of the community, are ready to co-operate with our people in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 6)
This camp meeting was at the right time and in the right place. All the way from Newcastle to Cooranbong there are places all ready to be worked. It is of great consequence to us and the school at Cooranbong that a solid church be raised up at Newcastle. It is so near us that after the special work of gathering in the harvest has taken place, the work can be carried forward to quite an extent by helpers from here. Several have already taken their position to keep the Sabbath, and yet the work continues. We have a large new tent, which was purchased by donations. The cost was about $300. Herbert Lacey and his wife remain in Newcastle for a time to assist in the work. Brother and Sister Starr are there with a number of Bible workers and canvassers. Brother Colcord spends a portion of his time there. His family are in Cooranbong, occupying the convent building.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 7)
The wonderful interest aroused by the camp meeting has been a great surprise to all. At the evening meetings through the week there was an attendance of not less than a thousand persons, and on one occasion, it was nearly three thousand. All were as quiet as if it were a church. At the last of the third week the crowds were tremendous. It was a sight to see the great tent packed full of people.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 8)
In the morning and sometimes in the afternoon children’s meetings were held, and on some occasion nearly four hundred children were present. These meetings were under the supervision of Sister Peck, with the assistance of a number of Sabbath school teachers. It was a pleasant sight to see all through the week a large number of children, neatly dressed, assembling to receive instruction. Meetings were held for the instruction of teachers in Sabbath-school work. There were superintendents of Sunday schools who came to obtain all the information possible. They said that new methods must be brought into their schools. This will give some idea of the influence of the meetings. A great work was done. We know that the Lord’s host was on the encampment, and the Holy Spirit is still striving with hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 9)
This is a coal mining district. The superintendent of one of the mines told some of our people that it was impossible for us to estimate the good that had been done by this camp meeting. “It has penetrated all through our mine,” he said, “and we seem to be breathing a purer atmosphere.” This is the opinion expressed by leading men, merchants, bankers, and all kinds of people.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 10)
This is a most favorable situation for medical missionary work. The large class of miners need the gospel as verily as do the far-off heathen. In this very location there is an abundance of work to be done in the Lord’s vineyard. This field, almost in the shadow of Cooranbong, is fully as essential to be worked as Africa or India. And the fact that they are English-speaking people gives them a special claim upon us. I see a great work to be done. The Lord knew just where to locate the school in Australia. His wisdom has planned that these miners should have a chance. There will be a work for many of our students to engage in which is fully as essential as in the missionary fields afar off. The temperance and medical missionary work should be established here. A large work can be done, and we must see that it shall be carried forward solidly.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 11)
We shall have to erect meetinghouses in different places. There is an old stone meetinghouse at Wallsend, ten miles this side of Newcastle. It has been left vacant and has been roughly used, and is now offered for sale cheap. If we can get the means, we will purchase it, and put in new floor, windows, and roofing. The ground is high, and the location excellent. The truth must be presented in all the suburbs of Newcastle. This place being only a short distance from Cooranbong, we can send workers there, and we long to do this. The church can be purchased for about £80.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 12)
All our ministering brethren are convinced that there is not a better location for our school. We are not a great distance from Queensland, and from the light given me of the Lord, I know that all the places on the way to Brisbane—Newcastle, Maitland, Singleton, Toowoomba, are to be like links in a chain reaching to Cooranbong. And from Cooranbong there are places to be worked all along the line to Sydney. O, it is a great field, just as dark as heathen lands, unless the light of truth shall pass through it as a lamp that burneth. The Lord has looked upon the darkness. “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” [Genesis 1:3.] “I am,” said Christ, “the light of the world.” [John 8:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 13)
The souls that are here to be saved are just as precious as are souls thousands of miles away, and we can work for them with far less outlay of means. This work means business. It means much to us. Christ is indeed the light of the world, and the Holy Spirit is waiting to communicate to the eye of the soul that power of sight which will reveal to the perishing the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is to be uplifted before the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 14)
Yesterday a telegram was received from our workers at Newcastle, asking us to send our carriage to the station for a party coming from that place. A family came to see the school, with the purpose of placing in it one of their sons. There were father, mother, daughter, about thirty years old, and two boys. They have several stores in Newcastle, in the drapery business. They were much pleased with the place, and decided to send their son to the school. These people were interested and deeply impressed at the camp meetings.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 15)
Several families are thinking of sending their children to the school. There was a Jew, his wife a Christians, from Maitland, who thought of moving to Cooranbong with his family, that he might send his daughter to the school. He was present on the last day of the camp meeting, and heard me speak on Sunday afternoon. Many said he was deeply impressed. He was also much impressed by the evening discourse. After the meeting he went home, and talked with his wife to a late hour. He said, I must acknowledge that this people have the truth. He felt deeply. The next morning he was found dead in his bed. He died from heart disease. I do not know what course the family will not take, but they will be visited. They are in comfortable circumstances, having several houses in Maitland. May the Lord save the souls of that family is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 12, 1899, 16)
Lt 13, 1899
Wessels, Philip Refiled as Lt 141, 1898.
Lt 14, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister John “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in HFM 44; 3MR 23-24. + Dear Brother and Sister John Wessels:
I have just read your letter, and I cannot but think it is in the providence of God that you can be released from your work in South Africa. We have now come to the point where we must have a Sanitarium. I ask you to carefully peruse the letters that have been set to the General Conference.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 1)
Within a few weeks we have seen of the salvation of God. Many things have been presented before me which have made a deep impression on my mind. In the night season I saw two large companies of earnest, anxious people, separated some distance from one another, some with their hands uplifted to God, and others with their hands stretched toward us, imploring us to come over and help them. The words were spoken, They are as sheep without a shepherd, The words of Christ to his disciples were, “Say not ye, There are four months and then cometh harvest? Behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” [John 4:35.]
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 2)
From the very first meeting of our camp in Brisbane, Queensland, the tent was crowded, and every meeting was intensely interesting. This interest continued all through the camp. Members of Parliament with their families attended the meetings. It was a surprise to us to see so many interested ones. The Spirit of the Lord was with His people there, and no less than forty will take their stand in this place.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 3)
At the close of the camp meeting, W. C. White and Sara McEnterfer accompanied me to Rockhampton. On Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon I spoke in the largest hall in the city. On Sabbath we assembled with the church in a smaller hall. W. C. White spoke in the forenoon, and I in the afternoon. The Lord came very near to us. The people in this place needed help, and they were much encouraged. On Monday night I spoke once again to the church in Rockhampton, and then we started on our journey back to Brisbane.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 4)
We decided to hold a camp meeting at Newcastle, supposing it would be the smallest we had yet held. But at this meeting we had the largest audiences during the week days that we have ever had at any camp meeting. When we appointed the meeting, we had some fears that it might not be a favorable time because of the holidays. But the interest was kept up over the two Sabbaths and Sundays, and at the meetings held every evening in the week, there appeared no diminishing of the interest. We believe now that we appointed the meeting at the right time. People came from places from twenty to forty miles distant. The ground was a solemn place. We believe and know that the Lord of hosts was on the encampment, and that this company and the one at Brisbane were the two large companies that I saw in the visions of the night.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 5)
Each day health talks were given, generally by Dr. Caro. The leading citizens of the place were so interested that they expressed their desire that he should open a branch sanitarium in Newcastle. On one evening after the Sabbath the doctor addressed an audience of nearly three thousand. On Sunday afternoon about two thousand were out, and I spoke to them on temperance. In the evening again over two thousand people were out.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 6)
In order to carry on the meetings, we have been compelled to purchase a tent. This cost us $300. It is on the ground now, and meetings are still being held. Brother Herbert Lacey and his wife have located in Newcastle. Brother Colcord’s family is in Cooranbong, but he labors in Newcastle. Brother and Sister Starr, with others, are also laboring there. These workers are [also] taking in Maitland and the suburbs of Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 7)
We see that the fields are already white unto the harvest. Surely the way is now opening for us to do a large work in medical missionary lines. We want your help just now, and we would draw you to Australia. Everything is prepared for the erection of buildings. If you could come in a short time, and we could find a place favorable for the work at once, the £500 that we are planning to spend in erecting moveable bathrooms, need not be expended. We must have help. The means we shall obtain from America will be used for school purposes and for sanitariums. The sooner you can come here, the better. Come.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 8)
Sometime since, I was instructed in regard to your brothers. Henry has good impulses, but he is not stable. His mind is affected by that which he sees and hears, and this makes him changeable. If he and his wife were located where they would be connected with those who have a deep and living experience, a stability of character, he would become firm. Efforts such as have not been made must be made to bind these young men, every soul of them, by strong, pleasant influences, by giving them something to do. Men are needed in every phase of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 9)
Health foods are to be manufactured in Cooranbong, and are to be sent out to every place where the standard of truth is uplifted. The secular papers are dealing with the question of the cattle that are brought to the market diseased. Out of twenty cattle, only one or two are pronounced fit for consumption. This is arousing the reasoning mind. What can be done to take the place of flesh meat, the people ask. This is our time to work in proper lines, to go forth in the spirit of Elijah and prepare the way of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 10)
Every soul of the Wessels family may win eternal life, but they need to get away from their associates in Africa and enter different society. You speak of England. Do not encourage yourself to think that this place is the best place for you to begin your work. Nothing is prepared there at present. We have been at work here for seven years, and have been handicapped and unable to do that which should have been done, for want of facilities. We now have earnest workers, who have a holding influence, and we say, Australia is all ready for advance moves. It will not now take years to break down the prejudice.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 11)
There is great need just now of a sanitarium, and a favorable location for the erection of a sanitarium proper. If you were on the ground today, you could take in the situation. Already two offices have been secured in Newcastle, a field where the standard was not lifted until our camp meeting there. We have assurance that this is the place in which to work now.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 12)
England is the hardest field, the very hardest part of the Lord’s vineyard. Prejudice is strong against anything that turns the people out of old paths into new. Success in the work must cost years of persevering labor. Something must be done in that country with means from our own people, and something will be done; but now God would have the work established in this field, Australia, which is ripe for the harvest. He would have memorials raised among his people here, in the shape of sanitariums and schools, to give to the work a character proportionate to its unspeakable importance.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 13)
Then when we have obtained a standing here, when we have facilities with which to advance, we can prepare workers to carry the same work to England. Your family, the Wessels, have invested means in the various necessities of the work. That means was all the Lord’s. It has been and is being used to do good. But where are the men who made such liberal donations? Individually they are of more value than a world full of gold and silver, and ways must be devised to save these men. We want their souls. We desire that they should unite with solid laborers who have a burden for souls. These men need now, just now, to take their stand under the banner of Prince Emmanuel.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 14)
The Lord is now going before us here. But you will see by reading the appeals which God has signified I should make to our people, that facilities must be provided for us. If you were on the ground now, a move would be made for the establishment of a sanitarium at once. Then we could better represent the greatness and importance of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 15)
The work that has been done in this place, Cooranbong, is the marvel of all who understood the situation before we broke ground here. The money donated by the Wessels has not been donated for nought. A great work has been done and is being done, and all that has kept us back has been the lack of proper facilities with which to work. If I were in America and could speak to my people myself, I should have no fears but that means would come. I tell you, the angel of the Lord is going before us. Right here in Cooranbong, at Dora Creek and other villages, great changes have taken place, and when the work was opened at Newcastle, we can truly say that the mighty General of armies was on the ground. I never attended a meeting which left a better impression on the community. Men and women came to the tent who were not in the habit of attending any place of worship, and they are now seeking the Lord. Whole families are being converted. Beer and tobacco devotees are taking their stand for the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 16)
The Lord is at work. We want your family, my brother, to connect with us in the work of advance here. They are not to be left to drift, but are to be gathered into the fold, to enjoy the riches of the grace of Christ. God is behind all His promises. He distinctly pledges Himself to answer prayer. The Word of the living God is an assurance, so positive and ample that it leaves no room for mistake or limitation. God invites to prayer, and promises to answer. We are taking Him at His word, which is Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus. His resources cannot be exhausted. He challenges all who will to prove the Lord God of hosts, and see, if they will do their part, what He will do in their behalf. See Malachi 3.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 17)
The promise is, Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. [Matthew 7:7.] We are to stand as minute men, ready to fall into place as God’s men of opportunity. I praise the Lord with heart and soul and voice that all things are possible to those that believe. No one coming to the Lord in sincerity of heart will be disappointed. It is a wonderful thing that we can pray effectually, that unworthy, erring fallible mortals possess the capability of offering their requests to God. What higher power can man desire than this—to be linked with the infinite God? Feeble, sinful man has the privilege of speaking to his Maker. We utter words that reach the throne of the Monarch of the universe. We pour out our hearts desire from our closets. Then we go forth to walk with God as did Enoch.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 18)
We speak with Jesus Christ as we walk by the way, and He says, I am at thy right hand. We may commune with God in our hearts, and we may walk in companionship with Christ. When engaged in our daily labor we breathe out our heart’s desire inaudible to any human ear, but that word cannot die away into silence, nor can it be lost, though the activities of business are going on. Nothing can drown the soul’s desire. It reaches God’s ear; it rises above the din of the street above the noise of machinery. It is God to whom we are speaking, and the prayer is heard. Ask then; ask, and ye shall receive.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 19)
Again I come to the point. We have a strong desire that your brother and sister shall be placed where temptation shall not enfold them, where Satan shall not have cause to triumph because he has beguiled them from Jesus Christ. The salvation of the human soul is precious.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 20)
My brother, I have expected some help from America, which we ought to have had long ago. Having spoken, I now leave this matter in the hands of God. I have had strong encouragement to believe that you would come to Australia, and that you would while here, be the means of drawing your brothers to engage in some line of the work which would be a blessing to them. They now have a keen appetite for money. They engage in enterprises which promise to increase their revenue. Better, ten thousand times better would it be for them to bend every energy of soul and body to secure that life which measures with the life of God. And this striving will not spoil any human being for a right hold on this life.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 21)
We are prepared for you now. A sanitarium is needed in New South Wales. The way is not now hedged up, but how soon it may be, we know not. The medical missionary work should be established in every city. If we can erect a suitable building on a good location, we shall be able to establish branches in several important cities. We have not the least doubt but that these institutions will sustain themselves. Dr. Caro takes well with the people. He has gained the confidence of merchants, bankers, and others in the highways of life. We feel that the Lord would now have us go forward. The enthusiasm manifested by the people is not a vain, superficial, transient feeling, but a genuine desire to take hold with sympathy, and [to] help with influence and, it may be with means in the medical missionary work.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 22)
During the camp meeting in Newcastle, collections of nearly four pounds were taken up after some of the meetings, and after others three pounds, then shillings. This tells something of the interest. To delay now would be to disobey God. We must work. Newcastle is a place of special interest, for it is only twenty-five miles from where our school is located, and from where the manufacturing of health foods will be carried on. It is a coal mining center, and hundreds of boats and vessels come into the port. Maitland, only twenty-two miles from Newcastle, is a beautiful place, and work is now being done in that place and also in other places not far from Newcastle. The news of the camp meeting has been noised abroad everywhere.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 23)
We need now to co-operate with God. When the cloud settles, signifies that we are to work there, there it is we want to work. If we know that you could be with us soon, we would not invest the money we were planning to in bathrooms. I have asked Dr. Caro to write you the particulars, and I will not write any more in regard to this matter. I hope to hear from you as soon as this reaches you, telling us what to expect. Be sure to read every line of the enclosures I am sending to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 24)
I cannot tell you how my heart rejoices to hear of Philip’s return to the faith. Philip is a capable man, and once established in the faith he will help the whole family. But one thing I urge you to do. Be sure and warn Henry and Daniel to be on their guard. They need to be closely connected with religious influences. May the Lord help them and you to connect as far as possible in Australia. Henry needs to be where there is a strong religious life. He is easily influenced, either in a right or wrong direction. As yet he does not seem to be riveted to the eternal Rock. Had he been connected with the influences that exist here, he would have heard a voice of counsel and authority from God which he would not have resisted. But the influence that makes itself felt must be exerted over and over again. He must hear the same thing from different voices until the impression is indelibly stamped on his mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 25)
Heaven is worth striving for. Henry should not be where he will be influenced by associates who cannot help him. He needs a firm hold of God, a conscious, living experience. O that he would see that strong, steadfast minds are needed in the cause and work of God. O that he would realize that he must not be so easily swayed. If he would study his Bible more, he would be more steadfast.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 26)
We have the highest, grandest work upon the earth. We need to understand that we shall meet with circumstances that require keen discernment and first-class judgment. In whatever work we are engaged, we are to reprove, rebuke, exhort, weeping with those that weep, seeing the peril of souls, striving earnestly to snatch souls from Satan’s grasp. Thus we become laborers together with God. God calls for personal, consecrated activity. We want every member of the Wessels family to hear the call, and obey the bidding of the Master, “Go work today in my vineyard.” [Matthew 21:28.] I feel the deepest interest for every member of the Wessels family. Satan is playing a game adapted to the temperament of every member of the family. But the love of God in the soul is a wonderful regulator of character. God is seeking to form characters aright. Every one who would be saved must be willing to be molded in accordance with the principles of the divine law.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 27)
But I have written enough. I wish I could see you face to face. Then we could pray together, meekly and humbly, as little children. We would be so truthful that God would bless us.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 28)
With love to all the family.
(14LtMs, Lt 14, 1899, 29)
Lt 15, 1899
Children of Sister A. E. Wessels NP February 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in ML 54, 158. + To Mrs. A. E. Wessels’ Children—especially Dan:
I am much troubled in regard to Sister Wessels’ children. I have seen the danger of the youth. Daniel Wessels, I have a message from the Lord to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 1)
“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully, and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say unto my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” [Luke 12:16-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 2)
The Lord’s eye is upon every soul. This rich man was dependent upon God for every breath he drew, dependent upon God to keep the living human machinery in motion. He was in the Lord’s house, this world, by sufferance, because of the Lord’s mercy and goodness. Had the protection of God been withdrawn, he would have been under the control of Satan, the enemy of God. The Lord had given the rain, the dew, the sunshine, which caused vegetation to flourish, else this rich man would have had no harvest. But his selfish heart did not realize that God owns the world. All land is the Lord’s. All the facilities which make the land productive belong to God. None of the things that the rich man was handling, and which he called his own, were his own. Every facility for obtaining riches was granted him by God. All was lent treasure, which he was to handle as a faithful steward. He was to trade on his Lord’s goods.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 3)
The Lord opens an account with all His stewards. Their present and eternal interest depends upon the character of their stewardship. If they trade faithfully upon the Lord’s goods, acknowledging Him as the owner of all their blessings and all the means that they are handling, they will be greatly blessed. But if they use the Lord’s money to gratify selfishness, to glorify themselves, they will be called upon to render an account to the Giver. They have in their hands the Lord’s money or the Lord’s goods.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 4)
Let them remember the foolish rich man, who said in his boasting pride, I have no place where to bestow my fruits. And he said, “This will I do: I will pull down my barns and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say unto my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” [Verses 18-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 5)
This parable, if there were no other, is sufficient warning to those who have been entrusted with their Lord’s goods, but who pursue a course similar to that of the foolish rich man. His calculation was all for himself. He did not stop to consider that his life was the Lord’s, that all he was handling was the Lord’s, to be used for the advancement of the work and cause of God in our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 6)
The Lord accomplishes His work through humanity. Christ clothes His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity. In condescending to take humanity, Christ exalted humanity. The Majesty of heaven, Commander in the heavenly courts, he revealed in person the similitude of the character of God before the world. He lived the law of God. He says, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.”“If ye keep my commandments, and abide in his love.” [John 15:10.] Should this restraint of required obedience make anyone unhappy? Hear what Christ says, “These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” [Verse 11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 7)
There is no true joy except Christ’s joy. All the supposed happiness a man fancies he can gain without Christ will prove to be as ashes, a disappointment. Do not suppose for a moment that an irreligious man can be a happy man. The Lord has placed every human being on test and trial. He desires to prove and try us, to see if we will be good and do good in this life, to see if he can trust us with eternal riches, and make us members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 8)
Nothing can enter the heavenly courts that will work at cross-purposes with God. “For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” [Matthew 16:26, 27.] In God’s sight the whole world sinks into insignificance when compared with the value of one soul. No one to whom the Lord has revealed the glories of the eternal world, as He has to me, His humble servant, can place his hope and his soul’s interest in this world, now ripe for destruction because of the wickedness of man.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 9)
I ask you, my dear friend, What will it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Your life is an uncertain matter. You may count on years of worldly pleasure, but disease or accident, something you have made no provision for, may suddenly cut you off, and you will be unready. Your reason, which you think is above the average of human beings, may be taken from you in a moment by death. Satan is the destroyer. Suffering and misery are in his ranks, and if you stand under his banner, the black banner of rebelling against God, refusing to keep His commandments, the mandate may go forth at any moment, Cut down the unfruitful tree. Why cumbereth it the ground?
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 10)
A special invitation is now given you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. At times you have been convicted, but you have neglected to listen to the invitation of the Holy Spirit, and whereas you should now be fully on the Lord’s side, loyal and true to your heavenly Father, you are as the prodigal son. Daniel Wessels, are you in any way responding to the love God expressed for you when He gave His only begotten Son that you might have eternal life? But eternal life is granted only on condition of obedience. It means much to you, my dear friend, whether you stand under the black banner of rebellion, or under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel. Christ has said, “He that is not for me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” [Matthew 12:30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 11)
Remember that you can be a laborer together with God. You can surrender your life to Jesus Christ, and thus become a channel of light to your brothers and sisters, expressing the love of God that has been shown for the members of the Wessels family, and that is broad enough to take in all with whom you come in contact. The divine current of grace is received from Christ, and wherever there is a receiving, there is to be a work of imparting.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 12)
The Lord calls you, Daniel, Go work today in My vineyard. I have work that you can do to glorify My name. You are not your own. You are bought with a price. The Lord loves you. He calls, My son, give Me thine heart. You are Mine by creation, Mine by redemption. You can be a co-worker with Jesus Christ. The Lord has given you talents, and these talents are to be used to His name’s glory. The responsibility of every soul is exactly proportionate to the privileges and opportunities that God has given him. I have to tell you that you have not given your heart to the Lord. You have been showing contempt for the Lord. Thus did not Daniel of sacred history. He was but a youth when with his friends he was taken captive to Babylon. But he stands before the universe of heaven, before the worlds unfallen, and before a rebellious world, as a bright example of what the grace of God can do for a man in his character-building.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 13)
The work of Christ is to restore the moral image of God in man. The Lord purposed what Daniel should be, and Daniel gave himself up, with all his God-given energies, to work out the plan of his Creator. He was quite young, only about sixteen years old, when he was brought to Babylon. It was not his choice to serve in these courts, to be exposed to all the profligacy, the gluttony, and the spendthrift habits of that heathen nation. But he set his heart to serve the Lord there. In his character-building he co-operated with God. He stood under Christ’s banner as a loyal subject of the heavenly King. He was a man whom God called “greatly beloved.” [Daniel 9:23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 14)
As he [Daniel] educated himself to reach the highest standard of character, he carried with him fragrance of the character of Christ. He was kind and submissive. He made friends with those who had charge over him, yet he would not swerve one inch from true, pure, righteous principles. He was willing to meet all the requirements of those who had rule over him, when he could do this consistently; but all the kings of the earth, all the nobles, all the men in power and authority, could not lead him to do one action that would mar his character. He was determined to be true to his God.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 15)
Daniel’s example is before you. The Lord says, You can be like him in character. Will you remain away from Christ? Will you choose to be against Christ? You are either building for time and eternity the kingdom of Christ in our world, or you are devoting your God-given powers of mind and body to the work of Satan.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 16)
The Lord says to you through His servant, You have but little time to work. “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; ... if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shall thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous, he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, yea, every good path.” [Proverbs 2:1, 2, 4-9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 17)
Your dangers are presented before me. I love your soul. I want to see you aroused by the truth. You have been planning without God. Just as surely as you follow your own judgment, so surely will you waste the Lord’s goods in your investments. You have confidence in your own inexperienced judgment, but I warn you in the name of the Lord to take heed now, before you go any deeper into temptation. The fear of the Lord is true religion, and is profitable for this world, and for the eternal world for which we need a preparation in order to meet the Lord in peace. Come to the Word. Search the Scriptures. A strict compliance with God’s Word, obedience to the revealed will of God, is your only safety, and is good for the health of body and mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 18)
The fruit of the Spirit is temperance as well as other excellencies. You are bought with a price; you are not your own. All that you may come into possession of is the Lord’s, and for it you must give a strict account. The Lord is testing and proving every man, to see whether he will be conscientious and true. To God’s whole family is given a trust in talents of influence and talents of money. These are not their own, to be used as they please. They are the Lord’s goods, and to Him every human agent is held accountable.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 19)
I cannot endure the thought that you should make a mistake. The talent of influence, the voice, the words, all are God’s gifts. We are to use every physical and spiritual capability, not to please ourselves, but to please God. God requires you to be strictly temperate, that your intellect may be unimpaired. He desires you to use all the powers He has given you in counterworking the work of the enemy.
(14LtMs, Lt 15, 1899, 20)
Lt 16, 1899
Wessels, Daniel “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 2, 1899 Previously unpublished. My Dear Young Friend:
I address you this morning. I have strong appeals to make to you, before in your self-confidence under the training of the enemy, you separate yourself from God, whose you are by creation and by redemption. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 1)
Paul’s injunction to Titus was, “Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.... For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” [Titus 2:6-8, 11-14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 2)
Are you among that peculiar people, Daniel? Have you come out from under the black banner of Satan, who inspired the priests and rulers to kill the Saviour? Have you taken sides with Jesus Christ? Think of the love Jesus has expressed for you, in that He has permitted you to live while showing Him disrespect, while rejecting His companionship and walking with the enemy of God. How does the universe of heaven look upon you, Daniel? God calls for you. He wants young men who are strong to give Him that which He has purchased with His own life.
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 3)
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” [John 1:4, 5.] This is a representation of your case. He “was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” [Verse 10.] Shall the heavenly universe look upon you as one of those who have no appreciation of Christ, as one of those who receive Him not? “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” [Verse 12.] The Lord would have you accept Christ as your personal Saviour; for unless your hope of eternal life is centered in Him, and you give Him your heart’s best and holiest affections, you will not gather with Him; you will scatter abroad. Can you afford to run this risk, and thus work away from Christ?
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 4)
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.... And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” [Verses 14, 16.] The more grace you receive through a full and complete acceptance of Christ by faith, the more grace will you show forth in your talent of speech and your talent of influence. You will exert a saving influence upon others, and thus work to win souls into safe paths. As you receive grace from Christ, you will acknowledge that grace, and will impart it to others. And in doing this you will place yourself on Christ’s side as a worker together with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 5)
“The end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” [1 Peter 4:7, 10.] Here is your work, Daniel. God calls you to this work. Bring to God yourself and the talent of means which He has permitted you to control, that He might prove you, to see whether you will be a faithful steward of His property. Please read the first chapter of Second Peter. This chapter is written for the instruction and enlightenment and special help of all who desire a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 6)
That God whose you are by creation and by redemption has laid upon me the work of instructing and warning you. He who gave His life for you, that you might have all the help that is in Christ, that you might become a child of God, an heir with Jesus Christ to the immortal inheritance, bids me tell you that He wants you to work in His vineyard. You are not to bind up your talent of means in a napkin, burying it as did the unfaithful steward, so that this means shall not be used to advance the work of God in the world. God calls upon you to receive wisdom from Him, that your life here may be a success, and that against your name in the records of heaven may be written the words, “Well done.” [Matthew 25:21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 7)
God bids me to say to you, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” [Ephesians 6:11.] Your only safety is in placing yourself in the channel of divine light, and associating with those who are striving for that life which measures with the life of God. You will have strong temptation to associate with those who are worldly-minded, those whose advice and influence is not of a character to strengthen you in religious things. You will have inducements to follow your own inclinations. But you need not place yourself where the influence of your associates will make it difficult for you to distinguish between the sacred and the common. Be afraid to trust your inclinations. Do not make it impossible for the Lord to save your soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 8)
That soul of yours is possessed of wonderful capabilities. It is furnished with all the sufficiency of heaven, that you may make straight paths for your feet, and by your example help those who are weak to make straight paths for their feet. Lift up the hands that hang down, strengthen the feeble knees. You can improve in intellect, and in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 9)
You have a heaven to win and a hell to shun. You have a mansion which Jesus had gone to prepare for you, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, a city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. “For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.” [Hebrews 11:14, 15.] But let it be said of Daniel Wessels, Now he desires a better country, that is a heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called his God, for He hath prepared for him a city with golden streets and pearly gates and a foundation of precious stones.
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 10)
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, which yielded her fruit every month: And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever....
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 11)
“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.... And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” [Revelation 22:1-5, 12-14, 17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 16, 1899, 12)
Lt 17, 1899
Children of Sister Wessels “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 2, 1899 Previously unpublished. To the children of Sister Wessels:
The Lord Jesus has need of every soul He has created. He died that not one need perish, but that all might come to Him, believe in Him, and have everlasting life. He is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. His mercy, His love, His compassion, is without a parallel. According to His abundant mercy He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 1)
Now is our time of probation, in which we can show that we appreciate the great sacrifice of the guiltless, pure, holy Son of God. He gave His sinless life for the transgressor, that the transgressor might, through receiving Christ, stand before the Father innocent, because Christ has taken the sinner into covenant relation with Himself. He bears the guilt and punishment of the transgressor, that His merits, His sinless purity, may be imputed to the repenting, believing sinner.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 2)
Can it be possible that one soul will neglect this great salvation, and show by word or action that he has no appreciation of the privileges, the blood-bought privileges, obtained for him by the Saviour? This is the test question for every human being, the test question for every son and daughter of Mother Wessels. God would answer the prayer of mother and friends. He desires the children to give their life-service to Him whose they are by creation and by redemption. The only happiness that any of these dear children can have, in this world or in the future life, is by showing faith in Jesus Christ and rendering obedience to His requirements.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 3)
In this wicked and perverse generation, where wickedness and sin are deep and widespread, God calls, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] Why did Christ humble Himself to become meek and lowly? Because it was the only way that any of the human family could be saved. God wants men and women to have rest.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 4)
Christ says, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.] He has laid down the conditions of salvation. He gave His holy life to secure eternal life for every one who will come to Him and believe in Him as his personal Saviour. He took the nature of man that He might stand in the form of humanity before the heavenly universe, before the worlds unfallen, and before a fallen world, and make a propitiation for the sins of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 5)
Had Christ come to our world with the glory He had with the Father before the world was created, He could not have saved fallen man. He could not have made the sacrifice of His life, that He might in His death pay the penalty of sin, that every transgressor of the law must bear who does not accept of Christ as the ransom, the Sin-bearer. Those who believe in Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour will show that they appreciate the offering of infinite value, and will reveal to an apostate world that they do not need to be compelled to love Christ, that they choose Him with heart, soul, and voice to be their King, their acknowledged counsellor, their precious, self-denying, self-sacrificing Saviour, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God.” [Hebrews 12:2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 6)
“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” This is the part man must act willingly and manfully. “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your mind.” [Verses 2, 3.] When the reason is sound and wholesome, every soul will choose that which the heart under conviction tells him is right. The Lord will never force one soul to accept Him. We are to accept Him because we love Him, and because the heart and judgment approve of His requirements, even though fidelity brings self-denial and self-sacrifice, inconvenience and poverty, shame and reproach. He, the Lord of life and glory, bore all this for fallen man, and all who would be partakers of Christ’s glory must be partakers with Him of His suffering.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 7)
All who consider it inconvenient to sign their names as believers in the truth as it is in Jesus will never have their names recorded as overcomers in the Lamb’s book of life. They choose the society and association of worldlings, and will have their portion at last with them. The public acknowledgment of the truth proceeds from the inward working of the Holy Spirit upon the heart and character, which consecrates every faculty to God’s service.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 8)
I see your danger; therefore I am entrusted with a message for you. The talent of speech is a gift of God. It is not to be abused, not to be placed on the side of Satan. It is to be used as God’s gift, to declare His wisdom, His wondrous works, His great love wherewith He hath loved us. The treasures of His grace and wisdom are to be communicated through the human agent. The cultivation of the intellect is to be appreciated, for this is to do service for God. The treasure of means, likewise, is not to be used, as was the rich man’s in the Word, to glorify self, to destroy by self-indulgence his God-given manhood.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 9)
You are not to lay your powers on the altar of self-pleasing and self-gratification. At any time when man reaches this place, the words may be spoken to him: “This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure to himself and is not rich toward God.” [Luke 12:20, 21.] You may place yourself in the society of those whom you do not realize are mischievous deceivers. You may spend your means unwisely, thinking to do some great thing, and thus double that which you have. Or, you may increase your earthly treasure by making a right use of your means. You may see the wants of the cause of God, and say, Dear Lord, of thine own I freely give thee.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 10)
I borrowed means from your mother, and we have invested this in the work of God! It is left with you to say whether you will lay up this treasure as God’s own money, or withdraw it and invest it in worldly enterprises. You are the stewards of this means. I could wish for your sake that you would willingly pass back to the Lord His own lent treasure. But what you do we would have you do willingly and gladly, as though for God’s service. I received your word that this means, now invested in buildings in Cooranbong, could be retained here just one year longer. If you cannot bring your minds to transfer this sum to the cause of God, will you let the school have this means for five years at interest? I will be responsible for this. If you will do this, please let me know, and papers will be made out regarding this at once.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 11)
I know that should you make this gift, you would not lose it in an unwise investment, but would place it in the bank of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 12)
You may think Sister White very free to write you thus. I am God’s servant. I am engaged in His work. I see new fields opening all round us here, and money taken from the work just now means much to us. In Brisbane a meetinghouse is to be built. A company of no less than forty have taken their stand for the truth. There have been most wonderful conversions of entire families.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 13)
These people are laboring men and women. They have not a large amount of this world’s goods. Many of them have large families to support, but they have accepted the truth and run the risk of losing their situations, because they will not work on the day which they now see to be God’s memorial. Many of these conversions were made right out of the world, among men and women who had never known what it means to love God and keep His commandments. The interest in Brisbane continues. I have secured one hundred pounds for them to begin to build with. Another hundred we expect the Lord will send in answer to our prayers. The old tent they are using leaks like a sieve, and they have no place in which to preach the Word of God in season and out of season.
(14LtMs, Lt 17, 1899, 14)
Lt 18, 1899
Rousseau, Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 3, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Rousseau:
I have a few words to say to you. You are not walking in the way cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. You are presented to me as in great spiritual danger. You are walking away from Christ. I am so sorry, for this means the loss of your own soul and the precious souls under your influence. Let us hear what the Lord says: “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 1)
The words of inspiration come from the lips of Paul: “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” [Verses 14-16.] “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 7:1.]
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 2)
My sister, I beseech you to humble your heart before God. You have a sacred, holy trust in your children, and you need, O so much, the counsel of God. You need to guard every step you take, lest you form some alliance with worldly elements that will place you and your dear ones in positions where it will be difficult for them to follow the Saviour. The salvation of the human soul is more precious than any other earthly consideration. It is a terrible thing to be lost, without God and without hope in the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 3)
Christ is calling you just now, my sister. Hear His voice, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] In your children God has placed upon you a great responsibility. Will you separate these dear ones from the influences which would lead them to their Saviour? You will do this just as surely as you do not realize your accountability to God. You need to awaken to your solemn responsibilities. Satan will exult if he can manage you according to his hellish purpose, and through you he will manage your children.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 4)
You are a mother. Do you, would you, wish to separate these dear ones, whom Jesus loves, from the blessings which the Saviour yearns to give them? You need to heed the admonition: “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold and of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” [1 Peter 3:3, 4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 5)
Mothers have a great responsibility resting upon them. They need to walk carefully and circumspectly before the Lord whose they are by creation and by redemption. I feel an intense interest in you, my dear sister, for the enemy is seeking to destroy you. The dear Saviour looks with pitying tenderness upon you and your precious charge. He says to you, Bring your burdens and perplexities to Me. I will be Father unto you, and ye shall be My children.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 6)
Guard carefully your own soul. Christ asks, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” [Mark 8:36, 37.] How many are selling their souls in a cheap market. I would have you awake, my dear sister. I would have you come to your Saviour. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. Seek the Lord earnestly. Humble your heart before Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 7)
You need an abiding Christ. You cannot afford to let go your hold of the Saviour. He is your light. He is the Way; He is the Truth. He says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction: and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” [Matthew 7:13, 14.] Why do they not find it? Because the gate is too narrow to admit worldly propensities, pride, selfishness, and display; But that broad and easy way—does it lead to heaven? No; to destruction, and many there be that follow it.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 8)
The Lord Jesus is calling you to follow Him. “He that will come after me,” He says, “let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] Is it not desirable to have God as your Father and the Father of your dear children? He says to you, “Abide in me.” [John 15:4.] While there are many who claim to believe in Christ, many do not obey His requirements.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 9)
To some extent they trust in Christ, but they have not that deep and thorough experience which a spiritual union with the Saviour brings. They do not know what it means to abide in Christ. Many have yet to learn this lesson. Christ asks for the whole heart, the whole affections. Only when there is an entire surrender to Jesus Christ can there be a oneness with Christ. And God loves those who are united with Christ, even as He loves His own Son.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 10)
The church today is weak where it might be strong, because there are so few who have an abiding Christ. Because of this weak condition God’s people suffer great loss, and the world that needs the living testimony of Christians also suffers loss. It does not see the pure, holy example that should be a bright and shining light amid its moral darkness. This world of sin and transgression needs the light which those who claim to love and serve God should reveal.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 11)
Christ says, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house.” [Matthew 5:14, 15.] How are God’s children to stand in the world? Are they to reveal a character that is just like the world? Are they to live for show and parade, display and self-indulgence? If all who claim to believe in Christ as their personal Saviour would be doers of His Word, they would be elevated above the customs, practices, and policies of the world. They would exert an influence in the home that would reach to every member of the family.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 12)
The words of Christ to every true follower are, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Verse 16.] Then comes the lesson which sounds down along the line to our time, when the great crisis question in regard to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is agitating the world. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill (every specification of that law, and verify before the world its immutability). For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” [Verses 17-20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 13)
I leave now, to take the train for Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 14)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 18, 1899, 15)
Lt 19, 1899
Caro, E. R. Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia February 8, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother:
We came to Newcastle on the noon train, and hoped to find you here. I wished to speak with you in regard to that which you mentioned—whether it was best for you to write to Dr. Kellogg for a specified sum of money. I meant to have said, It is not best. I know the Doctor very well. Please not to make the slightest reference to anything I have written in regard to our needs here.
(14LtMs, Lt 19, 1899, 1)
Satan, once the most highly exalted being in the heavenly courts, is waiting and watching on the track of every soul, that he may take them with his guile. He can deceive, and make light appear darkness. In our letters to the doctor, I do not want to give any chance for the enemy to try him as he might do should you or any other man make a suggestion in reference to the things I have written him. Give the enemy no occasion to insinuate that you and I are linked together, that you represent things to me, and that I am moved by your ideas. You know the facts in the case, but the doctor does not. Let nothing further be said to him in regard to the matters of which I wrote, until I can get a response from him.
(14LtMs, Lt 19, 1899, 2)
The Lord has been pleased to lay this burden upon me, now I have done my duty. Let the Lord move upon His people in America to take hold of the work. I will trust all in His hands. We will be preparing to co-operate with God; we will hear His voice, and make ready for action.
(14LtMs, Lt 19, 1899, 3)
If you can send to John Wessels the things which I have told him you would send, he will get a better knowledge of the situation in this country. You can send a similar copy to Dr. Kellogg, to show him our destitution of means at this time, and the positive necessity of a sanitarium that may correspond to the work which is so important and so much needed now. When I see you, I will explain matters more fully. But when you write to the doctor, please make no reference to me in any way.
(14LtMs, Lt 19, 1899, 4)
Now I have a word of caution to give you, my brother. You are not to take on so many burdens. Will you please consider this question. You are in danger. You should eat intelligently, as you direct others to eat. Take time to eat, secure the most nourishing food, and eat as regularly as possible. You must not feel it your duty to take on so many burdens. You must rest brain, nerve, and muscle. I entreat you not to be reckless, not to draw too heavily upon your health bank deposit. Be cautious. I look at the young men who are broken down when they ought to be in their prime, and I feel that it is my duty to caution you. We want you to be preserved in a condition of excellent health.
(14LtMs, Lt 19, 1899, 5)
Lt 20, 1899
Wessels, Philip “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in LDE 236-237; 2MR 12; 4MR 362. + Dear Brother Philip Wessels:
Your brother John’s letter contains the good news that you have decided to come back to the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. I am so glad; but the Lord Jesus is more pleased than it is possible for any one of us to be. I have never let go your case, and angels of God have guarded you, that you should not perish in your sin and transgression.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 1)
“How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” [Matthew 18:12-14.] “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty: he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” [Zephaniah 3:16, 17.] This is the interest that the heavenly universe manifests for the souls that have broken away from Satan’s power, and have come back to stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 2)
Let your consecration be full and entire. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] Gracious promise! The Holy Spirit alone is able to work with us, in us, and through us, giving us a character which God can approve. The Lord loves His people. With the growth of the Christian life there will come the want of a deeper and more perfect experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 3)
Nothing can meet the necessities of sinful, erring man but the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Let us thank God for this with all our heart. “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith that he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” [1 John 2:1-6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 4)
On one side the infinitely wise and all-powerful God proposes co-operation with His frail, erring creatures, whom He has placed on vantage ground. On one side is infinite wisdom, goodness, compassion, and power. On the other, weakness, sinfulness, absolute helplessness, poverty and dependence. We are dependent on God not only for life and all its blessings but for the entrusted faculties called talents, and all the resources which are required if we accept the invitation to become laborers together with God. If men and women will submit to the conditions which He makes, if they will take His yoke upon them and learn of Him, they will find rest unto their souls, for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Here the Lord lays down the condition they are to follow who labor with Him. Those who comply with these conditions will prove by happy experience the truth of the words, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:30.] They are then linked with a power and authority that is infinite.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 5)
My brother, let me tell you that the very thing we all individually need is the love of Christ in the soul. The great and wonderful relationship of God with man should fill us with awe and reverence for God. It should lead us to walk in meekness and lowliness of mind. We need to understand that there is no equality in authority between the parties who are to co-operate. The condescension of the highest powers of heaven to unite as co-workers in the great field opening before us in our world in evangelical enterprises, does not abate one jot or one tittle from His prerogatives as Jehovah. Through the infinite sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, His gift to the world to pay the ransom for man, we are placed on vantage ground. Through His imputed merits alone can man become as Paul expressed it a laborer together with God. “Ye are God’s husbandry,” he said, “Ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Under the Spirit’s working we are to bear fruit to God’s glory, as the ground when cultivated yields its fruits. “Ye are God’s building.”
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 6)
The material for the building is plainly specified in the first chapter of Second Peter. Man is to work constantly on the plan of addition, and God works on the plan of multiplication. Thus man grows in spirituality, in experience, until he presents to the world, to angels, and to men, such a perfection of character that in the heavenly courts the words are spoken, “Ye are complete in him.” [Colossians 2:10.] God has originated and proclaimed the principles on which both divine and human agencies are to combine in all spiritual achievements as well as temporal matters. They are to be linked together in all human pursuits, in mechanical and agricultural labors, in mercantile and scientific enterprises.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 7)
God’s glory is to be the motive in everything done on our world by those who have pledged themselves to be laborers together with God. There must be cooperation in everything which is embraced in Christian activity, in the building of meetinghouses for God. This is God’s work, and there are men of His appointment to whom He gives skill and understanding. If they will ask Him, and work in harmony with Him, He will show them how to do His work. In building, as they handle the tools, in every phase of the work let them apply the figure, “Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] If men will submit to God’s control, they will become a holy temple unto the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 8)
In the training of children all the divine principles must be applied. In the conversion of parents and children, this co-operation between divinity and humanity is to be fully carried out. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” [John 1:12.] Men, women, and children must submit their ways and their will to Christ. The success of every soul in the Christian life will be proportionate to the purity and cleanliness of the soul, the earnest fervor and zeal shown. Christ proclaims the principles upon which the service of God is to be conducted. It is not a sign of pure, consecrated service for every worker to hold his own ways. Every worker is to obey his leader cordially, to receive and diligently obey every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 9)
“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels of mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” [Philippians 2:1-7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 10)
“For I was alive without the law once,” Paul said, “But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the [law] is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” [Romans 7:9-13.] “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” [1 Corinthians 5:7.] He is a perfect and complete offering for all who believe. But we must have perfect faith in the complete sacrifice made, for without faith it is impossible to please God.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 11)
By faith the whole duty of man is made manifest, for his faith works by love and purifies the soul. The divine requirement is fully met and the solid foundation laid. Man can begin to lay upon that foundation his life work for time and for eternity. The whole question is settled. As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name. Peace and rest are found through faith in Christ Jesus, and in Him alone. The moment the sinner exercises true faith in Christ as a personal Saviour, then he surrenders self to Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offenses. He is the Sin-bearer. He takes away the sins of all who receive Him. These sins are not to be retained. He takes away the sins of the world by the complete sacrificial offering of Himself. “For what saith the Scriptures? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” [Romans 4:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 12)
Christ the innocent One takes the sin of the transgressor upon His divine soul and imputes to him, the deserving sinner, not his guilt, but Christ’s own righteousness. The sinner stands before God clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and a voice is heard in heaven saying, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.... I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgression unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found; surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” [Psalm 32:1, 2, 5-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 13)
There is to be in the believer a ceasing from sin and transgression; there is to be a decided reformation favorable to the restoring of the moral image of God in man. If man says, “I will and I do repent of my sins; I believe God has pardoned my transgressions;” if he lays hold by faith on Jesus Christ, and seeks for transformation in character, he co-operates with God in the great work of overcoming the defects in his character. But if he clings to his old perversities and carries with him his own natural traits of character, he shows that he has not the mind of Christ or the character of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 14)
Let no man deceive himself. The lesson given to Nicodemus is for every soul. Whoever he may be, his character needs reforming, and Christ says to him, “ye must be born again.” [John 3:7.] The overcomer alone will have the overcomer’s reward. He that endureth unto the end, perseveringly overcoming, shall be saved. “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry.” [Psalm 34:11-15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 15)
Every church has need of the Holy Spirit’s searching power. This alone can enable them to seek peace, to pursue that course which will bring peace to their own souls, to be faithful witnesses to Christ, testifying by their circumspect course of action that they have the mind of Christ. Those who do evil with their gossiping tongues, who sow discord by selfish ideas and thoughts by any jealousies, evil surmisings, or covetousness, they grieve the Holy Spirit of God, for they are working at cross-purposes with God, instead of answering the purposes of Christ, instead of answering to the prayer of Christ that His disciples may be one as He is one with the Father. They are working entirely in the lines the enemy has marked out.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 16)
“The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” [Verses 16-18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 17)
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” [Romans 8:26-31.] Wonderful statements!
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 18)
“We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry. ” The Lord is working, doing soul gardening, striving to bring all the capabilities of man into active working order that fruit shall appear to the glory of God. He presents another representation before us: “Ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] You are working in harmony with God co-operating with Him by placing yourself in right relation with Him that you may know the mind of God, and do as Christ declared He did. The Jews were finding fault with Christ, because He healed the man on the Sabbath day, and were determined to put an end to His life, but Jesus said to them, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” [John 5:17.] This made the Jews all the more angry. “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he had not only broken the Sabbath, but said God was his Father making himself equal with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 19)
“Then said Jesus unto them, Verily, verily I say unto you, the Son doeth nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son and showeth him all things that he himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these that ye may marvel.” [Verses 19, 20.] Wonderful words! Those then who believe the works that Christ did, do the works of the Father. There is to be co-operation with Christ, and the souls He came to save. What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him for us all, how can He [not] freely with Him give us all things? All the power is of God. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 20)
My brother, we are living in the last days. God will be our Strength, our Support, our ever present Helper, if we will only trust in Him. We are to make the best of our present opportunities. There will be no other probation given to us in which to prepare for heaven. This is our only and last opportunity to form characters which will fit us for the future home which the Lord has prepared for all who are obedient to His commandments. We can be saved only by forming characters like the character of Christ. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit will be shown by the outflowing of heavenly love. The Lord Jesus is our Sin-bearer. God covers the repenting sinner with His forgiveness, and hides the sin from the sight of God by clothing him with the perfection of righteousness. The more perfectly we are transformed to the image of God, the greater will be our hatred for sin; and we will work to save the sinner.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 21)
We are so thankful that you have come back to the truth and the love of God, to be a true, wholehearted follower of Jesus Christ. Wholeness and usefulness go hand in hand. There is a work for you to do, my brother. If you seek the blessing of God every day, you will be blessed every day. The Lord gives the Holy Spirit, and supplies all providential opportunities and facilities. We have much to encourage us to be pure and true, steadfast and loyal, to our God. May the Lord bless you abundantly is my prayer. I would so like to see you and converse with you, but you can talk with God where you are and I talk with God where I am.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 22)
In much love to yourself and family.
(14LtMs, Lt 20, 1899, 23)
Lt 21, 1899
Wessels, Family “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 4, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in AH 401. + To the members of the Wessels family:
There are men in families who have felt an impulse to give, and then regretted that they gave, as they supposed, under pressure of invitation. They have worried over the matter. And when these calls were made for means, they thought they could not respond. This was a cause of trial. Well, all these things have been a cause of temptation. Now, _____ thinks that when he obtains his means, he will invest them in worldly schemes. But the aftersight will show him that he might better, yes very much better, have not followed the example of the unfaithful steward, who hid his lord’s money in a napkin, and buried it in the earth, lest the Lord should ask him to return his own.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 1)
The Lord demands the service of every soul He has created, but there are some who will not realize their obligations to God, their dependence on God, their duty to advance the work and cause of God in our world. There are hearts that refuse the heavenly invitation to come to the gospel feast. The [Wessels] family need just as diligent, urgent, painstaking efforts manifested for their development of character as the poorest subject. Shall their money be a hindrance to their soul’s salvation? Shall those who are in responsible positions not watch for their souls as they that must give an account? Shall they not be faithful in their work? Shall they not take right hold of the older and younger brothers, and deal truly and faithfully with them? Has there not been a manifest neglect to speak the words of the oracles of God in warnings, in reproof, in encouragement, in any and every way, pointing them to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world?
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 2)
This family needs to know what is truth. They need faithful, tender, compassionate appeals made to them over and over again, because there is a hindrance to their character-building. What is it? The riches of this world. They do not see that without Christ they have need of everything. Christ, whose they are by creation and by redemption, does not want to lose them out of His great plan. Every soul is of value with God. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” [Mark 8:36, 37.] Do not these precious souls want to know the meaning of the words, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” [Mark 10:17.] Intelligence is knowledge. Everyone is called upon by God to obtain a knowledge of the future eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 3)
I speak to the young men, married and unmarried, of the [Wessels] family. A great work is before you, because you are bought with a price. It is for the welfare of your own souls to learn what that work is, lest you shall fail to be men of God’s appointment. Will you allow a little of this world’s goods to so influence your mind and character that you will care more for money than for Him who is the giver of all you possess? You will one day find that money cannot buy one day of existence. Shall your money be the stumbling stone over which you will fall? The Lord calls for your co-operation in the work of saving your souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 4)
A short time ago the situation of the individual members of the [Wessels] family was presented to me. There are those who need to make a surrender of soul, body, and spirit. They are living apart from Christ. They need to wear His yoke and learn His meekness and lowliness or they will surely perish with the wicked. As the root of evil will be consumed, so will every branch united with the root. The wants of your spiritual nature call for the words that I am writing to you. It is your necessity that leads me to speak to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 5)
Felix listened to Paul, but he did not enjoy the words which told of temperance, righteousness, and judgment to come. God gave Paul the words to give to Felix. They were just what he needed, and he was convicted and trembled under the influence of the truth. Under the eloquence of Paul, Agrippa was almost persuaded. “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” [Acts 26:28.] If he had only listened to the appeals, there would have been rejoicing in the heavenly courts. But the excuse came, “Go thy way, and when I have a more convenient season I will call for thee.” [Acts 24:25.]
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 6)
I hope you will not turn from the gospel message. Almost, not fully pursuaded, is to be lost. Be sure to place yourself in the channel of light. And I have to bear this message to you: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [1 John 2:15.] You have not one hour to waste. You need now to be preparing yourselves for the grand review which must soon take place, when all must be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, to see if they are complete in Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 7)
Your capacity to receive and appreciate the truth will largely determine the influence the Word of God has over your practices. “If any man do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” [John 7:17.] If you yield to the drawing of God, if you respond to the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb, you will, in accepting the truth, know by experimental knowledge the power of the gospel. “If any man shall do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” As you humbly receive the truth, accepting the yoke of Christ, you will find that as you follow on to know the Lord, your capacity to receive and understand the truth as it is in Jesus, and your power to obey the truth, will increase. But you must will to do the will of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 8)
If you receive the Lord Jesus Christ, taking His yoke upon you, you are yoked up with Christ, and every step you advance, you understand Him better. “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man which cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world ... received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.... And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [John 1:9-12, 14.] The power to become the sons of God is not in any human agent, but comes from Him who gave His life to save man from the yoke of Satan.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 9)
Who will now be indifferent to his own salvation? The word is to be received and believed, and then the power of the Holy Spirit works in blessing the word to the soul of the receiver. Then who, I ask, will be on the Lord’s side. Who will wear Christ’s yoke, and learn His meekness and His lowliness? The science of salvation is to be learned by every soul in personal experience. Who will now prepare the way for the second appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven?
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 10)
God gave men eyes, that they might behold wondrous things out of His law. He gave them the hearing ear that they might listen to His message, spoken by the living preacher. He gave men the talent of speech, that they might present Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
(14LtMs, Lt 21, 1899, 11)
Lt 22, 1899
Wessels, J. J. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 6MR 382-384. + Dear Brother:
In what I have written, I may have been more definite than is wise. All that I have written is truth, but in most cases it is best to say as little as possible in regard to another man’s duty. It is best to leave that other man to seek God most earnestly, and let the Lord impress his mind. If he has faith in God, and earnest yearning after souls, and is willing to be anything or nothing in the eyes of men, if he gives himself wholly to the service of Him whose he is by redemption and by creation, whether this brings elevation or humiliation, he will not walk in darkness.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 1)
If the Lord’s will is to be our will, we need at the very first to understand our selves. We may mark out a course for ourselves which may be born of our own ambitions or of some selfish purposes. The Lord knows the end from the beginning. He understands the relation that each man should sustain to God and to his fellow man. The Lord may see that one man’s connection with men of a certain disposition or character will affect those with whom he associates to their injury. He may not be one who can reason clearly from cause to effect. The men with whom he is brought in connection may be just the ones who will not help him where he needs help. The linking together of certain elements may produce unfavorable results.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 2)
Therefore man cannot trust to his own judgment. Experience will convince him of his mistake. The Lord purposes that which will be the greatest spiritual benefit to the soul which is in the balances, ready to begin some new enterprise which means more than he himself anticipates. What should such an one do? His only safety lies in putting his preferences and his plans on one side, saying, Not my will, but Thy will, O Lord, be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 3)
The lawyer came to Christ with the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ answered, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?”“He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” [Luke 10:25-28.] These are the two great principles of the law. Upon these two principles “hang all the law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:40.]
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 4)
In the smallest as well as the largest matters, the first great question is, What is God’s will in the matter; for His will is my will. To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? One man may be required by God to do a work and stand in a position that is peculiarly trying and taxing. The Lord has a work for him to do and he risks his life, his future eternal life, in [to] stand in that place. This was the position Christ occupied when He came to our world, entering into conflict with the rebel leader of the fallen angels. God devised a plan, and Christ accepted the position. He consented to meet the foe single-handed, as every human being must do. He was provided with all the heavenly powers to aid Him in this great conflict; and man, if he walks in the way and will of God, is provided with the same keeping power. The same heavenly intelligences minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation, that they overcome every temptation, great or small, as Christ overcame.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 5)
But anyone who places himself in a position of peril from any motive but obedience to the will of God will fall under the power of temptation. We are in constant peril if we expose ourselves in a way that our reason tells us is unnecessary. When any one places himself where he has no call from God to be, Satan is on the ground before him, to make the most of his opportunities. We are only safe in the place which serves every soul—in the cleft of the rock, covered by God’s hand. This was what received Moses when God passed by.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 6)
There are places enough for every man to labor and do his part as God has appointed. But no one is secure who thinks it his privilege to choose for himself. If any man or any youth shall go where duty does not call, he is not safe for a moment. There is work to be done on the right hand and on the left. We are to seek the treasure represented in God’s Word as the pearl of great price; because God has commanded us to sell all we have if need be to secure this treasure. There is need of young men in different branches of the work, there is need of old men, counsellors, men who can answer to the description given in Exodus 18:13-26.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 7)
The Lord requires the talents He has lent to men and women. They are to be used to do the most skillful service for the Lord. The history of the children of Israel is recorded for the benefit of the people of God in all time. God comes first. Anything that pertains to His work is to have special attention, for this work expresses the greatness and majesty of truth. The Lord calls for His gifts to be used with consecrated ingenuity. He calls for freewill offerings. Thus we may show that we realize that all we possess is the Lord’s, and that we are only His stewards.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 8)
My brother, I have written what I have because it was my duty to write it. I now leave the matter wholly with you. I have been quite explicit, as you have desired. If you feel that you have clear evidence to commence your work in Europe, the Lord will send us some one in His own good time. I leave the matter with you.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 9)
In love to your family.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 10)
Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 11)
February 3, 1899
I am now in Newcastle. I came up today, as notices were printed that I would speak on Sunday afternoon. W. C. White had just come from Melbourne, where he had been attending the Ballarat camp meeting, and he and Sister McEnterfer accompanied me to this place, which is only one hour’s ride on the train from Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 12)
Elder Starr reports that last night, Thursday evening, Dr. Caro addressed the people. The tent was full, and many seats were placed on the outside. After speaking on the health question the Doctor invited all who wished to join the Health Club to hand in their names. I think one hundred responded. The question came up, should they meet once each week? That was agreed upon, and then it was asked, Where should they meet? Should they hire a hall? The tent was offered to them for their meetings and this pleased them so much that there was a great clapping of hands to show approval.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 13)
The work is going forward, but more helpers are needed. I fear Dr. Caro is doing too much. He is operating now on several critical cases. Much work is being done in the Health Home, but the bathrooms are a disgrace to any sanitarium. The question now is, shall five hundred pounds be invested in the bathroom which we have decided we must have, or shall we wait. If it were certain that you would come at once, they could manage by making some temporary improvements. Let us know about this by cablegram. If you decide to come, cable how soon we may expect you.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 14)
In haste.
(14LtMs, Lt 22, 1899, 15)
Lt 23, 1899
Wessels, Sister [A. E.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 6, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Mrs. A. E. Wessels:
Last Friday February 3, W. C. White and Sara McEnterfer accompanied me to Newcastle. The Lord strengthened me to meet with those assembled on the Sabbath under the new tent. There was a good representation present. I spoke from John 6:27-40. The Lord helped me to speak with simplicity and clearness for forty-five minutes. Then we had a testimony meeting, the first of the kind since the camp meeting. No less than twenty bore their testimony for the first time, taking their position to keep the Sabbath. Some of those who bore witness for Jesus arose trembling and in tears, but when they were again seated the gladness of hearts was expressed by the smile on their faces. Their testimonies, I knew, made the heavenly intelligences rejoice, and our own hearts were full of grateful thanksgiving to God as we listened to the words spoken.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 1)
One man, who with his family has been converted, says he had not attended meeting for sixteen years. He has given up tobacco and liquor, and has accepted the truth. Another man, holding a position as a signalman on an important railway station at Newcastle, has accepted the truth, with his wife, his son, and his son’s wife. He is the father of eight boys. He bore a decided testimony in regard to his conversion to the truth, and his wife also witnessed heartily and decidedly. Then his daughter-in-law rose with tears in her eyes and witnessed to the truth. When she was seated again her smiles and tears were mingled.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 2)
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love: even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” [John 15:7-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 3)
The joy of Christ was in many hearts that Sabbath afternoon. This, you must bear in mind, was a new experience for these dear souls lately come to the faith. We knew that the heavenly Guest was among us. We not only had the promise, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” [Matthew 18:20], but we had the assurance that Christ was behind this promise, and that although He was unseen by natural eyes, yet by faith we discerned the presence of our Saviour.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 4)
What a pleasure and blessing this was to us who were witnesses for Christ, and what joy was brought to the heart of Christ as He saw these souls turning from darkness to light, from error to truth. He declares, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of my Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you that ye love one another.” [John 15:12-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 5)
Those newly come to the faith are much strengthened and blessed, because with the heart they have believed, and with the mouth made confession unto salvation. Our meeting continued from three o’clock till about six. Opportunity was given for all who had not testified, and who wished to confess the truth, to arise. Quite a number stood upon their feet, and prayer was offered for them at the close of the service. We demonstrated that the meeting was a success. The hearts of the new Sabbathkeepers were full to overflowing. They said that this meeting was the best they had ever attended. They were made happy by the love of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 6)
On Sunday afternoon the tent was full of interested, intelligent people. I had much freedom in speaking to them from the first chapter of Second Peter. Many listened with tears in their eyes, and we hope and pray and believe that as the result of the camp meeting, and the labor which is being continued by house to house work, that many more souls will come to the light and let their light shine forth to others.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 7)
Two offices have been secured for use in medical missionary work. We are hoping and praying that the Lord will move upon hearts to plant the standard of truth in this important place. We do not doubt the Word of God. We believe that the fields around us are all white unto the harvest. Never in any place have we seen a greater desire among people to hear and understand the Word of God than during the Newcastle camp meeting. Already the sheaves are being gathered in as our meeting last Sabbath shows.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 8)
A meetinghouse will soon have to be built to accommodate the converts to the faith in Newcastle. We must do all in our power to plant the standard of truth in this place. Those who embrace the truth are given no flattering representation. We have no earthly reward to offer. We can only present the cross in the words of Christ. “He that will come after me,” He said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] This means righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, and the reward which will be received at the end of the warfare—a crown of life, and the spotless robe of the righteousness of Christ and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour.
(14LtMs, Lt 23, 1899, 9)
Lt 24, 1899
Durland, Br-Sr. Refiled as Lt 175, 1896.
Lt 25, 1899
Jones, A.T. Refiled as Lt 139, 1898.
Lt 26, 1899
Men in Responsible Positions in the Work NP February 10, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 1888 1679-1686. + To the Men in Responsible Positions in the Work:
In 1883 while in Healdsburg, at the hospitable home of Brother and Sister Harmon, I was shown that the publishing work was arranged and established under the special supervision of God. Those connected with this work must also be under the supervision of God, else an order of things entirely contrary to the light of His Word will be established. Those who trust to their own wisdom will plan to carry out their special ideas. This will bring results unfavorable to the advancement of God’s cause. There are those who undertake to mold and fashion things according to their own perverted judgment, when it is plainly revealed that their own hearts need to be softened and broken under the controlling influence of God. How can it be safe to allow such men to control in your decisions.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 1)
A great work is in danger of being misshaped and deformed by human plans. It is in danger of being marred by men who do not lay their foundation upon the eternal Rock. They may regard some things as all right and other things as all wrong, just as they may be influenced in regard to the work. Their defective spiritual eyesight leads them to adopt a course of action that leaves God almost entirely out of the plans. They catch at ideas advanced by men who have not carried the burden of the work from the formation of the church called Seventh-day Adventists. This people take the Word of God just as it reads and keep the original Sabbath of the fourth commandment. They are distinguished from all others because they have obeyed the light given by the Lord in regard to the day to be observed as the Sabbath.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 2)
After creating the world in six days, God rested on the seventh, making that day a memorial of His creation. While the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy He sanctified and blessed the seventh day. Seventh-day Adventists have been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world. The great Cleaver of truth has cut them out of the quarry of the world and brought them in connection with Himself. He has made them His representatives, and has given them the work of exalting His downtrodden law.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 3)
The work of God will be greatly marred if left in the hands of men who reason from their own human judgment. Self comes in, and traits of character that are not in accordance with the character of Christ put their impression on the work. A worldly policy is regarded as wise, while the divine policy, singular in the eyes of the world, is thought to be foolishness. A mark will thus be left on the work which will not appear objectionable, but which will receive God’s disapproval.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 4)
New principles and decided movements are to find place in our institutions for the guidance and instruction of the youth, that they may be aided to apply Bible principles to all that they do. Bible rules are to guide in the daily life, that the light of God may be seen in the welfare of the youth in our institutions. Every worker is to be a laborer together with God. No human being is to be put in a low place to be lorded over by any man, whatever his position. No one is to be kept from expressing his opinion. “All ye are brethren.” [Matthew 23:8.] All ye have one Father. All ye are members of one family.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 5)
The youth will make mistakes, but these can and must be corrected without harshness or any manifestation of Satan. No one is to lord it over God’s heritage. It is not right to try to lead human beings into right lines by manifesting the contemptible attributes of Satan. Those who have an indwelling Christ will not manage in these lines. None of the workers should be neglected, overburdened, or overlooked. If any discrimination is made, it should be in favor of the youth. The chief interest should be to set them a correct example. Their future may be determined by their wise or unwise management.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 6)
At the conference in Battle Creek I had a testimony to bear to all in the conference. In every line of the work, in every institution, there should be men who realize that the souls in their charge, if faithful to their trust, will be immortalized in the kingdom of God. Christ died to give them eternal life. By lives of rectitude they may receive a reward greater than their teachers. But if the men in any line of work shall forget the instruction of Him who honored humanity by taking human nature, and shall use roughly one of God’s little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 7)
Will those who occupy leading positions in any of our institutions bear this in mind? There is a Watcher who follows closely in the steps of all in places of trust. Their responsibility is just as much greater as their position is higher than that of the ones they are to teach. With painstaking effort impart to those in your charge the knowledge you have received. Teach them to advance intelligently, that they may acquire adaptability in the lines of work to which they are called. Do not feel that your work is finished until you have made them as efficient as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 8)
This work has been strangely neglected. The youth have been allowed to plod along in their own way and on a low grade when they might have advanced to higher grades, becoming capable of doing higher work. Those in charge of the work have not labored in a way that can meet God’s approval. Many have given those under them a sharp thrust, a severe censure, which did not enlighten the one receiving it, but provoked feelings of retaliation. God asks, Who hath required this at your hand? You are only a servant yourself.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 9)
The Lord would have Brother _____ connected with the cause, if he will work patiently on these lines. My brother, you do not know yourself. You need to learn self-control from the great Teacher. You need to learn to take care of the little things, to heed the words, “Gather up the fragments.” [John 6:12.] You cannot estimate the cost incurred by not bringing the principles of the Word of God into the everyday practice. Thus the religious life is marred. Religion can only bless where it influences. It needs to be brought into every line of work.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 10)
Brother Henry Kellogg, the Lord has wrought upon your life and character, and you have a love for the truth. Jesus loves you, and He has placed you in a position of trust, connecting you with His sacred work. You might have revealed that the Lord had wrought much, but you have failed to consecrate yourself, soul, body, and spirit, to God both in home and business life. Especially have you lost much by not taking your place in religious assemblies, placing yourself under the most healthful influences, in the channel of light. The precious opportunities for witnessing for Christ ought never to seem unessential. Do you know that when the people of God assemble to worship Him, as earnest, active witnesses, they receive a rich blessing? They are Christ’s representatives, and He is in their midst to bless.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 11)
My dear brother, you have turned your back to Jesus. Satan has stolen a march on you. He came in such a subtle manner, so deceiving and beguiling you that his working did not appear to you to be the working of the enemy. You have failed to see the importance of maintaining righteous principles in all branches of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 12)
Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God means studying God’s Word. But you have cast aside the Word of God for a class of reading that has separated you from God, and the result of this course of action has been seen in your words and actions, in your attitude toward those with whom you associate in the office. If you leave the cool snow waters of Lebanon for the turbid streams of the valley, your spiritual life will be of a malarious character. Put away all reading of a cheap character. It is exerting a baleful influence upon your soul. It is corroding your thoughts, filling your mind with hay, wood, and stubble. You cannot possibly do the work of God with clear-sighted perception while you give your mind this food. Your choice of reading is dwarfing and crippling your spiritual experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 13)
If your soul is tainted, your lips utter perverseness. But your position gives you no right to utter cutting words. It is not your right to disturb the peace of any soul or to utter words that aggravate the temptations of one who is struggling to overcome. Thus you drive your fellow creatures to Satan’s battleground. When one needs to be corrected, it is humiliating for them to have their wrongs pointed out. Do this kindly, “Considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.” [Galatians 6:1.] The Lord sees far more faults in you than in those upon whom you have borne so heavily.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 14)
While at Minneapolis many things were opened before me in regard to the propositions made by A. R. Henry and others. These plans were not inspired by the Spirit of God. If you had then stood in the love of God, you would have been able to distinguish between righteousness and unrighteousness. Plans were formed regarding the management of the work which could not bear the light of day, for the signature of heaven was not upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 15)
Those who made these propositions had no idea of where their plans and imaginations would carry them. They did not realize that they would be led to subvert right principles, to obtain control of facilities that they might manage matters according to their own ideas, to build up what they pleased and to bind about what they pleased. This planning and devising was not carried on in a frank open way, but in a way which caused God to write opposite their names, They have dissembled. They have falsified. They have worked according to the deceptive practices of Satan, in order to establish a confederacy which would enable them to obtain advantages when dealing with authors. These men went to Elder Smith and induced him to accept the lowest royalty.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 16)
Your committee selected to judge books is a fraud. Scarcely one of the members know how to estimate books. They have contrived to place in the market books like Bible Readings, which would cost very little for publication, and yet bring in a large revenue. But books that the world needed have received but little attention. By wrong management they have been kept from the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 17)
Take your Bible; read it; search it as for hidden treasures. Cling to the Word. Pray and watch, that you may be able, with clear, sanctified perception, to consider the propositions made in council meetings. In no case neglect the work you must do for your individual self. You are not your own. You belong to God. You have been “bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 18)
Every soul must be regulated by the law of God. Compare everything you propose to do with the law of God. Ask, Is this the way of the Lord? As a man looketh into a looking-glass to see the defects in his face, so he must view his character in the great moral looking-glass, comparing his character with the law of God. If men would do this, they would see more clearly the result of their course of action upon their own souls and upon the cause of God, and they would fear to take one step in the wrong path.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 19)
A neglect to live by the law of God cuts off a large portion of a man’s life from God. He does not keep the way of the Lord, and therefore he robs his Maker of the service due to Him. This reacts upon himself, for he fails to gain that grace, that power, that force of character, that it is the privilege of each one to receive who surrenders all to God. Living apart from Jesus places him under Satan’s temptations. He makes mistakes and errors in his work for the Master. His heart and mind are not conformed to the will of God. He does not obey God in the great matters which he regards as his special work, because right principles do not guide him in the doing of little things. He thinks the minor things of life unworthy of much attention, but the defects which he bears there pass into the larger things; he acts on the principles to which he has accustomed himself. The sure result is that Christian consistency becomes a hard lesson to practice. He has to work constantly against natural inclination and cultivated habits.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 20)
God calls upon us individually to conform our lives to the instruction given in the Old and New Testament. There can be no safe departure from the voice of God which speaks to us in His Word. His rules are clearly specified. The standard which we must all meet is clearly defined.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 21)
The way of holiness is yet to be learned by those who have swerved from the will of God. In every act of life we are to be controlled by God’s Word. Every neglect in this line is a neglect of duty.
(14LtMs, Lt 26, 1899, 22)
Lt 27, 1899
During the special crisis in Minneapolis Refiled as Ms 11, 1889.
Lt 28, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother:
We feel more and more our need of a hospital at once. Experience teaches us that this must be. But the strait places we are in financially makes us continually sad. A few weeks ago £280 came to me from California from the sale of our individual property. That is not my own, but the Lord’s goods. The situation in the different branches of the work, especially in the sanitarium at Summer Hill, has been laid open before me as it is. The building in which the sanitarium is located was a good-sized dwelling house. The bathrooms were formed in the A.B.C. of the work, of one room—a bathroom, I think. A partition, reaching only part way up to the ceiling, was put up in this room so that men could occupy one division and women the other.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 1)
It required all the means coming in to furnish this house and pay the rent. I engaged to take one small room for one dollar per week and furnish it myself. Brother Semmens told me that if he had one good-sized furnished room he could get one guinea per week for it. So Elder Haskell and Sara invested 130 dollars of my money to furnish a room. Brother Baker paid rent on the two rooms he occupied until patients required them. This was the A of the beginning of the work. It required money to get the rooms in order, in order to do any kind of work in them.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 2)
We felt distressed that we had to take this house and make a beginning for even one year, but we must keep it two years or we could not have it at all. I felt sick at heart. But the best workmen were employed to fit the building up. One of these, Brother Hay, had embraced the truth. He was a coach make, and could get no work because of the Sabbath. He was one of the very best workmen, and as true as steel to principle. He and his wife took their position on the truth and worked for the smallest wages.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 3)
Brother Hay worked as hard as he could for the appearance of these bathrooms, knowing that patients would come in from Sydney, and that everything that could be done would be done to gain patronage. We know that these buildings will and must answer until Brother John Wessels shall come. We expected him within one year.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 4)
Well, the two years passed, and the B, and C, was reached. Meanwhile we were looking for another building. We found we could obtain a seminary with several excellent bathrooms, but we could not afford to move and pay the high rent. We could find buildings better adapted to our work, but we were tied down, for we had nothing to do with. Satan had so arranged things at the heart of the work that we could count on nothing from them. The work at Stanmore called for a meetinghouse which had to [be] built. Buildings must go up on the school ground. We could not stop making improvements there.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 5)
We built our meetinghouse at Cooranbong, and dedicated it without a debt upon it. Our people here, the poor and those a little better off, took hold and worked at half wages. I know they did according to their ability, and it was done cheerfully. Some who had homes and families worked with heart and soul, putting in extra time. We know that the angels of God were on the ground, and His blessing was upon every stroke done upon the building.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 6)
The Stanmore meetinghouse was built, but a debt of two or three hundred pounds is upon it. I gave 130 dollars toward that building. Everything was done that could be to dedicate this building free from debt. But the seats and the facilities cost money, and all our people are poor. They did what they could. We all stretched ourselves beyond our measure.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 7)
The sanitarium was still in the A B C of its existence, and struggle as we would we could not lift it out of this position. Then came the camp meeting at Balaclava, and a call for a meetinghouse there which seemed to be a necessity. I gave twenty pounds toward that, and shared the expenses of the camp meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 8)
The Tract Society workers in Melbourne, Sister Graham and Sister Ingels, were both in poor health. Sister Ingels was spitting blood. She went to the Health Home, and this cost her twenty pounds. I paid half of that.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 9)
Thus we have been surrounded with expenses, but all were necessary. Things could not be otherwise. Still we advance. Churches are raised up and meetinghouses built. Continually the standard of truth is planted in new fields. We move forward, but at every step we are handicapped for the want of means.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 10)
Queensland must be worked. We went to Brisbane to attend the camp meeting there, and the Lord went before us. The greatest interest was manifested from the first. The tent leaked, and rains came frequently, but there are now no less than thirty-five or forty keeping the Sabbath. Many have had an experience of intense interest. One woman, a interesting, sharp, business-like woman, could not read, but her heart was touched by the truth she heard. She was converted, and then she wept and prayed that she might learn to read. Sister Wilson took her in hand and began to teach her from Gospel Primer. They studied and prayed together and the Lord gave understanding. And now this woman reads readily. Thank God for this experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 11)
Many who never went to meeting before have attended the meetings in the tent. Whole families have been converted. Of all places where labor has been put forth, there is need of meetinghouses in Brisbane, one in one end of the city, and another in another part. After the camp meeting Brother and Sister Wilson and Brother and Sister Haskell stood at the head of the work in Brisbane. Brother Wilson now sleeps in Jesus. A standard-bearer has fallen at his post. “Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” [Revelation 14:13.] Brother Wilson was one of our most conscientious, trustworthy workers. He and his wife did their work solidly, and Brother Wilson will be greatly missed. But we do not stop to weep; we go forward.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 12)
Just at this period the three hundred pounds came from California. I said, Now we will erect the hospital in Cooranbong. Meanwhile we had our camp meeting in Newcastle, and the interest manifested was greater than anything we have ever seen in this country. The very best people in the community were interested, and are taking hold of the truth. We hired a very large tent, but that was filled, and often, though it was the holiday season, a wall of people stood on the outside. Dr. Caro gave lectures on health topics and his talks “take” every where he goes. He has a pleasing address, and maintains simplicity.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 13)
Our old tent was riddled with the wind and storm. Three hundred dollars must be raised to purchase a new tent, and I gave ten pounds to this. Then the situation of the Health Home was set before me by Dr. Caro. They wished to add bathrooms, but had no money. The three hundred pounds, lacking one hundred dollars had just come. It was mine in trust. I placed in the hands of Elder Daniells two hundred pounds, and said, Hand one hundred to the Health Home to be used as far as it will go to provide suitable bathrooms. I will loan them the money.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 14)
One hundred was sent to Brisbane as [a] donation from me as the Lord’s steward, and they began there to build a church. The rains were coming, and it is already impossible to use the tent there. They have no place in which they can meet to worship God. The land has been purchased, and some donations has been made. If they can get the one hundred pounds they expect Brother Sisley can raise for them, in about six weeks, they will have a humble church, finished and painted on the outside, but not fully finished on the inside.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 15)
Thus I am relieved of a burden in Brisbane. In Newcastle there is an old stone church at Wallsend, a suburb of Newcastle, that is offered for sale. It is without floor or windows, but will seat two hundred people and is in an excellent location, a large, thickly settled suburb. This was offered for £80. It will take £100 to fix it up. It is now offered for £60 and yet we cannot see any way of raising this amount. If we only had means to do with, we could set workmen right at this building. This is a chance we should not miss. We have all decided to buy this cheap, dilapidated building at Wallsend. It is not so much worn out as destroyed by those who love to destroy such a structure for sport.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 16)
This meetinghouse is only twelve miles from Cooranbong, about half way between Newcastle and Morisset. This makes it very easy to be worked, with little additional expense. There is decided interest in Wallsend, and meetings are being held there. Both parts of Newcastle are now being worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 17)
A meetinghouse will have to be built in another part of the city when it is possible to get the money. These houses will be simple, yet neat and roomy.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 18)
I place this situation before you. One week ago yesterday W. C. White and Sara McEnterfer accompanied me to Newcastle. We had a good congregation on the Sabbath. At this meeting those who were keeping the Sabbath for the first time were given opportunity to bear their testimony. Twenty who were newly converted bore excellent testimonies.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 19)
I have now related to you something of our situation here, yet I have not entered into particulars as I might have done. I might relate many many incidents regarding the wonderful work of God in these cities where we have planted the standard of truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 20)
Last night I received the following letter from Rockhampton, Queensland, dated February 5, 1899:
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 21)
“To Mrs. E. G. White Dear Madam:
I am instructed by the church to write to you in regard to our building. You are doubtless aware of the great inconvenience that we have to suffer through not having a suitable hall for our services. Therefore we realize that God is leading us to build a church. We have about fifty pounds promised, and we trust the work will soon be accomplished. We solicit your help in behalf of the building. In doing so, we are aware of the great strain made on your resources, but thought you would like to help us in some way. I thank God for His great love for me. I pray that I may ever retain the abiding presence of Jesus, that self may be dead, and nothing but the light and love of God may spring forth in my life. Our prayers are that God may bless and strengthen you.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 22)
With Christian greetings from the Rockhampton church,
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 23)
B. C. Redwood.”
I shall certainly respond to this call, but cannot now, for we are greatly pressed. The work is opening before us and all around us, inviting us to uplift the standard of truth. Our people in Rockhampton are nearly all poor, yet they did nobly in raising funds to help the school. I looked upon the large families there, whose fathers could only raise four or five shillings a day for the support of a large family of ten children. And often their health is poor. Two of the brethren in Rockhampton are in better circumstances than the others, and these raised funds from their own little to pay the fare of twelve to the Brisbane camp meeting. These gained a great blessing from the meeting. They have had very little ministerial labor.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 24)
I saw that these words were true of this church: “For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves.” [2 Corinthians 8:3.] “For this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully: every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness).” [2 Corinthians 9:6-10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 25)
If our brethren in Rockhampton build a church, which is a positive necessity, I shall donate ten pounds, if I possibly can. But at present I have nothing in the bank. Emergencies arise which take the money. My workers have patiently waited for the wages coming to them from last year. It is positively essential that all the means available be used to prepare the way to preach the gospel in the regions beyond, “and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready at hand.” [2 Corinthians 10:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 26)
When I see such poor people as in Rockhampton and Brisbane attempting to build, I feel like helping them all I can. The hall they meet in opens right upon the street, and is not a proper place for them. It does not suggest any sacredness. I had a special message for those at Rockhampton, and urged them to make decided reforms in and about their premises. I told them that they must all meet a higher standard. God called them to represent in their worship and in their life and character the great truths which they had received, which make men wise unto salvation. I bore a straight testimony against all slackness and all cheapness in conversation. The claims of the Word of God for their perfection unto holiness were presented. They wept all like children, confessed their defects, and sought the Lord most earnestly. The Lord blessed them. They are an intelligent people, but poverty has made some quite careless.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 27)
There is no timber in Rockhampton suitable for building, so the church will cost nearly as much again as it would in Cooranbong. But it is not possible for them to hire a decent place of worship in which to meet on the Sabbath. They have not been able to rightly represent the faith which we claim is of the highest value. There must be no untidiness, no slipshod work among those who are looking for Christ’s coming. Everything must represent Christ’s works. All our actions must be after the divine similitude.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 28)
Dr. Kellogg, If you will please to send the bathtubs and the money raised for furnishing the hospital, we will arise and build. But the work opening in different lines has been much larger than our expectations, so the funds with which I hoped to put up the hospital have gone for other pressing necessities. I have felt that I must put two thousand dollars into the cause of God at once, and that it would be selfishness on my part to hold the means.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 29)
Every carpenter has been enlisted on the large building for the school. The girls’ and boys’ dormitories are now full. There is no room for one more. Money has been hired, and by pressing every power to advance the work, the building has been enclosed and roofed, and is ready for plastering. The doors and windows are yet to be made.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 30)
We have not money for furnishing the rooms, but we must walk out by faith. Rooms should be prepared at once for about twenty additional students. We have now as many students as when we closed the term last year. We have an excellent class of students. I am paying the expenses of a large number, that I may lose no time in doing what I can.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 31)
We are seeking to work economically. As soon as the carpenters are released from the work on the school building, the hospital will be the next on the program. We have decided to put up the building. And we desire you to send us the money raised. We can obtain some donations toward furnishing the rooms. We will furnish the building inside as fast as we can get means to do it, and will at once have a few rooms finished and furnished, so that work for the sick can begin as soon as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 32)
The husband of one of our sisters, a man by the name of Hughes, had been a drinking man, and had squandered a large amount of property. For a time he kept the Sabbath, and gave up his tobacco and his drinking; but he never had moral courage to take his stand fully on the truth. He did not erect the family altar, and he had left off attending meetings. While we were in Queensland, his business called him into Sydney. His old associates gathered around him, and he commenced smoking and drinking. On returning home, he became dangerously sick. A physician was sent for, I think from Newcastle, it may have been from Sydney. The doctor made no examination, did not even feel his pulse, but left him some medicine and charge him ten guineas.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 33)
Dr. Rand was sent for; he made a critical examination. The sick man had not urinated for several days; had no passage from bowels for more than a week. Dr. Rand worked for that man’s life. He had no facilities, no conveniences, but he knew it was a case demanding immediate attention.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 34)
The doctor did all he could do and relief came; the man’s life was saved. Mr. Hughes says he would surely have died if Dr. Rand had not attended him. He would have been left to the care of a doctor who had no special interest whether he lived or died.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 35)
Dr. Rand, Brother Semmens, and Dr. Caro have had other experiences like this. Sister Sara McEnterfer in giving treatment has seen similar cases. The doctors do really nothing to restore a patient, yet they demand their fee before they will look at him. Persons have come to us for help who had been in the hospital for months without receiving the slightest benefit, yet they had to pay all the same. It is a terrible showing.
(14LtMs, Lt 28, 1899, 36)
Lt 29, 1899
Waggoner, E. J. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother Waggoner:
W. C. White, Brother Daniells, and myself had some conversation in regard to you and your family coming to this country. We were all of one mind, that we need you here to teach the Bible in our school.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 1)
Elder Haskell cannot endure confinement to one place. He needs to be moved about. And we know that the church needs him in this country. When he attends camp meetings, he has been held after the meeting to take the lead in binding off the work. He cannot leave Brisbane until the meetinghouse is built. The rainy season is soon to come, and there is need of a house of worship as soon as it is possible to build it. It is already begun. Then Elder Haskell should labor sometime in Victoria, in Tasmania, and in Adelaide, South Australia. It is not wise to bind down a man who has always been on the move. We want Elder Haskell and his wife to be happy.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 2)
We ask you to come to this country as soon as you feel that it is time to come. We wish you were here this moment, but the Lord understands our situation, and He will do large things for us in this country if we will not become selfish, and betray our sacred, holy trust. We must be true to principle.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 3)
God requires now, just now, that His people divest themselves of all selfishness, all covetousness, and all impurity. “Come unto me ... Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] We are to become the scholars of Jesus Christ. He says, Yield heart, mind, soul, and strength to My training. Submit in all things to My will. Let your whole life be one with My life. Then not only will I assure you, but I will give, and ye shall find rest to your souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 4)
Never was there a time when there was more need for us to be the light of the world than at this time. Never did Christ require as much of His disciples as He now requires of the believers in Battle Creek. There has been marked disobedience, marked betrayal of their sacred trust. It is no common experience that will place them on vantage ground—nothing less than that faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It is no small sin that has been committed, that has separated God from His institutions, and there is now a work to be done that has not been done, a work which will give evidence that a true, sincere reformation has taken place.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 5)
There is to be far more zeal and repentance, that will evidence that the signature of heaven is again upon His institutions, that God presides over His work. There is need of that repentance that needeth not to be repented of. The deepest humility and heart searching needs to be manifested. The soul needs to humble itself before God, that He may lift up the repentant one. There has been far more vindication of self than true repentance, because the erring ones have not a proper sense that they have grieved the Spirit of God and put Him, their Redeemer, who gave His life for them, to open shame before His enemies.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 6)
It is not a small matter for any soul to place himself in such a position that God cannot instruct him and make him a channel of light. Please read Isaiah 57:13-15. A much more thorough work needs to be done than has yet been done to prepare the way of the Lord, that justice and judgment and restoration shall be faithfully done as God has said. When this is done, God will co-operate with man. But sin unrepented of, sin unconfessed, can never be blotted from the book of God’s record. Faithful, thorough confession of sin cleanses the heart from its moral impurity. There must be a forsaking of the sins God has reproved before the soul can stand acquitted before God, humbled and repentant, realizing that he has served Satan, pleased him, glorified him, and dishonored his Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 7)
This work of repentance has not been done. Be zealous therefore and repent. There are sins unconfessed, sins unrepented of, sins unforgiven. We need to confess our faults one to another, praying one for another that they may be forgiven and healed. “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:7-9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 8)
Those who have not made straight paths for their feet have taken great pains to justify themselves. In every case their sin remains. There will be no decided victory for them until there is repentance and confession. Then will come forgiveness and cleansing from all transgression and iniquity. I see that many will walk in darkness until it is too late for wrongs to be righted. They will not fall on the Rock and be broken, but will come into the marriage supper of the Lamb without having on the wedding garment, which every soul must have who would have a part with Christ. Christ does not give rest apart from Himself. If we want Christ abiding in the soul, the wrongs that have grieved Him and put Him to open shame before His enemies must be repented of and confessed, and then Christ will forgive freely. God help the erring, now in this their day, to make thorough work for repentance, that they may receive the Holy Ghost.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 9)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 29, 1899, 10)
Lt 30, 1899
Boyd, Maude “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Maude Boyd:
Your sister Nellie is with us at the present time. We have been conversing together in reference to your coming to New South Wales and uniting with your sister and her husband in the work. We think it is consistent for you to come, and we would greet you heartily. This is a healthful climate, especially in New South Wales. Some of those who have come from America, as Ella May and Mabel White, are remarkably healthy specimens. It would be difficult just now for us to pay your passage, but if you can do this, you can draw wages for your labor.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 1)
I know that you must feel very lonely. I have passed over the ground, and the Lord alone gave me relief from my loneliness, and bade me rest in His love. “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Then we must co-operate with God in doing His service. Our work is aggressive. The task appointed us is to sow the precious seeds of truth wherever God signifies that it is our duty to labor. God will give the increase. We shall garner just the harvest we have sown. The grace of God is given us to impart, and you have known the blessed experience of help for every time of need. We must impart as faithful stewards, according to the capabilities entrusted to us, that our talents may increase. Then at our Lord’s coming we may restore unto Him His own with usury. We must work on in faith and hope and courage in the Lord. We must not distrust God. We are not to have a doubt of success. We are to press forward and upward.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 2)
We see a great work to be done in this field. I dare not let go my hold here, not for a moment. Our motto is, Go forward from victory to victory. We must not let a shade of unbelief darken the work. Thus saith the Lord Jesus, “Greater things than these shall ye do, because I go unto my Father.” [John 14:12.] We are marshalled under His banner, to obey His orders, and win souls for Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 3)
I think it is God’s will for you to unite with Brother and Sister Starr. You can all work to do service to God, and can be a strength and help to one another. Your husband sleeps in Jesus, and if Brother and Sister Starr can do something to fill the void, you can unitedly accomplish more than if you were separated. May the Lord give you much of His Holy Spirit, that you may have perfect assurance and peace.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 4)
We will go forward trusting, ever trusting, in Him who will never disappoint us. I love Jesus. I love to commit all my troubles to Him. The Lord is well pleased when we have faith in His Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 5)
I would be pleased to see your dear mother, and have a visit with you all. Perhaps this may never be in this world; but there is to be the grandest meeting we ever experienced, when we shall meet Him whom our souls love, and we shall see His face.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 6)
With much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 30, 1899, 7)
Lt 31, 1899
Sisley, W. C. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 12, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 12MR 47-49. Dear Brother:
Last night we had a conversation with Brother Daniells in reference to Maude Boyd and her daughter coming to Australia. Previous to this I had had a conversation with Brother and Sister Starr concerning this matter. I think it would be in the order of God for them to come. There is plenty of work to be done, and there is need that those of experience, who have a firm faith, should connect with the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 1)
The question was raised, Would it not be in the order of God for Brother and Sister Sisley and their family to come? We would be only too glad to welcome you to this country. There is an opening of new fields, where the standard of truth must be uplifted. We are not moving as fast as we should to let the message be carried to all parts of the earth. The fields are white unto harvest. The people in the churches feel that they have fed on husks long enough, and now they are crying, Give us the Word of life. We want the living bread. While we can work, we want to do all in our power to bring the light before the people in our cities.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 2)
We have been surprised to see the interest manifested in Newcastle. The people are much disgusted with the lifeless religion of church members. They want the truth that will revive and purify the soul. The last days of our camp meeting were intensely interesting. On Sabbath afternoon the largest tent was well filled. The Lord gave me strength to speak. There were many interested ones. My heart was drawn out for souls. How I long to see them yielding their hearts to God. In the social meeting that followed the sermon, many expressed themselves. They said they never saw such wonderful things out of the Scriptures as during this camp meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 3)
Said many of the hearers, “The discourses appeal to the conscience and to the understanding, and everything is made so simple that we can take in the meaning. The speakers do not try to drive the people, but their appeals seem to go to the heart, and bring them to repentance. The Scriptures they apply to all who are not saved, and their words arouse the conscience of the sinner and bring him by the side of Christ, and array him under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel.” The question has been asked, “Why did you not come before, that we might have heard and been convinced of the truth?”
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 4)
On the evening after the Sabbath three thousand people attended Dr. Caro’s lecture on the Power of Habit. The lecture was illustrated by limelight views, and the doctor’s forcible, earnest views held the people in almost breathless interest. At the close, several hymns, “God Be With You Till We Meet Again,” and others, were shown on the screen and sung by the whole congregation to the accompaniment of instrumental music. There was wonderful power in the melody poured forth by thousands of voices. The meeting made a most solemn impression. It will never be forgotten.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 5)
Sunday afternoon I spoke to two thousand people, and the Lord helped me. This is the tenth time I have spoken before the large companies, besides six times in the morning meetings and in the council meetings. This was my last talk, and the Lord gave me the power of His Holy Spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 6)
This camp meeting has called out men and women who for many years had not entered a church. One family has embraced the truth who had not attended meeting for sixteen years. The man has given up his tobacco and liquor. The influence of these meetings has gone far and near. The whole community is stirred. The meetings are still continued in Hamilton, one of the suburbs of Newcastle, and in Wallsend, ten miles this side. There is an interest in both localities. Our time has come to work in Newcastle, and to pray and labor and watch for souls as they that must give an account.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 7)
We ask you, Brother and Sister Will Sisley, will you think of this matter? Ask counsel of the Lord, and then if you feel free to move here with your family, all can find a place, parents and children. We need workers, more workers from America. We invite you to come. Our school needs the very best talent that the world affords.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 8)
If you feel it your duty to remain in Battle Creek, follow your conviction. If you feel that it is best for you to come to this country, we will give you a warm welcome. If you see others who you think could become workers in the school or in city mission work, have them come with you.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 9)
I now leave this matter with you. Do just that which the Lord directs. Elder Daniells and W. C. White may write to you more definitely concerning matters that I cannot undertake to write about. Sister Starr is with us. She is having something like influenza, and has been with us now about a week. We are enjoying visiting together. Brother Starr will come on the morning train, and will spend the day with us.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 10)
With much love to your family.
(14LtMs, Lt 31, 1899, 11)
Lt 32, 1899
Muckersy, Brother and Sister NP February 14, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4BC 1169, 1171; 5BC 1130; 5MR 139. + My Brother and Sister in Jesus Christ:
I have answered your letter, but did not send you what I wrote, because I knew that for some time you had been under temptation, and that anything I might say would be liable to be misconstrued, and would not have the influence upon your mind that would relieve your feelings. Nothing I can say will be of value to you as long as you have not an understanding of the work the Lord has given me to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 1)
Your letter certainly left a very sad impression upon my mind. Should I speak the truth, and say to you, I am guiltless of the imputations that your letter conveys as faultfinding and censorious, and stop there, then you would, I fear, continue to misunderstand the work given me by God when I was but a youth, which I have sought in truth and in the fear of God to do with fidelity, His grace upholding me. I speak with assurance. I have not forfeited my right to say, You simply do not understand the sentiments of your own mind. The gradual progress that has been at work to place you where you now stand in relation to the cause of God will eventually, if you continue to hold the position you now do, carry your sympathy away from those who are by God’s appointment doing His work for this last time. I am more sorry for you than I can express.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 2)
We are all to see the necessity of walking humbly with God, of walking in the light as it shines upon our pathway. When we study and practice the lessons of Christ, increased light will shine upon us, and we will understand that souls are in the peril that led Christ to say, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” [Luke 18:8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 3)
If I understand the matter correctly, you place me in the position of one who is faultfinding and accusing. This is not the correct interpretation of the work the Lord has laid upon me. Should I neglect this work, I should be unfaithful to my appointment. In every period of the work there have been those who have followed the counsel of the enemy. They have done all they possibly could do to deceive God’s people and lead them into error and suppositions of their own creating. But the Lord has presented these cases before me, and I have had a message of warning from the Lord to give to the several churches in regard to the snare that was being laid. I was bidden to warn them that Satan was working to lead them through human agencies into false paths.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 4)
But when you lay upon me the imputation that I am speaking evil of my brethren and sisters, I promptly and decidedly deny the charge. I have had opened before me the thing which my brethren do not understand, and I have given them cautions and warnings, telling them that a decided reform must take place in the churches. There has been manifested an indifferent, careless, proud, revengeful spirit. This spirit cannot dwell in a converted, sanctified soul. The Spirit of Christ in the heart always prompts the human agent to speak and act as Christ spoke and acted. Christ’s followers are bound to make Him manifest in the life; then there will be a visible spiritual church.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 5)
Through the Hebrew captives the Lord was made known to the heathen in Babylon. This idolatrous nation was given a knowledge of the kingdom the Lord was to establish, and through His power maintain against all the power and craft of Satan. Daniel and his fellow companions, Ezra, Nehemiah, and many others, were witnesses for God in their captivity. The Lord scattered them among the kingdoms of the earth that their light might shine brightly amid the black darkness of heathenism and idolatry. To Daniel God revealed the light of His purposes, which had been hidden for many generations. He chose that Daniel should see in vision the light of His truth, and reflect this light on the proud kingdom of Babylon. On the despot king was permitted to flash light from the throne of God. Nebuchadnezzar was shown that the God of heaven was Ruler over all the monarchs and kings of earth. His name was to go forth as the God over all gods. God desired Nebuchadnezzar to understand that the rulers of earthly kingdoms had a Ruler in the heavens. God’s faithfulness in rescuing the three captives from the flames and vindicating their course of action showed His wonderful power.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 6)
Great light shone forth from Daniel and his companions. Glorious things were spoken of Zion, the city of the Lord. Thus the Lord designs that spiritual light shall shine from His faithful watchmen in these last days. If the saints in the Old Testament bore such a decided testimony of loyalty, how should God’s people today, having the accumulated light of centuries, shine forth, when the prophecies of the Old Testament shed their veiled glory into the future. Type met antitype in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The veil was rent in twain when the long-predicted death of the Son of God took place. He arose from the dead and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He ascended to heaven, escorted by the angelic throng. He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 7)
Every specification of the Old Testament prophesied was fulfilled in the New Testament. There could be no uncertainty in regard to Christ being the Son of God. Then are we not bound to shine forth more brightly? The promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Five thousand were converted in one day. For long ages after this, apostasies were constantly occurring. Disloyalty to God was manifested. But still God had faithful witnesses to whom He committed the truth, and who preserved the Word of God. The manuscripts of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures have been preserved through the ages by a miracle of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 8)
The Lord is God. It was His design that the church should ever advance in purity and light and knowledge, from light to light, from glory to glory. John makes the statement that he saw the glory of Christ, the glory of the Redeemer. And the voice of prophecy declared that such would be the character of Christ’s kingdom. To Daniel was given a vision of fierce beasts, representing the powers of the earth. But the ensign of the Messiah’s kingdom is a lamb. While earthy kingdoms rule by the ascendancy of physical power, Christ is to banish every carnal weapon, every instrument of coercion. His kingdom was to be established to uplift and ennoble fallen humanity.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 9)
“Whereunto,” saith He that is the first and the last, “shall I liken the kingdom of God, and with what comparison shall I compare it?” [Mark 4:30.] He could not employ any of the kingdoms of the world as a similitude. In society He found nothing that would resemble it. He looked for a comparison, but could not find it. He would have a new creation. He would make His church a beautiful temple for the Lord. “Where two or three are gathered in my name,” He declares, “there am I in the midst of them.” [Matthew 18:20.] His church is the court of holy life, filled with varied gifts and endowed with the Holy Spirit, bringing in piety, compassion, zeal, and love in their order.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 10)
Appropriate duties are assigned by heaven to the church, and the members are to find their happiness in the happiness of those whom they bless and influence aright. The poor are to have the gospel preached unto them. The teachers are to be humble men. If they have an experimental knowledge of Christ, they will never place “Right Reverend” or even a simple “Reverend” before their names. This is a title which belongs to no living man.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 11)
The great Teacher from heaven visited our world. Jesus Christ is His name. He is the Lord our Righteousness. He was visited by the prince of darkness; He was tempted in all points like as we are; He reached to the very depths of human woe; and all who carry their sorrows to Him, as to one who can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities, will receive the oil and wine of consolation. They will know from experience that Christ is their personal Saviour, One who comforteth those who are cast down, who bindeth up the broken-hearted. This experience grows as they in turn impart that which they have received. Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. He is made unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. They can say, I know in whom I have believed.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 12)
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith results in spiritual knowledge. By faith we are encouraged to grasp still more, for we behold God in the promise, and are armed with stability. The true Christian knows in whom he has believed. He has the evidence of things unseen, and a knowledge that is reassuring, overpowering, follows this. This may not be believed by some skeptics, but it is to the receiver no speculation, no mere theory. The gospel offers to him a remedy for the moral disorders which sin has made. He does not merely read the Bible, but experiences the Bible. He has not merely heard of the righteousness of Christ by faith, but he has opened the windows of his soul to the Sun of Righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 13)
Skeptics may stand back, and argue the impossibility of the remedy he has taken, but their words are nothing to him against experience. It is a matter of knowledge with him. The believing man, even though he be unlearned, has a knowledge that cannot be wrested from him. The one who trusts his Saviour implicitly finds the gates of heaven ajar and flooded with glory from the throne of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 14)
The great Physician is present to heal every malady. “We are saved by hope.” [Romans 8:24.] When Jesus took human nature, and became in fashion as a man, He possessed all the human organism. His necessities were the necessities of a man. He had bodily wants to be supplied, bodily weariness to be relieved. By prayer to the Father He was braced for duty and for trial.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 15)
“We are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered. For he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he asketh intercession for the wants according to the will of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 16)
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.... What shall we then say to these things? if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? ... I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.” [Verses 24-28, 31, 32, 38, 39.]
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 17)
I read to you all the writing I sent to Elder McCullagh. To write reproofs and warnings has been my duty and my appointed work for more than half a century. Men have been used by the enemy to work to deceive souls just as Elder McCullagh and Elder Hawkins have worked; but the Lord has wrought for His own name’s glory, and has disappointed the enemy. This has been our experience hundreds of times.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 18)
Through evil and through good report I have gone about my work. People can say no more of me than they have said of Christ, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. God has been my support, my front guard and my rereward. He has fulfilled His Word to me. When utterly unable physically to stand before the people, the Lord has before thousands of people, healed me instantly, and thus given them an evidence that the work and message given me was from above. Hundreds have been enabled to listen to the word of the Lord through the weak instrument. Have I exalted myself? Have I taken any glory to myself? I have never felt the least disposition to do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 19)
I have realized that I was one of the very weakest vessels the Lord could use, and for this reason God has been my only dependence. He is my strength. I look to Him, I trust in Him. I wait for Him to give me my discharge from the work. But until that time comes, I shall go forward in His name, bearing the message, not only of encouragement, but of reproof, of warning, opening to individual minds their dangers, revealing to them the will of God. This work I shall continue to do as long as the Lord shall bid me.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 20)
I have had the tenderest sympathy for Elder McCullagh and his wife. When I was in New Zealand warnings were given me in reference to them and their child. The Lord made known to me that there was necessity for a change in the education and training of their child, else she would cause them sorrow and heartache. I bore this testimony in Ormondville, New Zealand. The Spirit of the Lord was upon me. I wrote to them decidedly on this point. I did not name their child in my public testimony, but laid down principles upon the duty of parents to their children, and the relation of children to parents, showing the great responsibility of parents.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 21)
Christabel McCullagh’s mother came to me after the meeting. I was then making my home at their house. She said, “The Lord gave me these words to speak; for they meant me. I never had the subject of the responsibility of parents in the education and training of their children presented to me in this light.” She said, “I shall ever feel grateful to you for this counsel.” I told her I had written the matter out when living in Brother Wilson’s family at Hastings, New Zealand.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 22)
When I was at Hastings, Brother and Sister McCullagh sent me a letter, saying that their daughter was at the point of death, and asking our prayers in their behalf. We did pray for the whole family, for all had been passing through a siege of diphtheria. That night the true situation of the family was laid open before me. I arose at one o’clock a.m., and wrote many pages in regard to the mismanagement of their child. The light given me was plain and decided. I could not send the large amount written until it was copied, and I wrote Brother and Sister McCullagh a short letter, in which I entreated them, for Christ’s sake and their own, to seek the Lord, to confess to Him the wrong course they had pursued toward their child, and the attributes of character she had developed as the sure result.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 23)
I then pleaded with God in their behalf. My soul was wrought up to an agony as I thought the child was dying, and that even that little child had deceived and falsified. I begged of the parents to seek God for themselves and for their child. I knew that it would be better for her to die than to live and become what she surely would unless they took the matter decidedly in hand, and in the name of the Lord did the work that every parent should do.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 24)
It was sometime after this that I visited Ormondville and bore my testimony, as I have stated, in the little hall which they had hired for their meetings. As I talked with Sister McCullagh, I really thought she would do as she said she would, and as I had laid the matter in a general way before the people, I thought that perhaps this was enough, and I let the matter rest. But I spoke again and again upon the duty devolving upon parents to work unitedly in the duty of training their children for the future immortal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 25)
Once again I was in Ormondville. They had built a little church, and had determined that it should be dedicated free from debt. They had all the money they needed but five or six pounds. I paid this sum. Elder McCullagh insisted that I should give the dedicatory discourse. This I did, and the Spirit of the Lord was among us. Elder McCullagh had much to say in regard to the Lord’s special power being upon me, enabling me to speak the very words that were needed. After this he and his family moved to Parramatta, New South Wales. Our union was still unbroken. When the Ashfield camp meeting was held, I was not aware that anything was troubling him except some things in connection with Brethren Daniells and Rousseau. I would not sustain the brethren in some of their opinions.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 26)
Then the Lord gave me words for Elder McCullagh. His manner of speaking was trying his throat. He spoke in a sharp, high key, and much too rapidly. This was injuring his vocal organs, and trying his lungs. I told him that the Lord would have our ministers do all they possibly could to improve the gift of speech. They were to guard the voice as faithful sentinels, and treat the vital organs with care, for the Lord would not work a miracle to remove the difficulties which are the result of not working in harmony with nature’s laws. Brother McCullagh thanked me for the cautions given him, and acknowledged that he talked too rapidly, and pitched his voice too high, which irritated the throat.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 27)
Again I had a few words of testimony for him. I was shown that he might receive much light if he would attend the Bible lessons given by Elder Corliss, for Elder Corliss had searched the Scriptures, and knew how to explain God’s Word. If Elder McCullagh would attend these lessons, he would be better qualified to present the Word to those who were ignorant of the foundations of our faith. This was the tenor of the letter. After this some things were opened before me in regard to both Brother McCullagh and his wife who, in visiting among the churches, were leaving a wrong impression upon minds. They were drawing sympathy to themselves. Brother McCullagh’s health was failing, and it was thought that he would be better in a milder climate. Adelaide was proposed, but he and his wife objected to Adelaide. He said he would be much pleased to make a short visit in Adelaide.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 28)
Some things were opened before me in regard to the family connections, and I told Brother McCullagh that I could not recommend his going to Adelaide on a short visit only, because the finances were low, and for him and his wife and daughter to go so far for only a short visit would entail unnecessary expense.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 29)
I told Brother McCullagh that it was not the best thing for his wife and child to be traveling about with him, and that if they liked to come to Cooranbong, I would see that they had a good house of four rooms, and that they had hens and chickens. The climate here is all that could be wished, and there is plenty of missionary work to be done in and about Cooranbong. Their daughter could be placed in the school here.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 30)
Brother McCullagh had expressed the wish that this should be as I said. I told him he would not need to be confined here. His wife and child could have a home, and he could come and live just as long as he chose, and go when he chose to labor among the churches. He seemed pleased with the idea. I told him that the reason why I presented the matter before him now was because I knew that it would not be best for his wife and child or himself to live in Adelaide, because of his family connections. This would not be any encouragement to them spiritually, and I knew that they would be a hindrance. He said he understood that, and that he was going to live in the country with a man who had invited him to come to his house.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 31)
My brother and sister in the Lord, I ask you not to judge the work the Lord has appointed me to do. I feel sorry, very sorry, that I am in perplexity as to what I should write you, because you see matters in a perverted light. I wanted to help you, but the very work I am assured the Lord gave me to do, you have misjudged.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 32)
I spoke last Sabbath upon the second chapter of Colossians. “I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for those of Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.” [Verses 1-4.] This is a danger that requires to be guarded against.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 33)
“For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit; after the tradition of men, ... and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” [Verses 5-10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 34)
I speak to you, my brother, the words written in this chapter. I have had the same testimony to bear in many places. It is necessary for both to guard against being beguiled by those who know not of what they speak. Be on guard. Believe not every spirit, for their words may not be after the mind of Christ, words which will influence you in a wrong direction. You may lose much by demeriting the words the Lord sends you. There are many kinds of influences at work on human hearts. And you may think that your own judgment is without a flaw, and that those not agreeing with your ideas and opinions are in the wrong. But be careful. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” [Verse 8.] This verse presents to you your danger.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 35)
Notwithstanding that your letter almost discouraged me from making any attempt to help your understanding, I must tell you that you have been losing the love and knowledge of the truth; and for this I feel very sorry. I thought I would write to you immediately, and did so. After passing two sleepless nights, I tried to remember anything that I had said to your injury. I could not recollect one statement. If I said that I was afraid that you were deceived in your interpretation of the truth on all points, I do not now call it to mind. I may have said this in reference to Brother John Bell, and mentioned the necessity of pressing together, and everyone seeking for unity. If I did this, it was to encourage our brethren not to draw apart one from the other, but to draw together.
(14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, 36)
Lt 33, 1899
McCullagh, S. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 12, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 285-286. Dear Brother:
Since receiving your letter, I have commenced several letters to you. I am thankful to God that you are convinced of your wrong course of action, and that you see things in a new light. Gather every ray of light that shines upon your pathway, and turn to the Lord with all the heart. Be diligent in seeking for the true path, the strait gate.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 1)
We always feel deeply over those Satan has deceived and led astray, because the synagogue of Satan triumphs when the enemy can lead the Lord’s professed people, as he has you, to bear false witness. I know that the Lord had heard prayer in your behalf, when at Dora Creek you were healed, and the glory of God filled the room. I have ever felt great sadness when I thought of your denying the truth, because I believe you have had a genuine experience in the truth. You did fight manfully under the banner of Prince Emmanuel against the world, the flesh, and the devil. You did love the truth. For a long time the enemy was insidiously working your ruin before you took the final step. Light was given me that when you took this step, you were altogether too well-satisfied with your attainments. You did not feel the necessity of becoming an earnest Bible student.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 2)
Had the truth been impressed upon your mind sufficiently to give you that faith that works by love and purifies the soul from all deception, all prevarication, all covetousness, you would have held firmly to the hand of Christ, placing your dependence in One who is all-sufficient, and you would never have denied the truth and grieved the Holy Spirit by falsifying God’s servants and placing me, who had been your best and truest earthly friend, in a terribly ridiculous light before the people. In doing this, you stood side by side with Elder Canright, but even he did not descend to accuse me as you have done. How you could do it was for some time a mystery to me, but when the Lord saw fit to show me distinctly that you did not dig deep and make your foundation sure, riveting your soul to the Eternal Rock, I better understood.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 3)
Threads of self-deception were woven with your experience. You were led astray. But when you knew this by the conviction of the Spirit of God, you would not heed the voice. When your statements were shown to be false, you would not acknowledge your wrong and come to the light. You would not open the door of your heart to Christ. You fought against the Spirit of God inch by inch, and then you changed your uniform, and joined the rebel army, to war against the truth and receive pay. You pretended you were satisfied; but as you recall the past, were you satisfied with yourself?
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 4)
This matter was presented to me night after night. I heard the words you spoke in public against me, words which were written in God’s book, for they were spoken against Him, who had given me my work. And when your brethren presented some of the facts in the case, you braced yourself against the truth. So long had the work of secret deception been going on, and to such lengths had it been carried, that when conviction came upon you with almost overwhelming power, you would not yield, but tried the more vehemently to make yourself and others believe that you were justified in your course of action.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 5)
The Lord heard the falsehoods that you and your wife fabricated against me. Mr. Hawkins knew me not. He could fabricate nothing against me. He was turned away from the truth when it was supposed that you were leading him to better understand the truth. You linked with him to make of none effect the counsels of your brethren, while they were trusting you, you turned traitor to the cause of God. While you were receiving wages for presenting the truth to those who knew it not and bringing them to a knowledge of God, you were planning and devising how you could carry the whole church with you in a wrong way. When your disappointment came and your course was interrupted, you said all that your tongue could frame under the inspiration of Satan against Mrs. White and her work. This had a telling effect, for you were regarded as one who knew the inwardness of Mrs. White’s work.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 6)
This false testimony against my work has resulted in turning souls from the truth. People thought that such a good man as Mr. McCullagh appeared to be telling the truth. You can explain this matter only by a wholehearted retraction, by placing Mrs. White before the people in the position you should always have held her. My brother, make your course straight. Make plain paths for your feet, for the weak and undecided have been turned from the right path by your course. Many souls convicted of the truth have been turned from investigation into error. For Christ’s sake, repent, confess your sins, and be converted.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 7)
You had not the least foundation for your bitterness against me. Every word of the testimonies given me in regard to your child was truth. I could not have felt any greater anxiety and tenderness for a child of my own than I did for your daughter. Your dangers were presented to me. I presented them to you, as I will continue to do if you again act a part in the work of the Lord for these last days. Through covetousness, which is idolatry, there has been a deception in your life, and more so in the life of Mrs. McCullagh. You both need genuine conversion, and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren that they may avoid the sad experience you have had. Let the mellowing influence of the Spirit of Christ come into your heart. Thank God, it is not too late for wrongs to be righted. For Christ’s sake turn this defeat into a victory. Keep far from the pit into which you fell.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 8)
When you entered the army of Christ, when you were numbered with the believers, there was nothing in your family relationship to strengthen you. Your unhappy training had left its impress upon mind and character. Externally you improved by association, but often your inclinations were in the wrong direction. Your connection with the chosen people of God gave you superior advantages. The truth has given you all you have that is worth, refined, and elevated. My brother and sister, had you improved your opportunities for obtaining a knowledge of the truth, you would not have been corrupted by false theories. But you became proud and self-sufficient, and the result is before you. You would not receive admonition. Your hearts rose up in rebellion against reproof. You despised the warnings God sent to keep you in the right way. They did not please you. You did not search the Scriptures to learn the evidence of truth. You did not work upon the plan of addition as outlined in the first chapter of Second Peter.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 9)
In consideration of your early training, you both need to be more watchful and more diligent, to make earnest efforts to become fully acquainted with the reasons of our faith. “Wherefore I will not be negligent,” the inspired apostle declares, “to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.... For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming our Lord Jesus Christ, and were eye witnesses of his majesty.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 10)
“For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” [Verses 12, 13, 16-19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 11)
You felt that you were rich and increased with goods and had need of nothing, when you were both perishing for lack of experimental knowledge. Had you spoken the truth at all times and in all places, your course would have been one of steady religious growth. Truth would have been spoken and acted; there would have been no pretension. True piety was greatly needed. You should have been as true as steel to principle, careful in diet, and guarded in speech, that you might not offend God. May you now see the rock on which you split.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 12)
Were you only a common soldier, instead of a captain in the army of the Lord, it would not be necessary to make these statements. But as your future may be spent in opening the Scriptures to others, it is of the greatest importance that you understand your position. It is not possible that we can come to you, but you can come to us. There is need of the deep moving of the Spirit of God, that if the word shall come to you, “Put on the armor, and fill your appointed place,” you will not serve with eye-service, but as the servant of Christ, “with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” [Ephesians 6:7, 8.] If you will co-operate with God, you will realize the proof of His forbearing love for you, in that after you have put Him to open shame by denying the truth, you have been granted time for repentance.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 13)
Sister White has not changed, she is the same as she was when you made her a target at which to fire, and she will give you the word of the Lord, whether you will hear or whether you will forbear. I speak to you now, asking you not to cover up the work you have done against God and His servants. You were once trusted, but you and your wife must now give evidence that you have felt true repentance.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 14)
Do not think we are hardhearted, for we are not. We receive you very thankfully if you are soundly converted, but do not take charge of the flock as a shepherd until you are under the supervision of the true Shepherd, learning of Him that you may impart to others. We want you to dig deep and lay your foundation sure. We want you to have a soul-experience, and stand on the solid Rock. I have written this, not because I would hold you off, but because I want you to make sure how ye are building. “Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 15)
You have made sacred things so common that there will always be danger unless your whole being is transformed. The profanation of that which has been set apart for God shows an obtuseness of spiritual discernment. It is dangerous to have such an influence connected with the church. It is a high offense against the majesty of God, because He is dishonored when a spirit of vanity and covetousness is shown in the use of the things which relate to His service.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 16)
It is dangerous to meddle with holy things. The men of Bethshemesh merely looked into the ark with what many would regard as harmless curiosity; but God smote them with death. Uzzah only touched the ark, but we read that because of it the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, and he was slain for his rashness. Those who would make sacred things common are here admonished that God sees every action and the motives that lead to action, and [He] writes all in a book.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 17)
We learn from the Word of God that self-sufficiency is sin, and that it prepares the way for ruin. Let him who thinks, God cares not if I do this, who says in a spirit of self-indulgence, “Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; for no one knows of this action,” remember that God knows. [See Luke 12:19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 18)
Your minds must be elevated and ennobled. Weighed in the balances and found wanting was pronounced against you when you separated from the truth and from God’s people. I now appeal to you as a family to make wrong right. Confess your sins, and show that repentance that needeth not to be repented of, that you may receive a full and free pardon. As far as I am concerned I can forgive everything where I have been held up personally before the people as a fraud. When by confession you make things right with God, He will abundantly pardon.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 19)
Be sure that in this work with God you realize that you have greatly dishonored the Lord. Every principle, every action, heart, life, and character, are put into the golden scale and weighed. Infinite Justice watches the beam, and weighs accurately every imagination of the heart, determining the value of the whole man—his thoughts, his words, his works. Does he love God supremely? Do sincerity and devotion mark his hours? Does he show his love for those around him by setting an example of obedient, faithful service? Let the two tables of the holy law be placed on the other side of the scale, with their precepts, “Thou shalt,” and “Thou shalt not,” in their full spiritual meaning. All heaven watches the result. Whatever man can place on the scale worthy of commendation is less than nothing. The law requires heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the weight of the divine law.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 20)
Eternal justice examines the balances. What is the decision of the Judge? Is it, Thou art found wanting? Or is it, The righteousness of Christ is imputed to you because you have let Him take away your sins? How is it with your soul? You know not how soon you may be called upon to render your account to God. The word comes to each one, “Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” [Matthew 24:44.] “Behold, the judge standeth at the door.” [James 5:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 21)
Come to Christ with your whole heart. Realize the sin of prevarication and untruthfulness. See yourselves hopeless, sinful, and polluted. See that Christ is your offering, your righteousness. His righteousness will outweigh all the demands of justice. Accept Him as your personal Saviour, and you will not be found wanting when the Lord shall come. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation.” [2 Corinthians 6:2.] There is pardon for all who repent.
(14LtMs, Lt 33, 1899, 22)
Lt 34, 1899
Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 14, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3BC 1142; 4BC 1154-1156; ChL 13; 12MR 301; CTr 188. + My Brother and Sister:
I cannot sleep past half past one o’clock. I have some words to say to you. It is sometimes a greater privilege to converse with one another face to face than to write. But even words that are wholly right, that are prompted by the Spirit of God, may be soon forgotten. But when words are traced on paper, they are immortalized.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 1)
Speech is one of the great gifts of God to man. The tongue is a little member, but the words it frames, made vocal by the voice, have a great power. The Lord declares, “The tongue can no man tame.” [James 3:8.] It has set nation against nation, and has caused battle and bloodshed. Words have kindled fires that have been hard to quench. They have also brought joy and gladness to many souls. And when words are spoken because God says, “Speak unto them my words,” they often cause sorrow unto repentance. [Ezekiel 2:7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 2)
The talent of speech carries with it great responsibility. It needs to be carefully guarded, for it s a mighty power for evil as well as for good. “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight; for thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them which speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face; for there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue. Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them; let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous, with favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” [Psalm 5:5-12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 3)
In these verses righteousness and unrighteousness are represented. These are the distinguishing features of speech.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 4)
“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person is condemned; but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not, he that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” [Psalm 15:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 5)
The Lord has words for His people. He has a message to be borne to those who do evil in Jerusalem. The twenty-fourth chapter of Jeremiah is a representation of those who are determined to do unrighteousness, whose heart is estranged from God.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 6)
It is God’s purpose that the glory of Christ shall appear in His people. In all His teaching the Saviour presented pure, uncorrupted principles. He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Constantly there flowed from His lips holy, ennobling truths. He spoke as never man spoke, with a pathos that touched the heart. He was filled with holy wrath as He saw the religious leaders teaching for doctrine the commandments of men, and then He spoke with the authority of greatness. With terrible power He denounced all artful intrigue, all dishonest practices. He cleansed the temple of its pollution as He desires to cleanse our institutions of everything bearing any resemblance to fraud.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 7)
The truth never languished on Christ’s lips. With fearlessness He exposed the hypocrisy of priest and Pharisee, Sadducee and ruler. He entered into conversation with saint and sinner, wise and ignorant, learned and unlearned. He encountered misrepresentation, opposition, malice, and falsehood, yet His whole life was without a flaw. He could say, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” [John 8:46.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 8)
Christ’s enemies could find no charge against Him. Therefore they wrapped up their accusations in one great charge, which is recorded against them in the books of heaven, “He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.” [Matthew 12:24.] Bigotry and hatred lead men to carry things to great lengths. Men maddened into fury, because they can prove nothing against the ones they hate, will bring against them charges which do not contain a shadow of truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 9)
What a power for good or evil the gift of speech is. The inspired apostle, seeing the inclination to abuse this gift, gives directions regarding its use. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,” he says, “but that which is good to the use of edifying.” [Ephesians 4:29.] The word corrupt does not always mean vile; it means here any words that would leave on the mind an impression detrimental to holy principles and undefiled religion. It includes also impure hints, which unless instantly resisted lead to great sin. Upon every family is laid the work of barring the way against corrupt speech.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 10)
*****
“The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he wrought a work on a wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter. So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I deal with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then will I repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.” [Jeremiah 18:1-10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 11)
This presents before us God’s way of dealing with His people. He sends warnings. He pleads with them to cease to do evil and learn to do well. Hear the words of Christ, for they are spoken to all who claim to be His people. Blessings are promised for all who follow the Lord to do righteousness, but those who walk in their own ways show that under the trying circumstances liable to occur anywhere, they will prove unfaithful, and God cannot bless them.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 12)
“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond, it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by their green trees upon the hills. O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places to sin, throughout all thy borders. And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thy heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thy enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever.” [Jeremiah 17:1-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 13)
Thus God denounces all wickedness, especially in those who occupy positions of trust. Each man and woman has an individual case pending in the heavenly courts. We all need to realize that if we would gain salvation, we must form characters which God can approve, characters of integrity, of truthfulness. We must be as true as steel to principle. We are not to be led astray by men nor trust in men. “Thus saith the Lord, Cursed is the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heat in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land not inhabited.” [Verses 5, 6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 14)
The instruction given in the Old Testament Scriptures is as verily the words of Christ as the instruction in the New Testament. Christ was as verily man’s Redeemer in the days when the Old Testament was written as He was when He appeared in the form of humanity. He gave those of ancient Israel just as favorable an opportunity of working out their own salvation as He did those who listened to His words.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 15)
A character formed after the divine likeness is the only treasure that man can take from this world to the next. The character as formed in this world determines his destiny for eternity. The element of value in his life in this world will be of value in the world to come. His future is determined by the way in which he allows himself to be influenced. If he cherishes and cultivates hereditary tendencies for wrong, indulging fleshly inclinations, appetites, and passions, he can never enter the kingdom of God. But if he strives to repress evil inclinations, if he is willing to be governed by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, he is transformed. He takes Christ’s yoke upon him, and learns His way. Thus he becomes strengthened as was Joseph, Samuel, and Daniel. He reveals that he is God’s husbandry, God’s building. Only solid timbers are used in his character building.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 16)
Christ’s character was exemplified in Abel, Noah, Seth, Enoch, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and all the host of those recorded as having characters that God could approve. We are also given Cain and all who form characters opposite to truth, fidelity, obedience, and righteousness. All had an opportunity to show themselves members of the Cain family, or as members of the royal family. Life to every human being is a serious problem. Purity and holiness come only through Christ. He that hath ears to hear let him hear. Happy the man who can say from experience, “He wakeneth mine ear morning by morning.”Isaiah 50:4, 5.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 17)
The lessons given in the Old Testament are of as great importance to us as to those who lived in that age. We are to listen to the voice of Christ speaking in the creation of the world and from the pillar of cloud, for our eternal welfare depends upon our obedience to the voice of God. Let all move guardedly. Let us not pass by anything that Christ has given through the holy men of old for the benefit of every generation.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 18)
All that God’s mind has planned, that His hand has touched, are lessons written for our admonition upon whom the end of the world has come. Those things which have been, will be. Christ’s words of approval or disapproval comes sounding down along the line to our time. Our spiritual and eternal interests are involved in the facts stated. The Lord means what He says, and says what He means.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 19)
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” [Jeremiah 17:7, 8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 20)
Now comes the contrast. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doing. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at the end shall be a fool. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my praise.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 21)
“Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? let it come now. As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: That which came out of my lips was right before thee. Be not a terror unto me: Thou art my hope in the day of evil. Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 22)
“Thus said the Lord unto me; Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; and say unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates: thus saith the Lord, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your house on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their necks stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 23)
“And it shall come to pass, If ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gate of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain forever. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.” [Verses 9-27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 24)
“Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you; return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things, the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? Or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 25)
“Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burnt incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; to make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.” [Jeremiah 18:11-17.] This denunciation against the inhabitants of Jerusalem shows plainly what the Lord will do to those who follow their own counsel.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 26)
But those who do justice and judgment shall be honored of God. “Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the King of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sitteth upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoil out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.” [Jeremiah 22:1-4.] God declares that if men obey Him, He will make them more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. He whom the infinite God delights to honor will be resplendent, glorified. See Zechariah 3:1-8.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 27)
There is no excuse for any soul to walk away from truth and righteousness. “Then the Lord said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them. For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.... Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them when they cry unto me in their trouble. What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoiceth.” [Jeremiah 11:6-8, 14, 15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 28)
Has there been any of this rejoicing among those who have been given positions of responsibility in the work of God? It is a shame to them, and when they see what an offense their course was to God, they will be filled with shame. The anger of the Lord is kindled against those who can rejoice in the robbery of their fellow men, who extort means to be used for the advantage of the cause. The Lord asks, Who gave these men this authority? The cause of God was dearer to the ones they were robbing than it was to them. They exercised their ingenuity, a precious talent entrusted to them by God to be used to glorify Him, to make it as hard as possible for those who were earnestly and sincerely seeking to do the will of God. In this they manifested the attributes of Satan.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 29)
“The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.” [Verse 16.] Where her branches should have yielded fruit without stint, they were broken off because of her stubborn disobedience. The wrong course of the people of Jerusalem brought its sure result upon them and upon those whom they influenced. They departed from the example of the holy men who caught their inspiration from Jesus Christ, their invisible Leader. They could not possibly form characters that God could approve.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 30)
“Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord: such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.” [Jeremiah 15:1, 2.] The people had greatly dishonored God, and God would not work by His power to lift up a standard for them against the enemy. He gave them time for repentance, but they did not repent, and every specification of the word of the Lord against the Jews as a nation was fulfilled.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 31)
In these last days there are those whom the Lord will let reap the reward of their own stubbornness. They will be weighed in the balance and found wanting. They did not repent of their evil work, and the Lord has had to withdraw His prospering hand from the institutions He has delighted to prosper. How careful the Lord’s people should be to observe what God’s Word declares to be truth and righteousness. God calls for those living amid the perils of these last days to heed His admonitions, and not follow a course of action that will bring shame and confusion upon themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 32)
Those who have been given great light and magnificent truth are to walk circumspectly. The unbelief and stubbornness manifested today are similar to the unbelief and stubbornness which existed in the ranks of ancient Israel. Please read the third chapter. This chapter is a lesson for modern Israel. Let all who claim to be children of God understand that He will not serve with their sins any more than He would with the sins of ancient Israel. God hates hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 33)
“Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that by your obedience ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth thee. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish (by precept or example) ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.” [Deuteronomy 4:1-3.] There is no sin of adultery or fornication that God will not visit with His wrath.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 34)
“Behold I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore, and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 35)
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; specially the day that thou stood before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” [Verses 5-10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 36)
Moses told the people that obedience to the commandments of God would ensure His presence and give them an influence over the nations of the earth, showing that the religion of the Hebrew nation was elevating and ennobling. While many idolaters ridiculed the Jewish economy as detrimental to financial prosperity there were men who were convicted, and who would have united their interest to the people of God if Israel had proved true to their principle, and made straight paths for their feet.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 37)
By a faithful performance of duty they might have shown honor to God, and have declared, Them that honor me, I will honor. Their obligations were proportionate to their privileges and the light given them by Christ, their invisible leader. Their faithful obedience to the law would have exalted God and put an indelible stamp on their purity and holiness, revealing God to be, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” [Exodus 34:6, 7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 38)
Please read the twenty-sixth chapter of Leviticus. This chapter is written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. I would have our people review the past carefully, step by step, not with a spirit of self-justification, but with a spirit of fear because of their own hardness and stubbornness of heart. Many do not know what is the matter with them. When they truly repent and are converted, they will abhor themselves for following a course of action which has brought the sure result. Read the history of the spies who brought back a false report. Read the record of Caleb and Joshua, the only men among those who left Egypt who entered the promised land. When all shall see as God sees how they have provoked Him to condemn them and withdraw His prosperity, they will repent.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 39)
“Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers. Neither shall any of them which provoked me see it, but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.... Tomorrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.” [Numbers 14:22-25.] It means just as much to us as it did to the children of Israel whether we obey or disobey God’s message of warning.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 40)
We have been given much greater light than ancient Israel, and more is expected of us. As in that age all who obeyed the law of God were highly favored, so today God will bless His obedient people. But punishment must come to those who depart from God, and go to much length in disobedience that Satan takes control of their minds.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 41)
Some have exulted in their evil works, but they will one day have opportunity to know that they have dishonored God. In their madness they have betrayed the people of God to His enemies. They never could have done this work if they had not for long years resisted the testimonies of God’s Spirit. But they have betrayed Christ and put Him to an open shame. The banner of truth has been left to trail in the dust. The glory of Christ has been eclipsed. Men in responsible positions have changed places but their characters have not been transformed.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 42)
God calls for decided transformation of spirit. Please read the sixteenth chapter of Numbers. In an emergency God calls for decided action. If years ago God’s servants had separated evil workers from the Lord’s work, they would have been honored by God. There are those who will never see God unless their hearts are changed, decidedly changed. They may have intellect, but it is so perverted that they cannot distinguish between purity and impurity, holiness and sin.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 43)
Let all who know the Word of God read that Word, humbling their hearts before God. Confessions that ought [to] have been made years ago have not been made, therefore the sin remains. The Lord’s work will soon be closed to all who have clothed themselves with zeal and worked out their evil work with rejoicing.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 44)
Read Moses’ agonizing plea to God in behalf of his people. “And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? I will smite them with a pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they. And Moses said unto the Lord, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of cloud, and in the pillar of fire by night.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 45)
“Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech you, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech you, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word.” [Numbers 14:11-20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 46)
Knowing what might have been and the glory God would have revealed in His people had they been obedient, Moses pleaded for the pardon of the Lord. “I have pardoned according to thy word,” the Lord said. [Verse 20.] But He could not work through the transgressors as He had done; for it would have been dishonoring to His name to do great things for those who were in spirit not a whit better than the heathen around them.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 47)
I can but say, Let all seek the Lord with confession. Keep nothing back. You will never have freedom until you stop your self-justification. I address all who for years in the past have had connection with the Review and Herald Office, who have held any responsible position. Go to your Bible for right principles. It is not for me to [give] the principles. Christ has done this. Now take hold of the work and do it intelligently in the name and fear of God. Lay nothing in the way of those who are in the darkness of error, to turn them away from truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 48)
*****
As we gather the first fruits from our land, we think of the promise, “While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” [Genesis 8:22.] All we have comes from God. We are indebted to Him for everything we eat, drink, and wear. But there is a blessing above all these temporal blessings—the gift of God’s only begotten Son. He came as our substitute, to take our sins and give us His righteousness. We are to receive to impart.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 49)
The children of Israel were instructed to be kind and liberal to others at the time of harvest, as they recounted the mercies of God. “And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with the tribute of the freewill offering of thy hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed you.” [Deuteronomy 16:10.] “When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it, it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 50)
“When thou beatest thy olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger: for the fatherless, and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterwards: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.” [Deuteronomy 24:19-22.] The joy of the harvester was always to be connected with praise and songs of thanksgiving because of the lovingkindness and mercy of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 51)
As we labored for souls in Brisbane and Newcastle, and saw the crowds of eager, attentive people, we thought of Christ’s words to His disciples after His talk with the Samaritan woman, “Say ye not, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest. Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; they are white already for harvest.” [John 4:35.]
(14LtMs, Lt 34, 1899, 52)
Lt 35, 1899
Loughborough, J. N. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 19, 1899 See variant Lt 35a, 1899. This letter is published in entirety in 21MR 74-78. + Dear Brother Loughborough:
I have received and read your letter. I was very thankful for the loan you sent in the same mail. We received one hundred dollars from a sister in St. Louis, Missouri. This money will help us a great deal just now. Last Thursday we received a cable message from Dr. Kellogg saying that within sixty days he could raise five thousand dollars. We were just then planning how we could obtain means to complete the school building, which is partly erected. W. C. White went to Newcastle to try to borrow some money. He was disappointed there, and went at once to Sydney. On Thursday the telegram came from Dr. Kellogg. We wrote at once to Elder Daniells and W. C. White, to set their minds at rest.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 1)
The interest in Newcastle is wonderful. The Sabbath has been presented to the people, and one week from today twenty-five will be baptized. I shall speak in Newcastle next Sabbath and Sunday.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 2)
We are trying to raise money enough to purchase an old stone church in Wallsend, ten miles from Newcastle. The roof is gone, the floor is partly gone, and the windows are smashed, but the location is excellent. I shall go to see it. We think we can obtain some means from the new believers. If so, we shall not have to use the five hundred dollars you sent, but can let the sanitarium have it to obtain some facilities for the branch office in Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 3)
The medical missionary work has taken well with the people in Newcastle. Some of the leading men in the city are enthusiastic over the subject. Both Dr. Caro and Dr. Rand will spend some time in Newcastle. Dr. Caro gives health lectures there once a week. People from outside are calling for a cooking class. I think this will be held in the tent. I wish we had a cook who could do justice to the work by showing the people how to make good bread and other articles of food. Instruction in medical missionary lines is just what the people in Australia appreciate. In every place where camp meetings have been held, this subject has created intense interest. It is allied to the third angel’s message as surely as the right arm is joined to the body.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 4)
I said that twenty-five had taken their stand. As many more are convinced, but business prospects hold them back. The work has extended from Newcastle to Maitland, and in the towns between Cooranbong and Newcastle there are many interested ones.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 5)
Some weeks ago I received some money from California, and you cannot tell how glad I was to get it. I sent [fifty] pounds to Brisbane that they might make a start on their meetinghouse there. The weather was so rough that they could no longer hold meetings in the tent without imperiling the lives of those who attended. Those who had newly come to the faith helped by purchasing the land. They are all poor people, but they did what they could. If we could have obtained money from any source by borrowing, we would have done so, but there was no money to be had. The building is now going up, and we are so thankful for the sake of the people and the workers there. I had pledged five pounds toward this building, not knowing how I could raise that much. My workers have not been paid for last years' work. I can only let them have what they need for their actual necessities, and no more.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 6)
The second one hundred pounds of the money I received from California I placed in the hands of Elder Daniells, to be used in building bathrooms for the sanitarium. John Wessels wrote me from Africa for counsel regarding his future movements. I said in reply, Come to Australia, for the way is open for our work. I told him to telegraph us at once regarding this matter, that we might know what to do. If he can come soon, we shall not invest our money in building bathrooms which will have to be moved, but will secure a site for a sanitarium. The house now used for a sanitarium is in no way appropriate.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 7)
A new tent had to be purchased for the work in Newcastle, and I gave toward this ten pounds of the money from California. There is now only a little left, which I shall invest in putting a fence around our church here. It stands in a large open pasture.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 8)
Not one dollar of this money have I invested for my own personal use. I would not have called for the money invested in the mission school in Chicago had it not been necessary. But while in Illinois we came to a deadlock. I was led out to pledge one thousand dollars. I had to hire this money and pay seven per cent interest for two years. Just at that point his satanic majesty was in the management of my books published at the Review and Herald Office.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 9)
Those at the head of the publishing work there would handle neither Great Controversy nor Patriarchs and Prophets, the very books God had signified the people must have at once. They promised me faithfully that after certain months they would handle these books, but they failed to keep their word. When The Great Controversy should have been circulated everywhere, it was lying dead in the Review and Herald Office and Pacific Press. Brother Jones urged me to accept less and less royalty on these books, promising solemnly that they would push them to the very limit but they did no such thing. The word of men was not as they will some day realize the word of God is.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 10)
Then the word came to me Take your books into your own hands. I tried to hire money, but could not; and the light given by God for the people was hidden in the printing office. The inward working of this matter was presented to me. The men who told me to my face that the canvassers would not handle my books were themselves arranging matters so that they should not handle them. They told me falsehoods, and I was in such distress of mind that it was impossible for me to sleep.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 11)
For two years I stood thus, trying to counterwork those who were working at cross-purposes with God. From the time that their double-dealing was presented before me, I had no confidence in the men who composed the book committee. They were a fraud, and their endeavor was to get all they could from authors by underhand schemes.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 12)
You may ask, Will this work be arrived at in the investigation being made? Never, as it was. We cannot now see the injustice, the swerving from right, the intriguing methods, the overbearing, dictatorial tone assumed toward those men who were superior in intellect and moral worth to those who were lording it over them.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 13)
I had to stand and see men triumphing in their evil work. The Lord said, “I will punish for these things.” Then came the word, “Make no large concessions. There are those who will not appreciate any sacrifice you might make. You must maintain principle. Take your books out of the hands of those who are not right with God; for they will harass and perplex you, The Lord desires you to be a steward of means; He will be your counsellor. Trust not in man nor in the word of man, for they will fail you. The Lord would not have you brought in strait places, for this will prevent you from doing the work I have commanded you to do You are not to be placed in the position those who are reproved will be gratified by your dependence. You are to lead out. You are not to be led
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 14)
The Lord is a sufficiency. I do not want means to gratify myself, but that I may lead out, that I may have something to invest in the work that started in new places, and that I may help those who are cast down and oppressed, who need to be helped to help themselves. This we have done in many cases, and the Lord has made us a blessing.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 15)
In regard to the one thousand dollars, as things are I do not want it. I that should I make this donation, it would open the way for others to give. And a large sum was donated by a man and his wife who the leading men thought had nothing. So that donation meant several hundred dollars.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 16)
When the mission house was sold, and I was casting about in my mind if I could get some money, I thought, Why could not those in Illinois transfer that donation to this new field—I might say, new world—and help us here as I helped them at great inconvenience and expense to myself. We certainly needed help from some quarter, that was plain to me. We were in the A B C of our and those in America had buildings and facilities that we had not,
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 17)
This is my explanation. Had I not understood by your letter that the board agreed to the proposition, I should not have called for the means in as urgent a manner as I did. I thought it had been overlooked. I have been instructed that after, in a place, the work essential for the advancement of the work has been done, after by self-sacrifice and urgent labor, facilities have been gathered, and the Lord has established the work, those in that place should give of their means to help God’s servants who have been sent to new fields to go over the same ground, beginning at the A B C of the work. Those living where the work has been placed on a good foundation should feel themselves bound, even at considerable self-sacrifice and self-denial, to help by transferring to those in need, a portion or all of the means once invested in their behalf. Thus the Lord designs that His work shall increase. The talents given His servants are to be doubled by being put out at interest in gifts and offerings and influence.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 18)
This is the law of restitution on a right line. One portion of the Lord’s vineyard is worked, and brings in fruit. Then another portion is taken up. It is the Lord’s plan that the unworked part shall receive help from the part which has been worked. This should be done with cheerfulness. Thus the work becomes a success. The principles of the law of God are practiced. The work moves forward solidly and with doubled strength, and the workers are enabled to proclaim the third angel’s message, and the second appearing with power and great glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 35, 1899, 19)
Lt 35a, 1899
Loughborough, J. N. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 19, 1899 Variant of Lt 35, 1899. Portions of this letter are published in PC 140. Elder J. N. Loughborough:
Dear Brother: I have received and read your letter. I am very thankful for the loan of $500 which you have sent me. In the same mail we received $100 from a sister in St. Louis, Missouri. This money will be a great help to us just now. Some weeks ago I received some money from California, and you cannot tell how glad I was to get it. I sent 50 pounds to Brisbane, to help build a meetinghouse there. The heavy summer rains have set in and they cannot continue the meetings in the tent without endangering the health of the people. These newly come to the faith have helped to purchase the land. The building is now going up, and we are so thankful, for the sake of the people and the workers there.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 1)
Fifty pounds of the money received from California I shall give to help build a meetinghouse in Newcastle, and fifty shall I give to the hospital there. Then I shall lend the hospital 50 more. The remainder I shall hold to appropriate in small sums where needed most.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 2)
The interest in Newcastle is wonderful. The Sabbath has been presented to the people, and the week from today twenty-five will be baptized. I shall speak there next Sabbath and Sunday. We are trying to raise money enough to purchase an old stone church in Wallsend, a suburb ten miles from Newcastle. The floor is gone and the windows smashed, but the location is excellent. It can be bought for about $300.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 3)
The medical missionary work has taken well with the people in Newcastle. Some of the leading men in the city are enthusiastic over the subject. Dr. Caro lectures there twice a month on alternate Thursday evenings. Dr. Rand will secure an office and locate there. Cooking classes will be organized and held each Thursday in the tent.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 4)
Instruction in medical missionary lines is greatly appreciated by the people of Australia. Wherever presented in connection with our camp meetings, it creates a deep interest. It is allied to the third angel’s message as surely as the right arm is joined to the body.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 5)
A new tent had to be purchased for the work in Newcastle, and I gave ten pounds of the money received from California. Not one dollar of this money shall go to any personal use.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 6)
As regards the money that I invested in the mission school in Chicago, I should not have called for it had it not been for the necessities of the work here. Years ago, when I was in Illinois, the work came to a deadlock, and I was led to pledge one thousand dollars, as an example and encouragement to others. I had to hire the money, and paid seven per cent interest for two years.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 7)
Just at that time the devil was influencing minds to hold back my books published at the Review & Herald. Those at the head of the work there discouraged the agents about handling Patriarchs and Prophets and Great Controversy, the very books which the people should have had at once, and concentrated their efforts on Bible Readings, promising that at a certain time they would concentrate their efforts on my books. But this promise they never kept. At the very time when Great Controversy should have been circulated everywhere, it was lying idle on the shelves of the Review & Herald and the Pacific Press.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 8)
The manager of the Pacific Press urged me to accept a reduction of royalty on these books, promising that they should be pushed to the full extent of the ability of the office, but this was not done.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 9)
Then the word came to me, Take your books in your own hands. I tried to hire money, but could not; and the light given by God for the people was hidden away in the printing houses. The inner working of this matter was presented to me, and I saw that the very men who said that the canvassers would not handle my books were themselves arranging matters so that they should not handle them. They told me falsehoods. I was in great distress of mind and could not sleep.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 10)
For two years I stood, trying to counterwork those who were working at cross-purposes with God. From time to time their double-dealing was presented to me, and I had no confidence in some of the men who composed the book committee, for their effort was to get all they could from authors by underhanded schemes.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 11)
You may ask, Will the investigation now being made reveal this matter? No; it will never be revealed as it was. We cannot now see the injustice, the swerving from right, the intriguing methods, the overbearing, dictatorial tone assumed by these men to those who were their superiors in intellect and moral worth.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 12)
I had to stand and see men triumphing in their evil work. The Lord said, “I will punish for these things.” Then the word came to me, “Make no large concessions. There are those who will not appreciate any sacrifice you might make. You must maintain principle. Take your books out of the hands of those who are not right with God, for they will harass and perplex you. The Lord desires you to be a steward of means; He will be your Counsellor. Trust not in men; nor in the word of men; for they will fail you. The Lord would not have you brought into strait places; for this will prevent you from doing the work which I have commanded you to do. You are not to be placed where those who are reproved will be gratified by your dependence. You are to lead out; you are not to be led.”
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 13)
The Lord is a sufficiency. I do not want means to gratify myself, but that I may lead out, that I may have something to invest in the work that is started in new places, and that I may help those who are cast down and oppressed, who need to be helped to help themselves. This we have done in many cases, and the Lord has made us a blessing.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 14)
In regard to the one thousand dollars which I invested in the Chicago Mission, when the mission house was sold, I thought, Why could not the brethren in Illinois transfer the one thousand dollars to this new field, and help us here as I have helped them in a time of need, at great inconvenience to myself? When I was at the Illinois camp meeting, I thought I should make this donation, it would open the way for others to give and a large sum was given by a man and his wife whom the leading brethren thought to have nothing. Thus my donation helped to bring in several thousand. And now, in this new world, we certainly need help, for we are in the ABC of our work, whereas, in America, our brethren have buildings and facilities which we have not. I also understand from your letter that the board was agreeable to the proposition. This is my explanation. But as the matters now stand, I shall not urge the return of the one thousand dollars.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 15)
As regards the principle that should guide our people in such matters, I have been instructed that wherever by self-sacrifice and urgent labor the work necessary for the establishment and advancement of the cause has been done, and facilities provided, and the Lord has prospered, those in that place should give of their means to help God’s servants who have been sent to new fields to go over the same experience, beginning at the ABC of the work. Those living where the work has been established on a good foundation should feel themselves bound to help those in need by transferring, even at a great self-sacrifice and self-denial, a portion or all of the means which in former years was invested by those living at a distance in behalf of the work in their locality. Thus the Lord designs that the work shall increase. The talents given to His servants are to be doubled by being put out to use in gifts and offerings and the bestowal of influence.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 16)
This is the law of restitution on right lines. One portion of the Lord’s vineyard is worked and brings in fruit. Then another portion is taken up, and it is the Lord’s plan that the new, unworked part shall receive help from the part that has been worked. Thus the work in every part becomes a success. The help thus rendered should be given with cheerfulness. When the principles of the law of God are thus practiced, the work moves forward with solidity and double strength. Then the messengers are enabled with great power to proclaim the third angel’s message and the soon appearing with power and great glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 17)
P.S. Brother Loughborough, This letter was mislaid and forgotten and it has just come to the front again. Elder Irwin is here, and we are very busy in council. The Avondale Health Retreat is prospering well. The frame is up and soon the roof will be on and the building enclosed. We shall hope to have a printed prospectus to send you soon. We are all busy preparing for the soon-coming meeting of the Australasian Union conference.
(14LtMs, Lt 35a, 1899, 18)
Lt 36, 1899
Irwin, G. A.; Prescott, W. W.; Waggoner, E. J.; Jones, A. T. NP February 21, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brethren:
All in responsible positions, every minister in the Conference, are to be true yoke fellows of Dr. Kellogg. All who know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent should acknowledge that Dr. Kellogg has been instructed by the mighty Counsellor. They should feel that the Lord has used him as a man of opportunity, to do a work in medical lines which would bring Bible truth to the notice of the world. The Lord has sustained him in a remarkable manner, correcting him when erring, and enabling him to do a special work which caused the light of truth to shine upon thousands who would never have heard the truth had it not been that Dr. Kellogg and those connected with him were worked by the Holy Spirit of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 1)
The message of truth has gone from the sanitarium at Battle Creek to all parts of the inhabited world. This sanitarium is God’s instrumentality, and it must be managed by men whom God has appointed to do a special work. It is not necessary that men with reasoning capabilities be continually assured that this is God’s work, that Dr. Kellogg has his appointed lot and place. Had the overgrown church in Battle Creek heeded the word of the Lord, they would have scattered themselves throughout the waste places of the earth, to make known the truth they had received. They would have seen what other sects were doing in Christian Temperance work, and would have taken up lines of work with them in every church. Thus they would have made known the truth, not by controversy, but by their deportment and spirituality.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 2)
God is with the meek and lowly and those who are of a contrite heart. Those who have crowded into Battle Creek, as into their Jerusalem, might have settled their families in places where the truth has not yet found access. By seeking counsel of God they might have wrought in a humble way to present Bible principles. The Word of God just as it reads would have been presented. Inquiry would have been awakened. The truth would have shown forth as a tiny jet of light till another jet would have been added, and still another. But the work that should have been done has not been done.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 3)
Self-indulgence has held back those who could have been anchor workers, and by other churches the Seventh-day Adventist faith is regarded as a delusion. How will they ever know otherwise unless a spiritual work is done by Seventh-day Adventists in cities and among all nations? Then the other sects will see that they have made a mistake.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 4)
The world must have the light. Medical missionary work gives opportunity to communicate light and to present our faith to those of all classes and all grades of society. This work ought to have been done, and would have been done if God’s people had been converted to the truth, if they had studied the Word with humble hearts, if they had reverenced the Creator of the world instead of exalting themselves and seeking, as many have done, to counter-work Dr. Kellogg’s influence. They did not see the work as it is. The elements of truth might have been woven as threads into the fabric, yet so silently that no offense would have been given. Had they done the work God would have had them do, Francis Willard would have been converted as Sister Henry has been.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 5)
Would that there were men who had the same zeal for the Master, the same courtesy, the same love for the truth of God, that Dr. Kellogg has. He has not betrayed his trust. The Lord has wrought with him in surgical operations, giving him wisdom and success that the world marvels at. Men not of our faith feel that although Dr. Kellogg is a Seventh-day Adventist, yet he has wisdom and knowledge and a wide influence. They feel that it would be the height of folly to ignore this.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 6)
If Dr. Kellogg will continue to walk humbly with the Lord, God says to His servant, “Them that honor me, I will honor.” [1 Samuel 2:30.] He must not feel annoyed by the conduct of those who he thinks do not act in harmony with the great and good work God has permitted him to do, neither must he be influenced by men’s appreciation or disparagement of the work. If he is yoked up with Christ, the work will surely advance, and nothing can stay its progress.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 7)
I know that when admonitions and warnings have been given, Dr. Kellogg has not despised these warnings and set them aside. He has not worked in order to get rich. The work that is done to relieve suffering humanity is of more value to him than a world of gold. He has gathered in all the outcasts he can, that they may be uplifted and reformed and see God as their Restorer. God approves of his work in this line. Let the brethren appreciate this work. Christ is still saying, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” [John 12:32.] The greatest missionary work that can be done in our world is work in ministerial lines combined with medical missionary work. The truth is going forth from the sanitarium at Battle Creek as from no other center in our world. Those who have stood up to criticize should instead have participated in the work, showing that they have been enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand that the Lord has used Dr. Kellogg as His man of opportunity to do a great and good work.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 8)
Dr. Kellogg needs the help of those who will co-operate with him, who will counsel with him. He has these now, but those who do not accept the light God has given on health reform, who subsist on the flesh of dead animals, who use narcotics and stimulants, cannot represent the truth to others. Those who are looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of their faith will be model men. We are living in an age when history is rapidly being made. Men today who are without faith in Jesus Christ are mere fragments of men. What they might have been had they improved to the best of their ability the talents lent them it is impossible for us to say, but one thing is certain, there is one perfect Model for the child, the youth, the young man, and the man of mature years, the man Christ Jesus. He is our Example in all things. He is willing to provide all-sufficient help for the development of character.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 9)
I am now compelled to say that there are tares among the wheat in the medical missionary work, and in the ministry of the Word—tares which look much like the wheat.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 10)
There is an objectionable kind of morality and piety in our world. Daily the soul needs to be purified. Study then we must to show ourselves approved unto God. Let us try to imitate the life of Christ, and inquire our duty solemnly, humbly, with hearts mellowed by the beholding of the meekness of the Saviour. Let us follow Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 11)
Let no man think it is his prerogative to plan the way in which Dr. Kellogg shall work. To every man is given his work. If every man will do his best in his line, Dr. Kellogg work will be made very much easier, for his soul will not be weighed down by those working at cross-purposes with him. Neither Brother Moon nor any other brother need suppose that God has laid upon him the burden of setting Dr. Kellogg in right methods of work. To put him in Dr. Kellogg’s place would be like placing an inexperienced man in command of one of the large ships that cross the ocean.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 12)
There are difficulties to be met and adjusted, and decisions made which change methods. If in the change made to prevent an evil another evil is created, who is to blame? It is difficult, when large and multitudinous responsibilities are managed by men of varied temperaments and different minds, to so draw the threads that a perfect fabric is made. Some threads will not fall into place, and then the pattern is spoiled. There are many men who act as if they had no purpose in life. They may be so far changed in habit and practice as to “Cease to do evil,” but in vain we look for them to “learn to do well.” [Isaiah 1:16, 17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 13)
All these evils a man in Dr. Kellogg’s position has to meet. It is not enough for him to seek to avoid evil, but he must put to the tax every nerve, every muscle, to seek to do active good. He must take advantage of circumstances to master every difficulty. This is the work God has given D. Kellogg, and he is to have helpers. Those upon whom he relies should cultivate those qualities which will give value to all that they do. If they are determined to perfect a Christian character, they may do this by keeping their minds stayed upon God. Thus they can obtain a practical knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, and they will have the approval of a good conscience.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 14)
We are all to be individual toilers. I would have all who read these lines understand that character cannot be bought or sold. Character is formed by patient, continuous effort. Much patience is required in the striving for that life which is to come. We may all strive for perfection of character, but all who come into possession of it will earn it step by step, by the cultivation of the virtues which God commends. Let none seek to make over the character of some one else. If they will themselves set a right example, God will bless them and make them channels of light. The righteousness of Christ will go before them, and the glory of the Lord will be their rereward. Let there be no divisions among you. The Lord would have His ministers walk humbly before Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 15)
I feel deeply over the case of Dr. Kellogg. I would not have any unnecessary burdens fall upon him. Through the Lord’s help he has accomplished a good work. His talents as a physician have given him a place in the world that few have reached. As he has walked in the way of the Lord, the Lord has looked upon him and said, You are a laborer together with God. He has made many of those who were supposed to be his enemies to be at peace with him. It is the privilege of every youth and every man to set his mark high. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge.
(14LtMs, Lt 36, 1899, 16)
Lt 37, 1899
Brethren in the General Conference “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 1, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 8T 166-171. + Dear Brethren:
I cannot sleep past two o’clock a.m., and I may as well take up my pen as to be so full of thought. I address those in responsible positions in the General Conference, and those who are interested, and all who work in medical missionary lines. I am commissioned to speak to the church in Battle Creek and to all the churches in the conference. While I have to say, in reference to medical missionary work, that there is danger of swaying things too heavily in one line, these words do not excuse those who have held themselves aloof from medical missionary work. These have not been in sympathy with the work, and therefore they should now be very careful how they speak in regard to it, for they are not intelligent on the subject.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 1)
Whatever their position in the conference, they should be very guarded in regard to taking upon themselves responsibilities and giving utterance to sentiments which will not help the conference. The position that Brother _____ and some others have occupied in reference to medical missionary work makes it impossible for their words on this question to have any weight. They are not clear-sighted.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 2)
There is necessity for every branch of the work. But every phase of the work is to be under the supervision of God. The medical missionary work is to the cause of God as the right hand to the body. It would not be right for all the strength of the body to go to the right hand, and neither is it right for the strength of the cause to be devoted to the medical missionary work alone, as a separate work. The ministry of the Word must be sustained, bound up with the medical missionary work, and there must be unity, perfect oneness, in God’s work. Those who have not felt any interest in medical missionary work are not walking in the light, they are treating the right hand of God’s cause disrespectfully. Let all such come into line. Let them speak as few words as possible until they come into a right position. Silence is eloquence when the intellect is not sanctified to discern spiritual things.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 3)
I am aware that at the present time there is great need of caution. Let all be swift to hear and slow to speak, slow to wrath. Let us heed the Word of God: “I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore in your behalf, but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” [Romans 16:17-19.] What a change would be made if all who are in responsible positions would realize their accountability and that all are under the eye of an all-seeing God.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 4)
There is great need of an increase of knowledge in every line of health reform, and of bringing health reform into the practical life. Those who have had the privilege of hearing the truth are to give the trumpet a certain sound in proclaiming the third angel’s message, which embraces all included in the first and second messages. Special lines of work are to be taken up and carried practically, such as the medical missionary work. This work should be done in connection with the gospel message for this time. Those who cannot see the bearing of this work should not feel authorized to control any phase of it until they understand its bearing and can work in restoring and not tearing to pieces.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 5)
What is now needed is the working of the Holy Spirit on human minds and hearts. When the Holy Spirit molds and fashions us, we shall reveal the heartfelt thanksgiving expressed in the words, “I thank my Lord always on your behalf, for the grace of God which he has given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in that day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 6)
“God was faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, (why should we not, when we have a plain, “thus saith the Lord”?) and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” [1 Corinthians 1:4-10.] This is the will of God concerning us. Shall we obey it? “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 7)
“For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” [Verses 18-24.]
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 8)
I wish to say decidedly that the Lord has done a great work, and that He has honored us in using Dr. Kellogg as His appointed agent. Everything has not been without a flaw, but the Lord will take supervision of His work, and see that it does not become disproportionate in this one branch. He says, Dr. Kellogg is My servant. The work will not be marred if the church will awake to view matters clearly and arise and shine because the glory of the Lord has risen upon them. This is the position the church is called upon to occupy.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 9)
The workers are to be purified, sanctified, ennobled. They are to rise to the highest point of excellency. They are to be molded and fashioned after the divine similitude. Then they will see that health reform and medical missionary work are one—the gospel in practice. The reason why church members do not understand this branch of the work is because they are not following step after step after the great Leader. The medical missionary work is the work of God, and bears His signature. For this reason let man keep his hands off the work and not desire to manage the work according to his own ideas, for they will become weak and inefficient.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 10)
Our message is a world-wide message. But while means must not be absorbed in one line of the work, so that the work cannot be carried into new fields, the medical missionary work is not in any wise to be demerited as an inferior work. The world is a lazar house of disease. It is corrupted under the inhabitants thereof, and misery is universal. The Lord has given Dr. Kellogg the work of preparing a people to stand in the great day of God, and if he works under the supervision of God, many things will have to be modeled more closely after the principles of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 11)
“Ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planted anything, neither he that watered; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God: Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” [1 Corinthians 3:3-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 12)
He who is appointed to act a part in the work is to feel the solemn responsibility devolving upon him. We are working for eternity, and if we feed on the bread which came down from heaven, we shall be Christlike in spirit and character.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 13)
“The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.” But those who made this request did not understand what it comprehended. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” [John 6:33-35.] We are to come to Christ and feast upon His Word. Then as we read the Scriptures we shall understand them as they read. Christ will commune with the soul. Precious beams of light will shine upon the Word, and by unseen intelligences the mind will be fed and refreshed.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 14)
We are living in an age when there is to be no idleness. Every soul is to be charged with the heavenly current of life. The question is asked, What is the cause of the dearth in the church? The answer comes, because we allow our minds to be drawn away from the Word. We are built up from that which we eat, and every day we must give the mind proper nourishment by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 15)
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” [Verses 47-51, 54-57.]
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 16)
We must abide in Christ and Christ must abide in us, for “we are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Read the whole of the third chapter of First Corinthians. Every word in it is to be understood and appreciated. The Christian work is an individual work. Let no man feel that it is his duty to pick flaws in another man’s work. Cease finding fault. Improve yourself as you think your brethren should improve. It is your privilege to live in Christ, the bread of life. Those who do this will have a wholesome experience, and the light of God will go before them as they do the work specified in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 17)
Every branch of the work is to have recognition. “And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” [Ephesians 4:11, 12.] This Scripture shows that there are to be different workers, different instrumentalities. Each worker has his different work. No one is required to lay hold of another man’s work and, though uneducated and untrained, try to do that work. God has given to every man according to his several abilities. One man may think that his position in the work has given him authority to dictate to other workers. But this is not so. Ignorant of the work, he would enlarge where he should retrench, and retrench where he should enlarge, because he can only see the part of the vineyard where he is working.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 18)
Live for God. Eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood, and you will have eternal life. Your pathway will be brightened by clear, shining light. You will have the heavenly anointing, and will be kept from making grave blunders. Do not be so intent upon the work you are doing in one portion of the Lord’s vineyard that you cannot appreciate the work another man is doing. He may be faithfully cultivating his talents, so that he can return them doubled to his God.
(14LtMs, Lt 37, 1899, 19)
Lt 38, 1899
Prescott, W. W.; Irwin, G. A.; Jones, A. T.; Smith, U.; Waggoner, E. J. NP February 22, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in BCL 14-18. + Elders Prescott, Irwin, Jones, Smith, and Waggoner: Dear Brethren:
I have written to Brother John Kellogg in regard to matters which should come before him, asking him not to pursue a course which will in any wise detract from his influence. The Lord has greatly exalted and blessed His servant, Dr Kellogg. He has used him to honor His name upon the earth and to give character to the work. Dr. Kellogg has been obtaining a most precious experience. But there are some who have acted as though they had been appointed to work against him. The Lord has reproved their course of action. They knew not that they were working on Satan’s side of the question.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 1)
As men and women have thus worked out their own attributes, this has been a hindrance to the doctor. His brethren have had evidence that he has been working in accordance with the will of God. But although they have had light on this point, they have not all stood by his side to help him. Some have held up his hands, but others have not heeded the admonitions given. Every evidence that could be given has been given, but some have shown that they have not practiced self-denial. They have not taken up the cross to follow Christ. Such ones reveal the principles which have corrupted them.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 2)
Those who refused the warnings of God followed a course of action which has brought its sure result. These influences have sometimes made the work of Dr. Kellogg doubly as hard as it should have been. They have led him to stand apart to some degree from the ministry. I desire to present matters as they are presented to me. Such a spirit of criticism and faultfinding has done the work Satan designed should be done. Dr. Kellogg has been led to take the course he deemed it his duty to take. He has not connected with those who were not in sympathy with the work he knew to be of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 3)
Our people have not all appreciated as they should the man through whom God has worked, and with whom He has co-operated upon the subject of health reform. They have not reasoned from cause to effect to understand how great was the blessing of the sanitarium at Battle Creek under the management of Dr. Kellogg and his faithful associates. Through this work the truths of the third angel’s message have entered where it would otherwise have been very difficult for them to find entrance. But the perceptions of our people have been blinded. They have not felt that the Lord has greatly honored His people in establishing the sanitarium, which for influence and success has not yet been surpassed. Why cannot the churches see that the sanitarium has success because the Lord is especially at work to make it a place where the truth may be made known in a way that will recommend it to all classes, where it will be made manifest that God is honored, and that the truth of His Word is the abiding principle by which all work?
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 4)
This institution has been the means of elevating the truth and bringing it before thousands. The religious influence which pervades the institution inspires the patients with confidence. The assurance they have that the Lord presides over the sanitarium, the many prayers offered for the sick, does much to soothe their nerves. Many men and women who have never before thought of the value of their souls are convicted by the Spirit of God that they have made a mistake. They have put worldly position, human wisdom and wealth in the place of God and heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 5)
Careless, irreligious souls, full of pride and self-love, stand as it were before the bar of God to consider their past and future, and not a few change the whole course of their life. Man has inherited an intense desire to save himself, and thus show his independence. Impressions that will never be effaced have been made upon self-righteous souls, who have thought their own standard of character sufficient, who have felt no need of Christ’s righteousness. When the future test comes, when enlightenment comes to them, they will take their stand for truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 6)
The God of heaven is honored by an institution managed in this way. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was established in the order of God, that men and women might better understand the virtues of the tree of life. In His mercy God has made the sanitarium such a power in the relief of physical suffering that thousands are drawn to it to be cured of their maladies, and very often they are not only cured physically, but from the Saviour they receive the forgiveness of their sins, and they identify themselves completely with Christ, with His interests, His honor. Their sins are taken away, and are placed at Christ’s account. His righteousness is imputed to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 7)
The healing balm is applied to the soul. They receive the grace of Christ and go forth to impart to others the light of truth. The Lord makes them His witnesses. Their testimony is, “He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” [2 Corinthians 5:21.] They never forget the prayers, the songs of praise and thanksgiving that they heard while at the sanitarium. Can we realize how much God is glorified by this work?
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 8)
The Lord has connected Dr. Kellogg with the medical fraternity outside our people. His influence has had much to do with the abolishing of drugs, to a large extent, and the introduction of nature’s own restoratives. This work has not been done by making a raid upon drugs, for it needed the wisdom of a serpent and the harmlessness of a dove. Dr. Kellogg’s connection with God enables him to take the presence of the Holy Spirit with him into assemblies where there is generally much levity, and where many things are spoken that might better be left unsaid. The people respect the doctor’s religious principles, and show that they are somewhat under the influence of this faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 9)
The Lord would have His people awake, and realize that Dr. Kellogg is, and must be, connected with God, and is as firm as a rock to the principles of our faith. The Lord has given him knowledge and understanding. The singular success of the sanitarium at Battle Creek is a wonderful mystery to all. God has planned the whole thing, that men in the highways as well as in the byways should be brought in connection with Dr. Kellogg and his associates and the Bible instruction given. Thus they are continually being educated. Everything in this line that the physicians have done gives glory and praise to Him who is behind the physicians. All believers in the truth have cause to show much gratitude that we have such an institution as the sanitarium, also that God works with His instrumentalities, Dr. Kellogg and his co-workers, who are accepted in the Beloved. These influences are to be appreciated.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 10)
The Lord will sustain and uphold Dr. Kellogg as His man of opportunity just as long as Dr. Kellogg will stand true and steadfast to the principles of truth. The Lord sees the work he is doing in the medical missionary line. This work is not in any wise to stand separate from the ministry. The ministry must not be divorced from this work, and the Lord would have the church act a part in this work. Every talent in our churches should be employed in the work of doing good. The rough places of nature, the wild places, God has made attractive, by placing beautiful things among the most unattractive. This is the work we are called to do. But the medical missionary work must not become disproportionate. It must be a work that is in order with the rest of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 11)
Dr. Kellogg is in danger of gathering altogether too many burdens. His influence is to be decidedly felt in the sanitarium. It is needed there more largely, and with his workers he is to continue to exert the influence on the people that he has exerted in the past. The extra burdens he takes endanger his usefulness. The Lord would have Dr. Kellogg preserve his life, that he may do the work and exert the influence needed in the management of the sanitarium. His voice can do more at times than the voices of ten of his co-workers. There are wheels within wheels, and it is not a small matter to keep these wheels in such order that they can accomplish the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 12)
The Lord’s eye is upon you, Dr. Kellogg. The light given by God is that there are dangers you need to avoid. God’s work in many lines is to be done. Your voice and the voices of your associate physicians are needed in our camp meetings. You need to give lessons upon health reform, upon the necessity of preventing disease. But the Lord has not laid upon you the burden of presenting the importance of working altogether for the outcasts. That is a part of the work which will come. I am told to warn you that there is danger here. While you may present the favorable things, there are a flood of things that are unfavorable that all will not meet intelligently.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 13)
This work needs to be guarded most strenuously. At the present time the means from the churches must not be diverted into so many different channels that the treasury is emptied. Our people need to be faithful in paying their tithe, that the ministry may be supported, and the necessary work done in this line. Many more camp meetings must be held. Efforts are to be put forth for the people all through the camp meeting. Visiting is to be done. Words in season are to be spoken. Efforts are to be made to make the meetings revival meetings. And after the camp meetings the work is not to cease.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 14)
“Ye have not chosen me,” Christ said, “but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.” [John 15:16, 17.] God’s servants are to watch and pray, losing no opportunity of speaking a word for Christ or of giving away a paper or a tract. The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Christ’s love for souls will fill the heart of the sincere worker. It is a most deplorable thing that any human being should stray from God. Those who have any connection with God will work to help sinners. And there is to be perfect unity among all the workers in God’s great moral vineyard.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 15)
Most earnest work should be done in a camp meeting from the commencement to the close. There should be those who can conduct children’s meetings. In our camp meeting at Newcastle, Sister Peck took up this work, with several interested workers under her direction. These meetings were continued all through the camp meeting, and are still being held.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 16)
After the camp meeting is over, ministers should be left to follow up the work, with those who can be educated to give Bible readings and trained as missionary workers. This work requires a treasury enriched by the tithe and by gifts and offerings.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 17)
The Lord works and His servants work, watching for souls as they that must give an account. The promised Spirit comes from God, who gives the increase. God sends His servants to a place, and they must work with all their united energies to present the Word in its simplicity. The conscience is enlightened. A sense of sin is felt. The explanation of sin is given as John has given it, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” [1 John 3:4.] Most earnest work is to be done in every place where camp meetings are held. There are now in Brisbane, as the result of the camp meeting and the gathering-in work, about forty believers and others are being added to the number.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 18)
Let all God’s workers study the plan of salvation, and think what the working out of that plan cost. Calvary speaks with all its agony of suffering. There the Son of God died to secure eternal life for those who receive Him. No one but Christ can make man partaker of the divine nature. Only His human hands, pierced on Calvary’s cross, can lay hold of fallen man, and uplift him.
(14LtMs, Lt 38, 1899, 19)
Lt 39, 1899
Brethren in Responsible Positions in the Work NP February 22, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 1BC 1113; PM 354-355; PH139 25-29; CTr 122. + To My Brethren in Responsible Positions in the Work:
As long as the president of the General Conference worked away from the light given, others felt sustained in their wrong course. Men who ought to have been persuaded to pursue a different course thought themselves sustained because the president of the conference made them his staff of dependence, spending much to heed calls made from long distances, and traveling with them to places where their presence left things no better, but left a leavening influence for wrong behind. Men were retained in office who were warring against the purposes of God. Linked up with the president of the conference, they felt sure of carrying out schemes they desired. But God saw the end from the beginning. He withdrew His Holy Spirit, and would not work out His purposes for good. Certain men were working against the prosperity of the school and of the Review and Herald office. Means were diverted and swallowed up just as Satan designed they should be. Therefore foreign fields did not receive the help they should have received. The work that should have been done in those fields was not done.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 1)
The time came for the sanitarium to be placed upon a more sure foundation, and for the school to receive thorough reconstruction. Satan was working through his agents in a masterly manner. His instruments were all ready to fall into line, and to be worked by him. These called evil good and good evil. Had they not been resisted and defeated, there would have been as fearful a state of rebellion as when the spies returned who were sent to view the land of Canaan. When they returned from their work, they brought back an evil report. They acknowledged all the advantages of the promised land. They displayed the fruit they had found there, and then they magnified the difficulties, showing their unbelief in the God who was leading them. They said all they could to discourage, and they discouraged all Israel. They bore false witness. They did not remember how the Lord had helped them under every difficulty. The people broke forth into lamentations, mourning, and faultfinding.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 2)
Caleb stood before Moses and the people, and his ringing voice was heard above all the noise of wailing and complaint. He came to the front, and in face of unbelievers, in face of the cowards who stood with stones in their hands to throw [at him], he said, “Let us go up at once, and possess the land; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against this people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” [Numbers 13:30-33.]
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 3)
This report created the sin of apostasy. “All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron.” Their disappointment was so great that they said, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!” They had their wish. God took them at their word. “Wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land,” they said, “to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” [Numbers 14:2-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 4)
Cut to the heart by this rebellion, Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel, and rent their clothes with horror as they heard the voices of apostasy and rebellion. Caleb and Joshua pressed themselves forward, and again the clear, ringing voice of Caleb was heard: “The land which we passed through to search it is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us in to this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones.” Their voices would soon have been hushed in death had not the Lord interposed. “The glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation.” [Verses 7-10.] This was a manifestation that the children of Israel well knew could not be resisted. This was an authority they were bound to obey.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 5)
The men that brought up an evil report of the promised land died by the plague, while Caleb and Joshua lived; but though the Lord thus manifested his power to slay and to keep alive, the leaven of evil that had been introduced worked so effectually that the people would have stoned God’s faithful witnesses. They were not transformed in character. They were prepared, as we have seen men prepared in our day, to exalt their judgment and pervert the judgment of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 6)
This history was recorded for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Here is seen a determination to disregard the will of God. In their unbelief the people refused to go up to take the land. When they found that because of unbelief they must wander in the wilderness for another forty years, they said, We will go up now. But Moses told them they had no permission to go up. If they had gone when the Lord said, Go, the armies of the Lord’s host would have gone with them, but because of their rebellion and delay the Lord refused to give them victory. But the people said, We will go up; we will not wander in this wilderness any longer. And Moses said, “Go not up, for the Lord is not among you, that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.” [Verses 42-45.]
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 7)
Calebs have been greatly needed in different periods of the history of our work. Today we need men of thorough fidelity, men who follow the Lord fully, men who are not disposed to be silent when they ought to speak, who are as true as steel to principle, who do not seek to make a pretentious show, but who walk humbly with God, patient, kind, obliging, courteous men, who understand that the science of prayer is to exercise faith and show works that will tell to the glory of God and the good of His people. Our institutions, whatever their character, can prosper only by the manifestation of the self-denying, self-sacrificing spirit which was manifested in their foundation.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 8)
The principles of entire consecration must be maintained. Christ Himself has said, “Ye can not serve God and mammon.”“He that is not for me, (voicing my words,) is against me.” [Matthew 6:24; 12:30.] God will have no men in His work who offer divided service. His servants are to take the position that they will not sanction any evil work. To follow Jesus requires wholehearted conversion at the start, and a repetition of this conversion every day.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 9)
There have been times when a crisis has determined character. This has been again and again. When the time came [for] our institutions to receive new organization, the elements of character [of] ruling men were revealed. Those who had not been in harmony with truth and righteousness, who did not bear the approval of God, strove to obtain the ascendancy. But it was not the Lord’s design that their voice, their decisions, should have influence in board or council meetings. The only way in which they can be a strength to the work and cause of God is by keeping quiet until they know whether they are on Satan’s side or on Christ’s.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 10)
There are men who have put out their spiritual eyesight. They cannot distinguish between the sacred and the common. Their voice is the loudest when they are in the enemy’s service. It will be greatly to their credit to keep still. This is their strength. Silence is their eloquence. It means very much to every man whether he is on the Lord’s side of the question or on Satan’s side.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 11)
God’s people today have far greater light than had ancient Israel. They have not only the increased light which has been shining upon them, but the instruction given by God to Moses, to be given to the people. God specified the difference between the sacred and the common, and declared that this difference must be strictly observed. This lesson is given also to modern Israel. That which God has set apart as sacred must ever be respected as sacred. Christ was the foundation of the Jewish economy. When type met antitype in His death, the need for sacrificial offerings ceased. But the lessons regarding practical obedience, given by Christ from the Mount of Blessing, were still binding.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 12)
The Lord has given His people great light and precious instruction. What sorrow, what shame, what agony of soul, has been felt by God’s faithful servants who have stood as did Joshua and Caleb to hear Israel cast off their leader, and choose one of their rebellious number to lead them back to Egypt. In their complaints the Israelites blasphemed God. God had signified that the defense of the land of Canaan had departed, and that now was the opportune time for them to enter it. Caleb declared the truth for that and every time: “The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us, a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle before all the congregation of Israel.” [Numbers 14:7-10.] The manifestation of the Lord’s glory was needed to quell the mad and blasphemous utterances of the people, and to save the lives of His servants from the maddened throng.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 13)
Has there not been seen in modern Israel manifestations similar to this? Has not the loud, boisterous voice of rebellion been heard in your council meetings and in your board meetings? Has not human prejudice been revealed as you have settled up accounts with the ministers? The spirit manifested by the men belonging to the auditing committee showed that these men were as destitute of the divine nature and the Spirit and grace of God as the hills of Gilboa are destitute of dew and rain. This is where Elder Olsen’s influence should have been seen and felt as was the influence of Caleb and Joshua. He was responsible for the injustice done in those meetings, when he suffered evil, unprincipled actions to go unreproved. His voice could have turned the whole current of the stream of evil that was by his silence encouraged to swell to immense proportions.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 14)
Men having no experimental knowledge of ministerial work should never be called to the auditing committee. The Lord has spoken regarding this matter: “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons.” [Exodus 18:21, 22.]
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 15)
These men are to be carefully selected. They are to be men who have moral perception, men who are acquainted with the work they are handling. God declares, Behold, all souls are mine. He has said again and again that He is present in all your council meetings, in all your auditing of accounts. He knows just how every person is dealt with, and He keeps a record of all these things. Sacred things have been handled as common matters. The Lord’s work has been done just as men chose to have it done.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 16)
In the past the Book Committee has been composed of men who know nothing of book making. They have assembled in council to consider matters that they knew nothing about. They have voiced the opinions of men who were double minded, who did not conscientiously keep the fear of God before them. The Lord has given direction regarding the carrying forward of His work. Concerning the man He had appointed to do a certain work, He said, “I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.... And in the hearts of all that are wise hearted (who have made the best use of their talents that they might distinguish between the sacred and the common) I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee.” [Exodus 31:3, 6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 17)
The ideas of many in reference to the matters pertaining to God’s work are too cheap. In the selection of pictures to illustrate holy things, a deficiency of wisdom has been shown that God cannot approve. The Lord calls for men with pure and holy minds, with whom He can work. The Holy Spirit must impress the hearts of the workers. When this influence is felt, no more such board and council meetings will be held as have been held. Surely there is need now of bold, fearless Calebs, who, under the influence of the Spirit, will use the talents of hearing and speaking with heroic courage, disregarding all personal dangers and anxieties.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 18)
After the rebellion of the children of Israel because of the evil report of the spies, the Lord purposed to destroy them. Had they not walked and worked at cross-purposes with Him? When He planned for them to obtain easy access into Canaan, did they not listen to the report of the faithless spies, who under the control of Satan did the very work he intended them to do? The spies broke down the courage of all Israel by the lying report, and developed a rebellion that called for the presence of God Himself to adjust matters.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 19)
It was God’s purpose to destroy the children of Israel because of their rebellion. But Moses would not give Israel up. He said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;) and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou, Lord are among this people, that thou, Lord, art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.” [Numbers 14:13, 14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 20)
Then the Lord declared that for forty years the children of Israel should wander in the wilderness. They shall know My breach of promise, He declared. Then the people went to the other extreme. The Lord had said, Go not up; for I will not go with you, but unheeding all that was said, they went up. They said, we have sinned, and now repent; and they thought this would change the case. We will do just what Caleb and Joshua told us to do, they said, and God will certainly give us the land of promise. They were warned that their enemies in the valley had knowledge of the visit of the spies, and would be at the top of the hill before them, but they were determined to follow the impulse of their stubborn will. They refused to go when the Lord promised to go with them; now when their perversity called for a change of action on the Lord’s part, they determined to go to battle without their General, without the ark.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 21)
The Amalekites had prepared for the reception of the army of Israel, and were in ambush against them. They became God’s instrument for punishing the people of Israel in their guilty rebellion. There was a great slaughter of the Israelites, and those who escaped returned to the camp humbled but not converted. At every proving, their murmurings broke forth. The merciful God turned the course of the children of Israel, for the Amalekites and Canaanites in their triumph would seek to follow up their advantage. The Lord did not plan this humiliation for the people. He had pledged Himself to go with their armies to battle. But their own course of rebellion caused Him to make a breach of promise. For forty years, He declared, You shall know My breach of promise.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 22)
We have the history of the children of Israel before us. Shall we learn anything from this history, written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come? In the last ten years there have been men as unreasonably provoked as were the children of Israel, and they have acted fully as unwisely. Will they ever see this? Will they manifest that repentance that needeth not to be repented of? Read of the development of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Numbers. Read this carefully and prayerfully, my brethren.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 23)
The Lord has had great and grand purposes for His people, but they have worked at cross-purposes with Him. As soon as The Great Controversy came from the press, it should have been pushed forward above every other book. I have been shown this. Had it been circulated at the time it was lying idle, there would have been a very different order of things among our workers. The impressions made would have wrought decided changes. But instead of this, the book was suppressed, although the promise was made me that it should go forward if I would take the lowest royalty. The book that should have gone did not go, and the men who should have worked to carry it forward discouraged the canvassers from handling it. All that I could say was as water spilt upon a rock. Thus said the Lord, I will judge for this false, dishonest work.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 24)
Who was working in these men? Certainly it was not God. The managers of the Pacific Press have followed in the trend of those in responsible positions in Battle Creek. The enemy obtained advantage of us in many ways, and since that time the madness of men has reached to heaven. They have sought to spoil the work of God, and to betray the Lord into the hands of sinners. O what shame, what disgrace to the cause of God! The Lord declared of Israel, “Neither will I be with you any more unless these sins are put away from you.” [Joshua 7:12.] The Lord’s work has languished. There has been a revival of the Spirit of God, but the work has not prospered. Will it ever again stand in its elevated character? Will God ever again be with His people in the publishing work as He was at its commencement? Never, unless your principles are decidedly changed; and this can never be until hearts are cleansed by the Spirit of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 39, 1899, 25)
Lt 40, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. NP February 23, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 21MR 40-50. + Dear Brother:
We received your telegram in due time, and we felt grateful for the prospect of $5,000 in about three months’ time. This will be a help indeed, for it is very much needed. You speak of Sister McCamly giving $10,000 for the work of rescuing souls from the lowest depths, and securing a home for them in Colorado, and that she is going to raise this sum to $50,000. This is where America has the advantage. There you have those who will make large donations, but we have no such standing. We are yet in the A B C of the work. It makes me sad when I think of all the donations poured into established homes in America, and remember that we have not been able to raise from any source whatever money enough even to make a respectable beginning.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 1)
I wish you could have had the picture before your own eyes, then you could better understand how much we need means. We would praise God for the possibility of obtaining means with which to work. In every line we are pressed for means with which to make a start. What can we possibly do in regard to manufacturing health foods? We have a building, a sawmill, which can be fitted up for this work. We have secured this from the school, but how to obtain means to commence manufacturing the foods is more than we know. We have no outlook yet, but we must have facilities to work with. Here are medical men, and workers are being educated in this line. We must start without delay. Can you give us any light? We want to do the work that must be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 2)
This country is a new world, and I have invested everything as fast as I have obtained anything to invest. I have stood back of every new enterprise that the Lord has indicated [should be] started since coming to this field. We do not want to be far behind the providence of God, lest the favorable opportunities will pass by and never come again. The Lord wants us to be minutemen, right on hand, that we may go to work with all the powers we can command. Then He will work with us.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 3)
When I heard that one sister would give $10,000 to the institution in Colorado, I was relieved, for from the light given me by the Lord, wherever there is a sanitarium established, there should be a building separate from the other buildings where consumptives can be cared for. Such cases should be kept away from other patients who are in poor health. It is not right to allow consumptives to mingle with patients who are being treated for local difficulties. As rational beings, we must exercise care in separating the consumptives from those who have not the disease, but who have weak lungs. They should not all be crowded into one building. The building in Colorado should be at a distance from the building we may call our sanitarium hospital, and far greater precautions must be taken with consumptives, lest the disease be communicated.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 4)
We know that faith is a mightier conqueror of the world than even death. What ever the diseases and afflictions humanity is subjected to in this period of the world’s history, they are the result of the wickedness of the inhabitants of the earth. Their course of action has brought its sure result, until the very earth, the very cattle, are consumed with disease. But all we can do is to alleviate suffering, and to bring a balm, a solace, a hope, to those ready to perish. The fact that Christ when He was on this earth was a healer of all manner of disease is an encouragement and hope amid the moral sickness and evil that prevails, and we should do far more as physicians and nurses, as ministers of righteousness, if, instead of looking down into the grave, we fixed our gaze upon the mighty Healer.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 5)
Whatever the disorder may be, the glories of the heavenly will do more for the saving of body and soul than all the drug medication in the world, than all the terrors of the grave will do if kept before the helpless and apparently hopeless. Why is the sanitarium at Battle Creek in so much repute? Why has it been successful? It is because God presides, because heavenly intelligences are there, because truth and righteousness have opportunity to be all-pervading. The poor souls that are lost Christ came to pardon and to relieve.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 6)
You need, my brother to place burdens and responsibilities upon others, while you preside. You can be worked by the Holy Spirit to devise and plan after the order of God. But trust not to your own human wisdom. Trust not to poisonous drugs, that will interfere with nature’s work, and leave their cruel trail behind. Work away from drugs, and never, never advise one under your influence to go to Ann Arbor or any place to obtain the education supposed to be essential for the perfection of the medical practitioner. The stamp left upon them by such places is almost ineffaceable. Educate, educate, educate, by placing yourself and others in the closest connection with the greatest Healer the world has ever know. Keep in view the better world, which is attracting to itself all who are receiving the grace of God in this world.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 7)
The purity and holiness of entire consecration to God, entire conformity to His mind, His spirit, His will, is essential. You need not be ever dwelling on doctrinal subjects, but on that character all must have in order to please and glorify God. Do not be afraid that you will lose your influence. No one who is balanced by the Holy Spirit of God, who moves considerately, who sits with Christ in heavenly places, will lose the influence of any person, high or low, whose influence is worth having. You need never try to shape your religious experience in order that you may be a great man before the world. Your greatness depends upon your humility.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 8)
Place yourself more habitually in that part of the temple of inspiration where the Holy Spirit of God will lavish upon you the richest currents of wisdom, which will then flow forth from you to others, magnifying God and increasing your love and hope and joy in the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Make no special effort, thinking by outward display to attract. Just work out the principles of the Word of the living God; this will be your wisdom and your greatness and your strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 9)
Time must be redeemed from things which are seen and temporal to meditate upon things unseen and eternal. You must resist an encroaching world, which if allowed will so press upon you as to separate you from the source of your strength. Put on Christ. In the closest commune with Him who seeth in secret. Lay hold by faith on His might. Make peace with Him, and you shall make peace with Him. Nothing else will carry you through the closing scenes of this earth’s history, and give you the victory and the crown of life that fadeth not away. Press toward the mark of the prize.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 10)
I am directed to impress upon you that you must have a stronger faith in God. Hold fast to the only source of strength, then right where you are you will be a living epistle, known and read of all men. Faith is not sight. God requires you to bring into every phase of your character and into your work all the attractiveness possible, and Jesus Christ, His meekness, His love, His unselfishness. Let not the thought come into your mind that your must do battle for yourself because you think that your brethren in the faith make wrong moves and do not appreciate your work. This opinion will not change God’s estimate of your character.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 11)
If you have Christ as your defense, you have a mighty power behind all your efforts; but you have not yet attained. You much reach higher spirituality. You must care more, far more, for that wisdom, that holiness, and that fragrance, the glory which Christ longs to give every true heart that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. As long as no human agent can make one shade of your character darker or brighter, do not worry at all. The Lord has not appointed any man, even your brethren, to make you over. They cannot change one feature of their own characters without the co-operation of God, and neither can you.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 12)
Concerning you and your associates God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” [Isaiah 57:15.] Each one of your associate physicians has an individual work to do. The prayer of faith shall save the sick. This [is] a word from the Lord to you who have so much to do with the sick.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 13)
The prayer of faith in the sickroom, short and right to the point, prepares the way for the grace of God to speak to the soul. Even unbelievers feel this—to them—strange and new influence, and realize that God can and will hear their prayers. You cannot know, you who pray in the sickroom, what will be accomplished, and what has been accomplished, by the prayer of faith. By the simple prayer the sick have been encouraged to believe that God will look with compassion upon them, else that prayer would never have been offered in their behalf. A ray of light penetrates to the hopeless soul and becomes a savor of life unto life.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 14)
Pray with simple faith. In the future world we shall see what great victories have been won by the prayer of faith. Prayer has “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions (not only beasts of prey, but human beings), quenched the violence of fire, (we shall know what this means when we hear the reports of the martyrs who died for their faith and felt not pain), escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness was made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” [Hebrews 11:33, 34.]
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 15)
We shall want to hear all about these victories, and shall hear when the Captain of our salvation, our glorious King of kings, opens it before those of whom John writes, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” [Revelation 7:14-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 16)
Dr. Kellogg, there is a different, a more exalted, experience to be obtained by every worker in every phase of God’s work. This experience all will gain if they read the Word of God, and appropriate that Word as the living bread which came down from heaven. But not one in a hundred know the value of eating the bread of life. The directions given by Jesus Christ, the invisible Leader of Israel, in the Old Testament Scriptures are full of marrow and fatness. No soul will repine in spiritual hunger if they take these words and eat them. The words spoken in the sixth chapter of John have special reference to the spirituality of the Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 17)
The living oracles are the flesh and blood of the Son of God, although He had not then been crucified among them. His work as the substitute for all sin was the only hope of ancient Israel, and after the plan of God had been fulfilled in the death of Christ, the New Testament was written by holy men as they were moved by the Spirit of God. This additional blessing, the New Testament Scriptures, was given, not that the Old might be cast aside, but that the light of the New Testament might be reflected back into past ages, giving significance to the whole Jewish economy. The directions so plainly laid down in reference to practical holiness should enter the life of every one who claims to be a Christian. All should fulfill the terms and conditions given to ancient Israel in regard to practical obedience.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 18)
Let all remember that the mysteries of the kingdom cannot be learned by reasoning. True faith and true prayer—how strong they are! The prayer of the Pharisee had no value, but the prayer of the publican was heard in the courts above, because it showed dependence reaching forth to lay hold of Omnipotence. Self was nothing but shame. Thus it must be with all who seek God. Faith expressed by prayer are as the two arms which the needy suppliant lays hold upon the power of infinite love. Faith sees the advantage of making peace with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 19)
Now, my brother, I have written you matters just as they were presented to me. You were devising and planning, and feeling that you must have the co-operation and sympathy of all the men standing with you; but, my brother, you cannot be supported in drawing from the Foreign Mission Board to sustain the workers in medical missionary lines who are working in America. You cannot depend on the Foreign Mission Board for means just as you choose. This is not as it should be. There must be a Foreign Mission treasury. But this must not be drawn upon so that when the missionaries in foreign countries look to America for help, they will find nothing there. The medical missionary work in America must not be launched out as largely as it has done, unless workers know where their means of support are coming from.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 20)
There are other lines of work, my brother, that you have not discerned and estimated as you should have done. They have been out of your sight. You need to see afar off, as well as near. You need to consider carefully how the workers in other parts of God’s moral vineyard are to be assisted. The places where the work is new, where prejudice and opposition abound, where there are no Seventh-day Adventist churches to which the workers can appeal, need help. You have just as little consideration for foreign missionary labor and the work to be started in new fields as you suppose the Foreign Mission Board has for your work. You receive large donations in the medical missionary work. You receive a large amount of money in the sanitarium. Light has been given me that you are planning to use means in various ways which will absorb more than the treasury can afford. You cannot do this unless you shall interest outside parties to furnish you means.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 21)
I am authorized to call for means from the treasury to advance the work in this country. I should have done it long ago for the establishment of a sanitarium here in Australia. But your demands have been too readily made. You, as well as I, need to exercise care in the outlay of every penny. God’s work has not yet been established in New South Wales, and this must be done. If we had received that help which we ought to have had years ago from the resources in America, we should now have institutions on paying bases.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 22)
I have just been reading over the testimony written when the sanitarium was started in Battle Creek. The entreaties and supplications made then for help for that sanitarium and for our school were just as strong as the entreaties I am making now for the help I ought to have had here. In the establishment of the work in Oakland, California, I felt the same distress of mind. I have spent many sleepless nights over the establishment of work in these places. Now they stand on vantage ground, and the workers in them should have understood the situation without compelling me to plead in behalf of a field where there is nothing to give character to the work. It makes me ashamed to think they have not.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 23)
My brother, you are on test and trial, and if you throw your arms about so many responsibilities that are unending in their duration, and make them first, you will not do right. You must consider that it absorbs means to sustain the increasing demands which your devising creates. To whom shall those who are in hard and trying fields look for strength and financial support. If they could receive anything approaching to the donations that you have received, they would be able to work with far more courage and, having facilities, could accomplish far more work.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 24)
All these things need to be considered. There is the sanitarium in Battle Creek—a place of great influence. You have been honored by God; and I do not want you to increase and increase a certain line of work that absorbs so much that other fields are left with little or nothing.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 25)
You have represented the case to me as you view it, saying that you do not have the sympathy of many of your brethren. Do not suppose that, because you are not upheld in all you propose to do, you can invest means in various ways and then feel hurt if you are not sustained. If you were not bound about in some way, all missionary work in foreign countries would be so handicapped for want of financial aid that the workers might better leave the field. You exaggerate in your statements to me, for in your imaginations the matter looks so to you; but it is not a correct representation. You must be just as willing that your voice and your judgment shall [not] have all the preference. The very exaltation God has given you, as you will see by my letters He has given you, should make you afraid. Temptations have come to you, and will come to you more and more.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 26)
The Lord has placed you in a position of great responsibility, but He can remove you at any time. We do not want you to be removed, and I am now commissioned to give you warning that you are certainly in danger. It is just as much your duty to draw nigh to your brethren and help them and sympathize with them in the difficulties which have come into the conference, which is a most humiliating, heart-sickening matter, as it is for them to help you; yea, more, for you are looked up to by many of the so-called great men of the world. You have their confidence, and they honor you. The position that you are in is not so very trying if you would be candid and not view matters in a distorted light.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 27)
The Lord has given you great blessings. Will you then show that you appreciate your position of trust, as not created by yourself, but by the Lord God of heaven? My brother, you can pursue a course that will deprive you of the wisdom God has given you; but I do not want you to do this. I want you to remain as true as steel to your God and to your brethren. Just as soon as you begin to show a sense of superiority and a masterly spirit, the Lord will work to show that He is God and not man. Walk humbly with God. Bear in humility all the honor God has seen fit to give you. Do not exalt yourself and demerit your brethren, for then you show distinctly that the Spirit of the Lord is departing from you, and that you will be left to your own wisdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 28)
Never has there been a physician who has not had his trials. The very work in which you are engaged makes you a target for the enemy. It is becoming to you to hide yourself in God. Let him place you in the cleft of the rock, and cover that rock with His hand, that you may see His glory. Never must you show overmastering passion.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 29)
Do not think that in giving success to the sanitarium, God is dependent upon any one man. The heavenly intelligences have in God’s plan appointed the sanitarium as a place where His name shall be magnified. He would make it a place where He can use men as His agencies to co-operate with Him in exalting the truth, giving strength and beauty to the column, building as workers who follow His directions. Thy mysteries so precious and essential that it is God’s purpose to reveal—His eternal truths—He will make known to the world in a most simple manner.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 30)
The grace of God has been viewed from the outer court. It is the Lord’s purpose to rend away the veil. The revelation of His own glory in the form of humanity hid in Christ will bring heaven so near to men that the beauty adorning the inner temple will be seen in every agent in whose heart Christ abides. Hearts will be captivated—not by the glory of the man, but by the inward adorning of an abiding Christ. It is the revelation of Christ in the man that captivates the hearts of men and women. They behold the beautiful character of Christ, revealed by good works.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 31)
All the self-exaltation of man, his high estimate of himself, are not of the least value in God’s sight. If man has that faith which in its simplicity works by love and sanctifies the soul, Christ says to him, Ye are a laborer “together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Man must be worked by God, builded by God. Material of the first quality must be used in the character building. You know that poor timbers have been put into your building. God has been working to remove these timbers. Do not build yourself after your own model. Let God make you a holy temple for Him. He has loved you. He is proving you. Make no failure.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 32)
You are not to suppose that you are superior to your brethren, but God has given your every capability, your every success. You have made many mistakes, yet the Lord uses you still. Do not take credit to yourself. All that you are comes from God. It is the heavenly intelligences that work through human agents, and when you take any glory to yourself by exalting yourself, you greatly dishonor God; for you reveal a disposition that shows you are not yoked up with Christ, but are drawing a load on your own account. Many do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 33)
I feel the deepest interest in you. In the letters I sent in the mail before last, a few days before your letters arrived, I stated facts plainly. In a few days another mail came, the last. Well, I have not dared to withhold the light, for things are constantly opening before me. For some time now, excepting three nights, I have not slept after two o’clock. Some nights I awake at half past one, and the night before last I awakened at twelve o’clock, and commenced writing to you. I wrote as fast as my pen could travel over the paper.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 34)
Walk softly before God, not in the strength of Dr. Kellogg. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord that exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” [Jeremiah 9:23, 24.] The Lord has kept you by His power, and He will still keep you if you do not try so hard to keep and run yourself.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 35)
God can guide you, my brother, beautifully, and in perfect consistency in all things; but just as soon as you feel yourself superior to your brethren, and criticize them, you are out of your place, as they are out of their place in criticizing you. My brother, you must strive to work in perfect harmony with your brethren. The work is one the world over. Do not suppose that every man is to be as interested to the same degree in the medical missionary work as you yourself are. They cannot be; for God has laid upon them the work of ministry. This is fully as essential as any work you have been carrying on.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 36)
The ministry and the medical missionary work must be combined. Never lose sight of this. There must be no alienation among brethren. If our brethren have ought against us, the first missionary work to be done is to be reconciled to our brother or brethren. God has pointed out the path we must follow. He has shown us that we must love one another. When the love of Jesus Christ pervades the soul, many words that you now speak to those who love God and keep His commandments just as conscientiously as you do, you will not speak. They are not in a position where they can be honored and exalted as you are. Let not this be a snare to you, for as the Lord has presented matters to me, the spirit you have manifested toward your brethren must be different from what it has been in the past. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. Christ died to save your brethren as surely as He died to save you.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 37)
He that searcheth the heart knoweth what is in the heart of every man. There must be a decided change in your attitude toward your brethren. Be assured that when this change takes place, you will see a decided change in your brethren. I feel so sorry for my Saviour. I feel such longing of soul that Christ shall mellow and change the soul temple of His people. You need to soften. You need not feel that your brethren are all in the wrong, because they are not. You need the working of the Holy Spirit on your heart as much and even more than many of your brethren need it. When you become one with your brethren, as is represented in the seventeenth chapter of John, you may expect the love and power of God to flow in rich currents into your soul. The work of God is not divided; it is one, and if there is any separation between the medical missionary work and the ministry, it will be because the Holy Spirit is not working upon hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 38)
Come, brethren, the Angel of the covenant is working by His intercession, even the Lord Jesus Christ, to prevent the very thing which will take place unless there is complete unity in your work. Christ is opening His lips in supplication. He is pouring out His petitions to God for you who claim to believe in Him and yet are not living in unity. You are jealous and suspicious of one another. Your Redeemer would restore to His people healthful heartbeats for each other.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 39)
This passing judgment upon one another prevents the working of the Spirit of God. Christ is not divided. God wants to give an enlarged current of His love to His people. “And the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; for the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because it maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” [Romans 8:26, 27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 40)
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, and of some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.” [Jude 20-25.]
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 41)
My brethren, I write these things to you because they are truth, and you all need them. All faultfinding, all criticizing, all envy, jealousy, and evil surmising, must be put away with all evil-speaking. You are to prepare the highways of the Lord. You are to strive to be one with Christ in God. Then there will be given to the world an evidence of the great goodness of God in sending his son to die for men. True, genuine love will be expressed, for Christ is abiding in the heart. Then your prayers will be offered in the spirit and power of God, and God will be revealed. Where you are now standing, in disunion, the atmosphere about your souls is of Satan’s creating. It is his own breath. Obey the Word, and love as brethren, and God will bind you together with the great love wherewith He loved His Son. This is the love you each are to express to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 40, 1899, 42)
Lt 41, 1899
Caro, E. R. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 425-426; WM 101-102. + Dear Brother:
I have a special interest in the work going forward at Summer Hill and at Newcastle. I thank the Lord that the work is advancing as far as we can go and as fast as financial help comes. We are waiting patiently for the Lord to move upon the hearts of those who have means, to aid us in this emergency. The Lord desires all who have money and are not putting it into circulation, to realize that now is their time and opportunity to work. The time for us all to work is when the providence of God opens the way.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 1)
The medical missionary work promises to do more in Australia than it has in America to open the way for the truth to gain access to the people. May the Lord’s people now heed the invitations of God’s opening providence, and realize that it is an opportune time to work. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” [Matthew 6:19-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 2)
Let all who read these words be true to the requirements of Christ our Saviour, whose lips spoke these words for the benefit of all who live upon the earth. The Lord Jesus made a most wonderful sacrifice in our behalf. He clothed His divinity with humanity and came to our world to give all His followers an example of the work they are to do. All have the privilege of co-operating with Him. We are individually in possession of talents which we may use to accomplish good. “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Who will now co-operate with God—built up by God, founded upon Christ, and enlightened by the Holy Spirit? Thus building for God, good works will appear.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 3)
We are now building for time and for eternity. The heart grows strong while laboring in harmony with God. We are all to be thankful that God will accept us as co-workers with Him. Christ’s life was one of continual self-denial; and at the present stage of the work, all are to be tried, tested, and proved, to see if they have the right qualifications of character. The storm of test and trial proves the building. Under trial it is seen whether the coin possesses the true ring. Is the heart strong to bear? Is the conscience void of offense? Now for the witness of the Spirit. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” [Romans 8:16.] As the believer in Christ bears his testimony in simplicity and true godliness, you may be sure that he is not a scientific murmurer, that he does not complain because the workers do not have abundance of means.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 4)
God sees fit to try His people with poverty, a dearth of means. But notwithstanding this, their zeal and earnestness in the work must not abate. All must have the spirit of self-sacrifice; for in God’s work there is a positive necessity to sacrifice. Let no one fail at the very time that he needs to be strong, to act his part without a murmur. Sacrifices must be made now in building up the work with durability. Be careful to maintain good works. When Satan tempts you to fret and complain, to find fault because you think you should have more money, let not the unconsecrated tongue be active to murmur and complain as did the children of Israel. Laboring together with Christ means self-sacrifice at every step, until the work shall stand on vantage ground. Let all who have anything to do in God’s service put on Christ, be yoked up with Christ. Then they will have the mind of Christ and will be willing to make sacrifices to advance the work in its various lines, to save the souls and bodies of suffering humanity.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 5)
All must work in harmony, with cheerfulness, with wholeheartedness, following the opening providences of God. Do the very best you can, and when voices are raised to introduce the evil leaven of complaint, of peevishness, of murmuring, of accusing, do not listen to these words. If the heart accepts the introduction of this leaven, you will know it. This is the school of Satan, whether in the sanitarium or in the church. The troubled soul is made full of worry because mischievous tongues have abused the gift of speech to create disaffection. If the door of the heart is firmly closed, if you say, “I will not be overcome,” the Lord will help you.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 6)
“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” [Psalm 15:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 7)
Let each one barricade the soul. If you speak, let it not be to voice the words of Satan, though they be the words of thy father, thy mother, thy brother, thy sister, friend, or enemy. Christ has given us directions, Take not up a reproach against thy neighbor. Let the tempted souls who have as a transmitted inheritance a spirit of suspicion, envy, jealousy, evil-surmising, mourning and complaining be on their guard. When tempted, as you certainly will be, reach up your hand to take hold of Christ, believing that He can and will save you because you believe in Him, and that you will be strong because Christ is your strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 8)
Overcoming means much more than we apprehend. It means fighting the enemy in the shape of the suggestions he sends direct to the human soul or through those with whom we associate. The branch grafted into the parent stock will bear the same fruit as the stock. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” means more than we realize. “Resist the devil.” This is the human agent’s part. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” [James 4:7, 8.] If we do this, we shall become rooted and grounded in the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 9)
There will be need, Dr. Caro, of organized plans. You will have to secure nurses to be educated and trained. They are learning a most valuable trade, and many temptations will come to them through the patients presenting offers of large wages if they will go with them. They will propose to put them in places where they will have a better chance to earn money. Dr. Caro, you and your associates must guard this point, else you will surely have trouble.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 10)
After doing your best to fit these ladies and gentlemen for the work, how can you be sure that they can be depended on to go here and there as your helpers to co-operate in the work? The only way you can do is to have these students agree to serve a period of time to obtain the knowledge essential and to make trustworthy nurses. This must be treated as a business transaction, as well as a sacred obligation to be true to the principles of righteousness. The students should feel that they are under obligation to co-operate with the institution. They should regard their knowledge as a valuable treasure, to be used discreetly, and not opened indiscriminately to all. Keep your own counsel. It requires years of practice to make a full practitioner, one who can be trusted to act as physician as well as nurse. This you will often be required to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 11)
The Lord would have His people, who are regarded by the world as singular and peculiar, keep themselves as His peculiar people. The light God has given in medical missionary lines will not cause His people to be regarded as inferior in scientific medical knowledge, but will fit them to stand upon the highest eminence. He would have them stand as a wise and understanding people because God is with them.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 12)
In His dealing with the people, the Lord commanded a certain work to be done, in special lines and according to special methods. To men and women who were willing to be taught by God and to co-operate with Him to the best of their ability, the Lord gave wisdom, and as they used the talents given them, they received more wisdom, more understanding, and a knowledge of how to overcome difficulties. Under His instruction and guidance, they would become perfect and complete.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 14)
The Lord is the source of all wisdom, of all grace. In His strength defects and ignorance may be overcome. Every physician, every nurse, every helper, who has anything to do in God’s service, must aim at perfection. Wrong habits must be overcome. Right habits, correct speech, correct habits, must be cherished. Under the discipline of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known, our course must ever tend upward to perfection. All who are connected with the medical missionary work must be learners. No one must stop to think, “I cannot do this.” He must say instead, God required me to be perfect. Work away from all commonness and cheapness, reaching up for perfection. What did Christ say in regard to this matter? “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48.] No one is excused who allows known defects to remain in his character. Those connected with medical missionary work are connected with God’s service, and must strive to reach the standard of perfection. God will give them wisdom and understanding.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 15)
“Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning your selves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. For if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.” [1 Peter 1:13-19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 16)
To us “God would make known what is the riches of the glory of his mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” [Colossians 1:27, 28.] “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: which in time past were not a people, but now are the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly Beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” [1 Peter 2:9-12.] “Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.” [Ephesians 5:1, 2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 17)
Let these words, all from Christ, be carefully cherished, believed, and practiced. We are to show a superiority in intellect, in understanding, in skill and knowledge, because we believe in God and in His power to work upon human hearts. Read the history of Daniel. The Lord would have His people reach the highest round of the ladder, that they may glorify Him by possessing the ability God is willing to bestow. He has a treasure house of knowledge from which we can all draw. Then let us realize our defects, and improve under the instruction of God. Let the light and grace of God be reflected to the world as the highest education, which sanctifies the receiver. The religion of Jesus Christ never degrades; it never makes men and women coarse and rough. God would have every man correct in speech, correct in habits, possessing knowledge that will give him a standing place among men. I present this matter as the Lord has presented it to me. Let us arm ourselves with a determination to put ourselves to the task of learning in the school of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 18)
What shall be done to secure proper organization in the sanitarium? Proper persons, who will do honor to every branch of the work, must be connected with the institution. The Lord will bless the efforts made in this direction. The consecration of our talents to God must be very real. As workers together with God, those in the sanitarium should enter into contract to accomplish that which should be done. They should agree to work a certain number of years under proper discipline, and thus be fitted to engage in the work under the advice and direction of the board of directors as a part of the firm, to be sent where help is most needed, unless for some reason, on account of health or family demands, such a move is made inconsistent. All are to be united as a sacred firm in the great work God has signified should be done. No one is to feel at liberty to go away and establish an institution on their own merits and after their own methods, because the work they do will surely be inferior, and will give no credit to the central institution, which they are supposed to represent.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 19)
Let it be understood that those who go forth to do a work in medical missionary lines are not to go independent of the institution already established, for this will cause confusion, and the institution that God would have stand before the world as a perfect and complete whole will be misinterpreted and misrepresented.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 20)
All are to work intelligently and with cheerfulness. Each one is to be willing to do his part toward the building up of the institution in any place where the board of directors shall see fit in the order of God to send him, in order to advance as God’s providence shall lead the way. Each one must have the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice, of which Christ has given us the example in His life. We are to feel our obligation to do the very best we can. Those who have many talents, and those who have few, are to work unitedly, as a wheel within a wheel. And if all feel their responsibility and accountability to God, they will do His will by acting their part according to His appointment.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 21)
Each one is to bear in mind the words of Christ, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] If this command is kept in view, we shall see a large measure of the manifestation of the Spirit of God. The Lord has a place for every one in His great plan. Talents that are not needed are not bestowed. To every man God gives talents which are to be improved according to his several ability.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 22)
Supposing the talent is small, God has a place for it, and that one talent, if used, will do the very work God designed that it should do. The talents of the humble cottager are needed in house to house labor, and can accomplish more in this work than brilliant gifts. And he who uses aright his one talent will be as verily rewarded as he who used aright five talents. It is for working according to the ability given that God rewards His servants.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 23)
I have been awakened at three o’clock a.m. to write this matter. May the Lord bless the same to your good is my prayer. It is not yet daylight, but the blessing of the Lord rested upon me as I wrote. I would urge all to put away murmuring and complaining. Let the sweet fragrance of the Spirit of Christ enter your souls. If you will let the sunlight of the Saviour’s presence in, you will have health and His blessing. But those who are ever fretting, thinking they have a hard time, will surely have a hard time, for as a man thinketh, so is he. Let all remember that we are to deny self. “Take up the cross.” What does this mean? Do the very things which cross the natural inclination. Christ was the Majesty of heaven, but He came into our world to practice self-denial, to live a life of self-sacrifice. He denied Himself, living the life of a poor man that He might lift up the oppressed. Let us never forget that at the judgment seat of Christ, when He shall come the second time, every one must render an account to God. Day by day, hour by hour, we are laying up material for that searching judgment. Our daily lifework is verily bound up with the second advent of our Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 24)
We are trading now upon our Lord’s goods. When He returns He will reckon with [His] servants to see how much every man has improved his God-entrusted gifts by blessing humanity. Results proportionate to the talents given will be required, and to every faithful, self-denying Christian is given a reward proportionate to his work. “My reward is with me,” Christ declares, “to give every man according as his work shall be.” [Revelation 22:12.] It is positively essential that we individually abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Everything is measured and accurately estimated by the Lord’s golden scales. Thank God it is not left for man to pass his judgment upon any man. All judgment is given into the hands of His Son, Jesus Christ, and He make no mistake.
(14LtMs, Lt 41, 1899, 25)
Lt 42, 1899
Kellogg, J.H. Refiled as Lt 140, 1898.
Lt 43, 1899
Irwin, G. A.; Sisley, W.; Smith U.; Jones, A. T. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 11, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in PH079. +
Special Instruction Regarding Royalties
Dear Brethren Irwin, Sisley, Smith, and Jones:
I have read the letter which came in the last mail from Dr. Kellogg and Elders Moon and Brother Sisley. The mail came yesterday (Sabbath noon), but we do not go for it until after the Sabbath, so we could not read the letters until this morning. I rose at half past three o’clock and pursued all my mail. I had placed my diary in the hands of my copyists, that they might copy from it two articles. You can see by these what I wrote in 1890 and 1891. This matter has been copied without much correction, just as I wrote it. There is much more of the same tenor, which I have talked over and over again to our people in Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 1)
I was sorry that we could not get the mail from America before the letters had to be sent. But the mailboat arrived in Sydney late, and my mail came one day after our mail went to Sydney. I felt sorry about this happening so.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 2)
I received your statement in reference to the royalties on books. I have not had light that there was to be a restitution of royalties according to the ideas of the writers of books. Nothing of the kind has been presented to me. There are many books written, and the publishing house would be bankrupt should those who have had books published all put in their plea. There is and ever will be a flood of books issued if a large remuneration is given to authors. The little storybooks written are not a great tax on the writers, neither are books of this character of vital consequence to the world. A difference must be made in the books written. They can not be classed together. But I will say nothing more about this. Fearing something will come to interrupt me, I write out the most important matter first. Light has not been given me embracing that which your minds are taking in—going back over the ground and paying additional royalties on all books that have been published. I answer that this is not wisdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 3)
I have read the letter written, which contains the arguments that have been in existence for a long time, voiced by A. R. Henry. There may be plenty of suppositions, but when we consider these arguments in a candid manner, when we know what gave birth to these propositions, they are weighed in the balance and found wanting. The wisdom of those who have advocated these wise sayings has been found to be foolishness. There is a long train of evils, of selfish, dishonest scheming, of underhand work in dealing with authors. Dishonest methods have been practiced. Hard hearts have devised injustice, unfaithfulness, untruthfulness, giving their word and then breaking it, so that nothing could be relied on. This has created sedition and light-mindedness, causing the people to lose respect and reverence for the servants of God. If this is an evidence that men have the mind of Christ, then we shall have to learn anew what constitutes true Christianity.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 4)
Shall we follow the judgment of men who have had the rebuke of God upon them for years? Their history is a declaration as to how much weight should be given to their sentiments. The inwardness of the actions of these—what shall I call them?—false prophets, has been shown. With many words they have set things forth in a false light. The Lord has declared that their counsel should not stand. Their intriguing, their gathering together men whom they thought would voice their methods, was an offense in God’s sight. They were themselves deceived, and their deception has been deepening. They were deceived by their own manufactured logic.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 5)
They have been separating farther and farther from God, and some, I was instructed, would realize that they were weighed in their own balances, by the very principles they forwarded and advocated with the greatest assurance. The Lord would give them an opportunity to come under the rules and sentiments they acted a part in creating. They would know by experience how it would feel to have their own principles brought to bear upon them. These men, from the first to the last of their experience, have done an injury to the work and cause of God by perverting justice and judgment, and making crooked paths with their own wandering feet, to their great loss and confusion.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 6)
I present this matter just as the Lord presented it to me when in Europe. A. R. Henry and Harmon Lindsay, and those who have taken a part in that question had not wisdom from God. Every man is accountable to God for the use he makes of his talents. We have no confidence in the principles devised by men who can betray the cause of God and work at cross-purposes with Him. Their unsanctified dispositions will work contrary to God. Their principles have nearly ruined the cause of God, and have brought in a condition of things that the General Conference is laboring hard to undo. If those men who, by their course of action, by working at cross-purposes with God, have done the cause God an injury, will lay down their supposed wise reasoning and listen to the messages of mercy sent them, they will find pardon. But if they continue to hinder the work of God as they have done, the Lord will say, “He is joined to his idols, let him alone.” [Hosea 4:17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 7)
In the past, publishers have placed themselves as God, to dictate, to control, to manage as they pleased, and to lord it over God’s heritage. They have done a deceptive work in dealing with authors. I have been taken into private councils, and have heard the plans laid down. Men have managed to make an author believe that his work is naught, and that they do not want to have anything to do with the book. The author has no means. He feels that his hands are tied. Men talk and think over the whole process, and succeed in bringing him to their terms, to take the royalty that they offer on the book.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 8)
The dealing with Frank Belden was not true and righteous in all its points. Justice was not done to him. The effort made to grind down Brother Bell, and to obtain possession of books, has made a most miserable showing, driving him to an opposite extreme. Men’s brains have been bought and sold.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 9)
The dealing in regard to The Gospel Primer was unjust. Another book, His Glorious Appearing was crowded in to kill the sale of the Primer. The way in which The Gospel Primer was handled has left a record on the books of heaven which those concerned in the matter will not be pleased to meet in the judgment. The young men who were handling the books did not understand the diplomacy and scheming, and some knowingly took part in these wrong practices, diverting from the Southern Field a book specially prepared for that field. The profits from this book should have gone into that field. Not a penny should have been charged for the publication of the book. This donation would have been small enough for the office to make to the Southern Field.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 10)
The scheming and inventions of men whose wisdom had departed from them led to crooked transactions of which businessmen should be ashamed. But I will state no more. This is the principle which has again and again controlled in different ways.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 11)
God commanded that certain warnings and the presentation of events to take place should be placed without delay before the people. Had the very book God appointed to stand in its lot and place been handled as earnestly as Bible Readings, men would have co-operated with the angels of God to make the very impression essential for that time. But men not standing in a living connection with God could not discern the necessity for the present truth for that time. All my entreaty and urging were of none effect. False statement after false statement was made, and why? The president of the conference might, if he had been moved by the Spirit of God, have helped to change the whole matter. But I had to press my claims, and should have pressed them still more strongly. The light given me was never to make large donations to any phase of the work, never again to place myself in an embarrassing position, as I had for years.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 12)
I have been broken off to have a talk with Brother Martin. I furnish him papers and tracts to do missionary work. He is not a minister, but a farmer of considerable intelligence. He sells fruit, and thus becomes acquainted with the people. Many souls have been converted through his zealous influence. I have just told him he needed The Review & Herald, and that he must take it. He put his hand in his pocket and handed me the money. I am going to send in all the names I can get, for every family ought to have our church paper. Please send The Review to F. Martin, Kellyville. New South Wales, Australia, and charge the same to my account.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 13)
After the publishers refused to handle my books, I had to draw from the Review & Herald for means to live on. They humiliated me in the dust by telling me they could not honor my order, for I had overdrawn.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 14)
Then light came to me in the night season that the Lord would not have me passing out means in large sums. I had donated $1,000 toward the erection of the mission building in Illinois. I would be solicited to do this from every quarter, but the Lord would not have me dependent upon any of our institutions. He had a message for me to bear which would cut like a twoedged sword right and left. He would have me so situated that I would be free from financial embarrassment. I must not trust in man, nor make flesh my arm. The enemy would exercise his ingenuity through the men who should uphold and sustain me wherever I was called to go, that I might lead out in the work that God in his wisdom would have done. Then, if my brethren did not awake to the situation, I was to make no delay in taking the books into my own hands, and the Lord would prepare the way before me. He would not have the work delayed.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 15)
Calls were made for me to go here and there, and I made earnest efforts. At last the spell was broken, and the books were circulated. The light given was that Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, Great Controversy, and Patriarchs & Prophets, would make their way. They contained the very message the people must have, the special light God had given His people. The angels of God would prepare the way for these books in the hearts of the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 16)
Do you think any amount of money could recompense me for the loss I and many others have sustained through the devising of men who worked in such a way and on such principles? This work has been done after the manner of men who were not worked by the Holy Spirit. Money taken in such ways, brought in through such methods, would not be to the glory of God’s name. It would be a blot upon the work. Men could not see that in these devisings they were closing the door to great light, which would have shone in the place of lesser light. The methods followed were all contrary to the principles of justice and honor.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 17)
To define every particular of the scheming and conniving of these men would fill a volume. When men are converted, there will be a clearing up that can never be done by any mere investigation you may endeavor to make. It would be useless now to try to arrive at justice on all past transactions. By doing this, you would place yourself in a hopeless puzzle. Some have received all the royalty they should on their books. The Lord does not require the Review and Herald office to do the intricate work of apportioning to each author a sum on back royalty. By doing this, you would make a worse error than has been made. This proceeding would awaken in some a selfishness that would prove a great injury to them. I might name many persons, but I forbear.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 18)
Come now to your senses, and do not create a second error. Let us consider these matters. Those who handle the books should have a fair remuneration for their work. But let me tell you that should such a move be made as you propose, all authors would feel themselves at liberty to put in claims in accordance with the estimate they place upon their books. There would be a representation of selfishness that would astonish you. Now brethren, your dearth of means at the present time is the result of just such selfishness. It has been introduced into the work when it should not have obtained a breath of life, but been strangled to death at the beginning.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 19)
God abhors the practices that have been followed. Do not now open the door to let Satan in where he can work with human minds. Do not give those who have made books an opportunity to destroy themselves. The most selfish, irrespective of the present dearth of means, will consider themselves of such consequence that they will draw away from the publishing house the last penny that they can obtain, and God would be ashamed to call them His brethren.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 20)
Let us not open a door whereby Satan shall find easy access. We want large, sound souls. The windows of the soul must always open heavenward. We must see that the danger is great in the work of re-considering past royalties and making restitution. Some who have received all the real value of their books will think of them of greater value than they are. Their windows are opened earthward and not heavenward. Throw open the windows heavenward, and let the sunshine of Christ’s righteousness in, and the windows of the soul now opened earthward will close of themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 21)
No one can have been hurt financially more than I was hurt when The Great Controversy lay nearly two years dead in the office. Just work was not done in this matter. The book Bible Readings was crowded in before Great Controversy, which was already printed, and which should have been placed in the canvassers’ hands first, because it contained important matter, which the people needed to have as soon as possible. It seemed that I was mocked because of my intense earnestness in regard to that book and what it might have done had it not been dropped as it was and, through unsanctified influences and selfish unprincipled methods, shut away from the people. This was a dishonest transaction toward me, and it was unfaithful stewardship toward God.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 22)
But I would not now take any restitution money. I accepted the lowest royalty on my books, under a most solemn promise that they would be pushed forward vigorously. This promise was not kept. There was fraud in the management. But I want no restitution; I want no increase of royalty for any books of mine sold in the past. God forbid, when the pressure is strong and means limited, that I should draw one penny from the resources for the carrying forward of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 23)
I have felt it my duty in a number of cases to forgive debts that have been incurred by my brethren, and I have now a heart to forgive all the debts that have been incurred against me by the publishing institution from the first to last. I call upon my brethren, all who have books, small or large, published, to stand with me in this matter. Those who put too large an estimate on their own productions cannot rightly estimate souls. These are the very ones who will draw, whether or not they are entitled to anything. Let the sponge be passed over the board containing the figures, and let all say Amen. Let each appropriate his share as an offering to sustain the work of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 24)
I know that Brother Smith feels as I do in this matter. We will stand together. Of all the books that have come forth from the press, those mentioned have been of the greatest consequence in the past, and are of the greatest consequence at the present time. I know that Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation has done a great work in this country. I know also that the light given me by God in the books I have published have done a good work, and I praise the Lord for this. Other books have stood in their lot and place.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 25)
It is too late in the day, after so much light has been given, to have controversy over this subject of royalties. I have reason to thank God that He has given me strength of intellect to write out the truth and get it before the people, and that I can use the means the Lord in His providence has permitted to pass into my hands in establishing His work in new places, aiding in the building of churches and the educating of students. I could use thousands of pounds in advancing the work in these new fields, which are all ripe for the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 26)
I wish to say to authors that I cannot see that they have any liberty to either give away or sell their right to the books they have written. When you do this, a door of temptation is opened before the publishers to repeat the history of the past. They will obtain for a small sum books that are not of vital importance. They will be tempted to say to the authors, “It is naught, it is naught.” [Proverbs 20:14.] They will make some little changes, and then exalt these books to the highest. They will deceive the people, and while doing this will treat valuable books indifferently, as they have done [with] Brother Smith’s work.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 27)
The publishing house should receive their share of the profits from the books published. This should be proportionate to the work they do in getting out notices, etc. But let the publishers be careful not to claim that they are the ones who do the greatest amount of work in preparing these books for the market. Let the authors take a reasonable sum for their work, but they are not to sell their right to any institution. This will not be a blessing to the institution.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 28)
Unless care is taken, the market will be flooded with books of a cheap order, and the people will be deprived of the light and truth which it is essential they should have to prepare the way of the Lord. This has been done, and will be done again, unless right principles control in the publishing work. Let those who have brain power to write books remember that they have power to manage the royalty they receive. They should lead out in some lines of benevolence in the cause and work of God. They are not to allow the means to be taken from them by making other minds stewards of their productions. To every man and woman the Lord has given his work, and the responsibility of the use of God’s gifts rests with the one who has been entrusted with means. These are ways in which each one entrusted with talents can use these talents. They should have keen perception to know where means are needed, and be able to give something to relieve the need.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 29)
I have used the royalty on the foreign books to create a fund for the education of students. In the past I have allowed [royalty from] all the books sold in Europe to be used in Europe under the management of someone. This fund is now being used for the translation of my books into other languages. In the future I shall use these royalties in the work of entering new fields. The work in Europe was much farther advanced than in Australia.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 30)
But when I had been in Melbourne a few months, Brother Lewis Johnson wrote me that they had in Europe a thousand dollars belonging to me as royalty. I wrote that I needed it to invest in the establishment of a school here in Australia. He wrote back pleading for a portion of this money, for they wished to educate promising young men for the ministry. I answered, if you need it so much, I will not withdraw it. Since then they have had all the royalties on the sale of foreign books, until about one year since. Then I told them to use this money in translating my books into other languages, that the truth which the Lord has signified should go to every place might be placed before the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 31)
Let others judge me if they will, and yet I testify before God that I am free from the charges that they make against me. I had set my heart on using the money sent from California in the building of the hospital so very much needed in Cooranbong. But when I learned of the need for a meetinghouse in Brisbane, I immediately sent them one hundred pounds. It was decided at the sanitarium in Sydney that they must have temporary bath rooms before they could work to advantage. I put means in the hands of the Union Conference, to be held until we know whether John Wessels is coming to Australia. If he is not, I must let them have that money to keep the work moving in different lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 32)
We know not how our hospital will be built or furnished, but the Lord knows all about our necessities. Our part of the work is to go forward. Outside interests have taken all the means, so that my workers have been paid only a part of their wages for the past year. Patiently they have waited, understanding the situation. We are praying, waiting, trusting, and believing.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 33)
We are all in possession of talents, and we are not to give to another person our entrusted capabilities. We are to trade upon them, that we may gain other talents to use in the advancement of the Lord’s work. For me to give up my stewardship of means for someone else to use would be unfaithfulness on my part. There are some persons in Battle Creek who pay a faithful tithe, and there others who do not. Should anyone put it out of their power to do this by selling their capabilities, and letting another become steward for him? It is our duty to improve our talents. The Lord would have every person manage his own business and handle his own talents. He does not desire His people to give away the only means they have to invest in His cause for their individual selves.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 34)
Some think that only a portion of their means is the Lord’s, but this is a mistake. All is the Lord’s. All should feel their accountability to appropriate the means as the different necessities of the work shall demand. There are poor to be helped. If you put out of your power the talents lent you of God to do this work, you are held responsible for the work you should have done. You place man as God, and he feels fully authorized to use the purchased talents just as he pleases, when he might listen to the calls for help. You put it out of your power to do the work you feel impressed to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 35)
All that we have, every dollar, belongs to God. Wise trading is to be done, and every man and woman is to pray and work and study and plan, all the time acquiring a more correct knowledge of how to work. This is the plan of God. There are men acting a part in the work of God who would help in an emergency, but they have placed thousands in the hands of other men to use for them. They have given over their stewardship to another. Did the Lord plan it thus? No. He would have used them to lift up the standard of truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 36)
The Lord will plan for us if we will let Him do this. It is His money, not ours, and He expects that everyone will ask wisdom from Him in regard to the use He makes of His means. Places that have as great need of workers and facilities as Europe and London are a world in themselves, and yet, while thousands upon thousands of dollars have been invested in buildings in Battle Creek, London has scarcely been touched.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 37)
England has needed many more men and much more means, but the supposed wise men have managed in a remarkable manner to reveal their wisdom was foolishness, while they were so filled with conceit that the Lord could do nothing for them. They were working at cross-purposes with God, pursuing a course in the management of their business transactions that made them feel independent, and they have taken money for their supposed capabilities, which they did not earn. The Lord does not want men to pile up buildings as they have done in Battle Creek. There is a large field to be worked, and a variety of talents in money and intelligence and experience are to be transferred to England.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 38)
God marks the neglect of portions of His vineyard, and He writes against the names of many of His workers, Unfaithful stewards. God would have had the facilities that have been continually increasing in America divided and subdivided. He has invested men with power, but they have worked at cross-purposes with Him. They have disregard His warnings, and walked in the sparks of their own kindling. These will be called to account for the warnings and light which they have received but have not heeded.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 39)
We wish to lay out before you now the fields that are unworked. We wish you to see that men cannot be trusted unless they have a living connection with God. The Southern Field was presented to me, and I presented the light given me to the people. They were aroused. They set to work to raise means for that field. But where is that means now? What has become of it? It has been diverted from its rightful place.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 40)
Money was raised for the special purpose, so it was stated, of helping the Southern Field, and was then used for a different purpose. This reveals the great blindness and presumption on the part of responsible men. Had they been workers in the Southern Field, how different would have been their treatment of this matter. But it made every difference who were the ones to be disappointed and cramped for means. I feel my heart burn with righteousness indignation when men thus plan and maneuver to divert everything into lines which serve their own purposes, to make the gap their mismanagement has made less conspicuous. The principles of righteousness have been departing from the Conference. Brethren, for Christ’s sake begin to work on a right basis.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 41)
Let men be estimated as men, and not as gods. God has given men the ability to use and increase their talents, and they are to cherish a sense of their moral responsibilities. It may be asked, What shall be done in reference to the work now? Work on correct principles. Let men and women who have a burden to produce books, work to bless the cause of God by the use of their pens. Let them work, and if they have an income from their work, let them make use of that income to do their part in uplifting the standard of truth where God shall direct. Let them seek counsel from God. Let them believe the promise of Christ that He will send the Comforter to teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance. Let them not allow themselves to be drawn into a snare.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 42)
God is our Counsellor. We have let men take the place of God. The Lord will let His light shine into the chambers of the mind and into the soul temple if men, when they lack wisdom, will go to their closets in prayer and ask God, Who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. The promise is, “It shall be given him; but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed.” [James 1:5, 6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 43)
He who would have all from Christ must give all to Christ. Where there is a complete surrender of the being to God, there will be seen a far deeper meaning in the words, “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” [John 1:12.] When these words are understood, there will be a knowledge of God and His will that will have a controlling power over the whole man. When the talent is considered as a gift from God, to be doubled by use, and returned to the giver in consecrated service, there will be a sacred regard for every human instrumentality. Masterly over-bearing and a dishonest use of the talents God has given to any of His heritage will be seen in all their cruelty.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 44)
Only when every human agent realizes that he helps to compose the web of humanity and must act his part for God; when he understands that it is not only his privilege, but his duty to trade with his talents, to improve his capabilities, to acquire means and souls, will he be blessed by God. Men are to regard their talents as a trust. God rewards every man according to his work. Then let all stand in a right position. Let them use every jot of ability. Let them acquire spiritual and temporal talents, that they may invest them for God. God has entrusted talents to human beings, that they may co-operate with Him in the use of their powers. All their money, all their influence, is to be regarded as the Lord’s, who graciously condescends to use them in carrying forward His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 45)
God calls upon us to awake. Every living Christian is to act his part as a faithful steward. The methods of God are sensible and right, and we are to trade on our pence and our pounds, returning our freewill offerings to Him to sustain His work, to enlighten the world in darkness, to bring souls to Jesus Christ. Large and small sums should flow into the treasury of the Lord. What shall we do who have misapplied our means? Shall not those in responsible places restore all they have received unjustly? This means was the Lord’s, and should have been used by the stewards upon whom it was bestowed. No man, whatever his position of trust, is to consider himself capable of being conscience for any man. If those in responsible positions deal truly with God, they will render to God His due. But when men become conscience for others by buying their talents and appropriating them according to finite judgment, they take upon themselves a responsibility which the Lord has not placed upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 46)
There is to be an understanding between every child of God and His Redeemer. Christ calls upon every human being to understand and know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Practical work is to be done by every believing child of God. Each is to answer to God for his own individuality, for the use he makes of the Lord’s entrusted talents.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 47)
I would say to my fellow laborers, The Lord would have us obtain new experiences, a growth in grace and in the knowledge of God, by using for the Master the gifts we have. We are dependent upon Christ for spiritual food and vitality. It is only by feeding upon Christ that we can have sanctification and power, that we can know Christ and be faithful co-workers with God. Let no man become your substitute. Christ is your substitute. Go to Him who has taken you under His care. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] All you have in mental, physical, and spiritual capacities comes from God, and you are to render to Him perfect service in every line, holding fast the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our availing power for the purity of the soul. This will cleanse and purify us, day by day and hour by hour.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 48)
Let an abiding Christ live in the soul, and we shall show far greater wisdom then we have done. We shall know more of God and of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit which opens the door for us to advance. We need to manifest the Spirit of Christ. If we have not received all we should have had, shall we now say, “Pay me that thou owest”? [Matthew 18:28.] It is the Lord’s, and we will say, “Return to God His own. As for me, I dare not now receive that which I might have had.” Say, “Take thine means, which we ought to have received, and let them be used in helping in foreign missionary work.” The great doors of necessity stand wide open.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 49)
I call upon you each and all to appropriate all that you feel clear to restore to the great work which is in need of being done in our world. I would not receive an additional penny on any back royalties, and I ask my brethren and sisters to stand with me, and heal this wound by transferring the extra royalties they think they might have had to the work of God in the place where the need is greatest. We are to make every effort to keep our principles of management correct. Let Jesus be seen, walking on the tempestuous billows and saying, “Peace, be still.”“It is I, be not afraid.” [Mark 4:39; Matthew 14:27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 50)
When the sacred work of God shall be purified from all the rubbish which has been accumulating for years, the name of God will be glorified in your midst. When the Holy Spirit controls human agents, there will be none of the underhand business which has been practiced. Honesty, truthfulness, and a willingness that all should understand the methods of working will be seen. The characters of the workers will be built up with pure, solid timbers. Straightforwardness in deal will be seen in all God’s commandment-keeping people. Every thread of the web will be originated by the Lord, and each worker will draw his thread into the web to help compose the pattern. The fabric will come from the great loom perfect in its design.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 51)
Three thousand years ago, David asked the question, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.” [Psalm 119:9.] Souls already impure need to be cleansed, purified, and sanctified. Then the testimony can be borne, “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” [2 Corinthians 4:6.] In this world we are to shine in good works. The Lord requires His people who handle sacred things to be alone with God, to reflect the principles of heaven in every business transaction, to reflect the light of God’s character, God’s love, as Christ reflected it. Looking unto Jesus, all our lives will be aglow with that wondrous light. Every part of us is to be light; then whichever way we turn, light will be reflected from us to others. Christ is the Way, the Truth, the Life. In Him is no darkness at all; therefore if we are in Christ, there will be no darkness in us.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 52)
The fruit of the Spirit—what is it? Gloom, and sadness and mourning and tears? No, no; the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. These graces will be seen in every stone that helps to compose the temple of God. All the stones are not of the same dimension or shape, but every stone has its place in the temple. In the temple there is not one misshapen stone. Each is perfect, and in the diversity there is unity, making a complete whole. One thing is sure, every stone is to be a living stone, a stone that emits light. Now is the time for the stones taken from the quarry of the world to be brought into the workshop of God, and hewed, squared, and polished, that they may shine.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 53)
Christians, is Christ revealed in us? We must labor to have sound bodies and strong minds that are not easily enfeebled, minds that look beyond self to the cause and result of every movement made. Then we are in a fair way to endure hardness as good soldiers. We need minds that can see difficulties and go through with them with the wisdom that comes from God, that can wrestle with hard problems and conquer them. The hardest problem is to crucify self, to endure hardness in spiritual experience, training the soul by severe discipline. This will not, perhaps, bring the very best satisfaction at the first, but the after-effect will be peace and happiness.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 54)
Temptation will come to every soul to pursue a course which will make them a spiritual weaklings. Let those who have the cause and work of God at heart say, I will do nothing to place the publishing institution in embarrassment in order to satisfy personal demands; for such an example will open the door to increased selfishness, and lessen the means which should be used in lifting the standard in foreign countries. Christ is our strength. He can enable us to stand uncorrupted, true, pure, holy, under temptation. In His strength alone we can endure hardness as good soldiers. With Christ enthroned in our hearts, we are enabled to reach the highest standard, and in heaven our names appear as overcomers, because we are complete in Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 43, 1899, 55)
Lt 44, 1899
James, G. NP March 17, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in OHC 104. Dear Brother:
I have words to speak to you. I have an interest in your soul. While the Holy Spirit is working upon human hearts and characters, will you not take your stand fully on the platform of truth? The regeneration of the Spirit of God is needed in your heart, that you may become a new man in Christ Jesus, not another man, but the same man renewed. The Spirit of God does not create new faculties in the converted man, but works a decided change in the employment of those faculties. When the mind and heart and soul are changed, man is not given a new conscience, but his will is submitted to a conscience renewed, a conscience whose dormant sensibilities are aroused by the working of the Holy Spirit. We hope that the work of the Holy Spirit will not be regarded indifferently by you and no change be made in your individual experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 1)
God does not call upon you, my brother, to wait for a special movement upon your mind, for you are well acquainted with the evidences of truth. Why have you not taken your position on the platform of truth? “He that knoweth his Master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.” [Luke 12:47.] The Spirit of God is calling you in every discourse you hear. You did not at first comply with the invitation, and it is becoming habit for you to neglect every call of the Spirit. This morning I am drawn out to ask you to give yourself to the Lord. Surrender your will and mind to God. You have thought that because you have been non-committal you have not opposed the truth. Hear the words of Christ to you: “He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.” [Matthew 12:30.] This is how the Lord regards your position.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 2)
Your work now is to turn to the obedience of God’s holy law. He has given you six days in which to labor, but has reserved the seventh as His own. He does not consult your convenience in this matter; it is His prerogative to specify His will to His human agents. He has given you His holy law to be obeyed, and your love for God and your faith in Jesus Christ can only be revealed by obedience to that law. By the position you take in this matter, you reveal whether you receive Christ as your Saviour or reject Him. You do not openly oppose the truth, but by not receiving it, you place yourself on Satan’s side of the question. The Lord calls for you to take your position under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 3)
You know that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, but your influence testifies that your will is not in the line of obedience to this command. Christ says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke (of obedience) upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] Why not now take a decided stand, and say, I will be a Christian; I will be on the Lord’s side. You are losing time. Every hour is a loss to you while you refuse to surrender your will, your way, and your purpose to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 4)
My brother, you will be judged by your works. If you do not care to please and honor God in this world, He cannot honor you by receiving you into the kingdom of heaven. Your refusal to do the things you know to be right cannot prepare you for a place in the family of God. Every one who enters heaven will here be obedient to the knowledge he has of the truth. He will receive the truth and be sanctified by the truth. When the will is placed on the Lord’s side, the Holy Spirit takes that will and makes it one with the divine will.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 5)
The Lord loves man. He has given evidence of this love by giving His only begotten Son to die for man, that through His grace He might redeem him from hostility to God, and bring him back to his loyalty. If man will co-operate with God, the Lord will bring his will into connection with Himself and will vitalize it by His own Spirit. But if man refuses to obey the plain requirements of the Word of God, God has no place for him in His kingdom. This is the reason I write to you. I feel a deep interest in your soul. A heart is said to be opened to receive the truth. Is your heart open to receive the truth? The gospel must be received in order to regenerate the heart, and the reception of truth will mean the surrender of mind and will to the will of Divine Power.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 6)
“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”“How then shall they call upon him whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” [Romans 10:17, 13, 14.] This is the provision God has made for the saving of souls. The truth must be made known. Christ prayed the Father in behalf of His disciples, saying, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.” [John 17:17.] The work had already begun in their hearts, and the Holy Spirit, operating on heart and will, showed that the truth was the instrument in their conversion.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 7)
“The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” [John 14:26.] “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believed not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” [John 16:8-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 8)
You need to see the necessity of obedience to all the commandments of God. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. You are now ranked with unbelievers, and are standing under the banner of rebellion. You are surely deciding your own destiny.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 9)
Your mother has been losing her first love. She has not the zeal, the ardor, the courage and faith she once had. God calls upon you to take your position wholly on His side, and give your mother the help she should have. You should stand firm as a rock to duty and to principle, and give your mother all the strength of your will. She needs encouraging and reviving. There is not that tender regard and sympathy shown by Sister James for your mother that there should be. The combating of her ideas in the little things of the daily life has made a heart very sore which should have been comforted and encouraged and affectionately deferred to. The difficulties thus created could and should have been avoided. These things have left a scar and have had a tendency to confuse the mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 10)
Brother James, I ask you to consider these things. You cannot live a life pleasing to your Maker unless you are an obedient child of God. The Holy Spirit is seeking an approach to your heart. The agencies God has provided are to be received. God requires your obedience to all His commandments. The Lord is seeking to call you to love and obedience, but He finds in you the spirit of the world—selfishness, pride, and rebellion against God. If this were not the case, you would be an obedient and happy child of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 11)
It is yours to refuse or accept the invitation, “Come, for all things are now ready.” [Luke 14:17.] You may accept the truth or you may place yourself in a position where the truth cannot reach you. The Lord calls upon you to vindicate his law, not only by precept, but by example. Give your heart to God as a New Year’s gift. Make no halfway surrender. Decide now and forever that you can no longer serve God and mammon. Take the Word of God as it reads, and say, This shall be my Counsellor.
(14LtMs, Lt 44, 1899, 12)
Lt 45, 1899
Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek NP March 17, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 2SM 17. + My Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek:
Be careful in every move that you make. We are now very near the great crisis. The Lord would have every action performed with an eye single to His glory. To create a new issue on the dress question would be the very thing that would please the enemy. There would be much talk, much burden one for another because all do not dress exactly alike. The agitation on this subject is not demanded. Tests are not to be manufactured. We have a test for this time—the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and nothing is to be brought in to draw the mind and heart from the great work of preparation for this time. The dress question is not to be our present truth. Should our sisters think that they must adopt a certain style of dress, controversy would arise, and minds which should be wholly given to the work of the third angel’s message would spend their time making an aggressive warfare on the outward dress. This zeal, which would be regarded by some as an evidence of piety, would only be an evidence of the want of true piety, of the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 1)
Satan would have minds diverted to any subject by which he can create a division of sentiment. There is a work to be done in the individual heart lest it shall become a desecrated temple of selfishness, of self-exaltation, of a Pharisaism that will cheat the soul by mere illusions, by zealous activity in lines of work which God has not appointed to be done. Zeal in those things which God does not require leads to a neglect of the important works of righteousness, which men and women must do in order to be accepted as vessels unto honor, to work in any line where the Lord shall call them.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 2)
There is a work which I call upon our sisters to take hold of, earnestly, perseveringly, and with prayerful contrition of soul. Search the heart. Penetrate into the daily acts of life. Work earnestly to weed out from the character the defects that exist. Christ has died for you and you are to live as unto God. Let your reasoning powers, refined, purified, sanctified, be brought to God. The Lord requires the sanctification of the whole being. The mind as well as the body is to be refined, elevated, ennobled. God has claims upon mind, soul, and body. “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] All must make the choice for themselves. “If the Lord be God, follow him; if Baal, then follow him.” [1 Kings 18:21.] The principles that are adopted after careful consideration will, if right, become a living, molding influence, which will take hold of the very depths of your nature and will be as a well of water, springing up unto eternal life and overflowing the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 3)
Our sisters should clothe themselves with modest apparel. They should dress with simplicity. Your hats and dresses need not the extra trimmings that are put upon them. You are to be clothed with modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety. Give to the world a living illustration of the inward adorning of the grace of God. Place yourselves under the discipline of the living oracles of God, subjecting the mind to influences which form the character aright.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 4)
Seek to have the mind of Christ. God calls upon every member of the church to adorn the doctrines of Christ our Saviour. A child of God, a daughter of God, you are called upon to exert an influence for right that is positive. It is your privilege to obey the living Word of God as a truly converted and transformed soul, to perform the highest service as a free, heaven-born spirit, to walk worthy of your high profession, to give evidence that you are worthy of the sacred trust God has given you by sending His only begotten Son to die for you. If you believe in Christ as your personal Saviour, you receive every grace, every spiritual endowment, necessary for the perfecting of the Christian character. Show that you appreciate the sacrifice made as too great to allow you to make a mockery of your religious profession by being molded and fashioned after the world’s criterion.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 5)
Why do I trace these words? Because I would have those, who under the Holy Spirit’s prompting have adopted the Bible principle of action, respect and reverence in their deportment the Author and Finisher of their faith. Make it a settled principle in your life to eat, to drink, to dress in obedience to the Word of the Lord. From this let nothing induce you to swerve. Make it the law of your life to eat, to drink, to dress, to do everything you do, to the glory of God. Let no influences or circumstances seduce you from conscientious, holy piety.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 6)
In answer to the questions that have recently come to me in regard to putting on a new style of dress, called the reform dress, I would say that those who have been agitating this subject have not been inspired by the Spirit of God. The end is near. The children of light are to work with earnest, persevering zeal to lead others to prepare for the great event before us, that they may be able to resist the enemy because they have allowed the Holy Spirit to work upon their hearts. New and strange things will continually arise to lead God’s people into false excitement, religious revivals, and curious developments. Let them keep advancing, with their eyes fixed alone upon the Light and Life of the world. Know that everything that is called light and truth in the Word of God is light and truth, an emanation from divine wisdom, not an imitation of Satan’s subtle arts. The light of God’s wisdom will be to every true, steadfast, contrite soul as a lamp to his feet.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 7)
Now, just now, without delay, build for time and for eternity. Many, very many, have built their house upon a sandy foundation. Build upon the rock Christ Jesus. Then all the false philosophy, the science falsely so-called, will not deceive you. Come what will, though heaven and earth pass away, be determined that not one jot or tittle of the Word of God shall be marred or dishonored, made void or shorn of its authority. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” [Psalm 19:7.] This is your wisdom. You can say, “The wicked have laid wait to destroy me; but I will consider thy testimonies.... O, how love I thy law; it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies; for they (the wise instructions of the law), are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers; for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients (ministers), because I keep thy precepts.” [Psalm 119:95, 97-100.]
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 8)
The great conflict that is coming will be over the commandments of God. Then let us not spend as much time in the consideration of outward dress as of the inward adorning, the need of being clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness, woven in the loom of heaven. Be sure that this robe clothes you. Then as the test comes to you, this righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rereward. This representation is better than genius or eloquence. It simplifies all the movements of the religious life, while it elevates the receiver. The religion of Christ never degrades the receiver, never makes a son or daughter of God rough, unkind, or uncourteous. It prepares the way for every emergency and gives discernment to know temptation when it comes disguised as an angel of light.
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 9)
The surrender of heart, soul, and mind to obedience to the commandments of God is as a thread of gold, binding up the precious things of God, and revealing their value in the time of trial. Therefore I say to my sisters, Enter into no controversy in regard to outward apparel, but be sure that you have the inward adorning of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. Let all who accept the truth show their true colors. Ye are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. False prudence, mock modesty, may be shown by the outward apparel, while the heart is in great need of the inward adorning. Stand ever committed to the right. Do not look round to see if there are not tests that are now to be brought upon God’s people. God has given a test—the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep;” He says, “for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.... Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.” [Exodus 31:13, 16, 17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 10)
All who bring to the observance of the Sabbath a heart consecrated to the observances of God will find that the Sabbath is more to them than they have any idea of. “I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” [Verse 13.] “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, not finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own word, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” [Isaiah 58:13, 14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 45, 1899, 11)
Lt 46, 1899
Haskell, S.N. Refiled as Lt 100, 1895.
Lt 47, 1899
Wessels, Philip W. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 17MR 133-139. + Dear Brother:
I received your letter and feel very thankful that you have again taken your position under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel. May the Lord instruct you at every step. You will be tempted, you will be tried; but walk softly before God. Put your entire trust in the Lord. Serve Him with heart and soul, and believe that He pardons your transgressions and forgives your sins. He says in His Word, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah 27:5.] The Lord is soon to come in the clouds of heaven. Then the trials and tribulations of this life will be over.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 1)
You speak of being in financial difficulties. I know and our workers know what this means. We have received nothing this year from our publishing houses to meet our outgoing expenses. We are waiting patiently as best we can. The laborers working on the school building need their money, but they cannot have it, for there is no means in the treasury. But they have borne this bravely.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 2)
The providence of God has gone before us to open up new fields, and we must follow where Christ leads the way. The work in Brisbane, Queensland, has shown the distinct guidance of the Lord. An excellent spirit was manifested throughout the camp meeting there, and at its close the work was followed up mainly by Brother and Sister Haskell, Brother and Sister Wilson, and Brother Pallant. Brother Wilson is now asleep in Jesus. Brother Pallant has had to leave Queensland because of his health. For a long time he has been sick, but was unwilling to give up his work. He has been taking treatment at the sanitarium in Summer Hill, laboring at the same time in Sydney. I felt distressed over the situation in Queensland. The tent has been leaking like a sieve, but the interest has not decreased. It seemed necessary to build a chapel, but the finances were so low that it looked like an impossibility.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 3)
Meanwhile a camp meeting was held in Newcastle. We had feared we should have a small meeting, during the holidays, but it proved to be just the time. The tent was crowded night and day. I spoke four times each week, and had large congregations. The Lord has hitherto helped us. The health addresses have called out large congregations. Thirty-five have taken their stand for the truth, and they seem to be trustworthy. The net is still cast in the sea for more. I heard last night that forty were keeping the Sabbath in Newcastle, and among these there are many remarkable cases. They were taken right out of the world, men who were smokers and beer drinkers, and who have never made any profession of religion. They are soundly converted. They give up their tobacco and their beer, and are full of hope and joy and courage in the Lord. This class never attended meetings anywhere before they kept the Sabbath.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 4)
Sunday school teachers and men in positions of trust have accepted the truth as a result of the camp meeting. One man has been baptized who has been a signalman on the railway for twenty years, and always gave perfect satisfaction. He has a family of eight boys and one girl. This brother has lost his position, but others who have accepted the truth have been allowed to retain their situations and keep the Sabbath. Many interesting cases have come to our notice, and still the work goes forward.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 5)
A cooking class is held in Newcastle by our people, and women come thirty and forty miles to attend this class. A branch sanitarium has been started in Newcastle. This work has just commenced, but it is doing well.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 6)
A health club has been formed of two hundred citizens. These are all classes of people, from all denominations, and they meet together once a week.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 7)
The truth has gained a signal victory in Newcastle, and doors are opening for us to do aggressive work. The lack of means is our only drawback. A church building must now be erected in Newcastle. There is an old stone church in Wallsend, a suburb of Newcastle, which can be purchased for sixty pounds. It is in a good location. A larger church was built, and this old one was left to be the sport of larrikins. The floor has been pulled up and window panes broken. A new roof must be put on and new seats made. Then it would make a good meetinghouse. As two churches will have to be built in Newcastle, we shall purchase this one if we can. It will accommodate two hundred people. If I had means, I would get it at once.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 8)
We expect that the Lord will work in our behalf. We came to the point not long ago where I made a most earnest appeal to our brethren in America to send us money. A few days ago some money was sent me from California, the price of some property I had sold. We saw the great necessity in Brisbane, and I donated £100 of this money to help in the building of a church there. At the same time I loaned £100 to the sanitarium in Sydney, which was in great need. In the mail before last, £100 came to me as a loan from Elder Loughborough, to help in the building of a hospital in Cooranbong. This was sent to the Echo office, but as they had been obliged to purchase a new press, because of the increase of work, and to add to their building, to provide rooms in which to work, they could not honor my draft. I must wait until they can do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 9)
March 17, 1899 Newcastle, New South Wales
Sister Sara McEnterfer accompanied me to Newcastle on this morning’s train. I am writing in the mission home, where Brother and Sister Starr live. Both are doing their best to advance the cause of truth. The interest continues to be good, and we have faith that a large number will take their stand for the truth. Twelve or fifteen will be baptized next Sunday. How far this interest extends we know not. But the citizens who are not believers say that the whole community is stirred.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 10)
Newcastle spreads over a large extent of land, and meetings are being held in different localities. Several are giving Bible readings. The meetings held by Dr. Caro call out a full tent, and he talks most decidedly on health reform principles.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 11)
“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, March 20, 1899
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 12)
Home again. I bore my testimony on Sunday to a goodly congregation. On Sabbath there sat in the meeting with his wife and family a man who two weeks before had cursed his wife because she decided to be baptized. Afterwards he told Brother Starr that he was ashamed of himself. We think that he will obey the truth, and himself be baptized. We hope the Lord will open the way for him.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 13)
Lay hold by faith, my brother. The Lord wants you to trust in Him who gave His life for you. Hold fast the faith unto the end. Your wife has now the reward of her faith. May the Lord bless the dear soul. I would be much pleased to have you make us a visit and see what we are doing. Brother Haskell writes that the meetinghouse in Brisbane will be dedicated next Sabbath and Sunday. O what a blessing it is that they have a meetinghouse. The tent they were using leaked badly.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 14)
There is a much larger work to do in Newcastle. Brother Lord has moved with his family to Cooranbong. He has a large family of eight boys, and has had to borrow money to come to this place. We are now sending them food. When they arrived we took them to our home and found sleeping room for them. They breakfasted with us, and then we moved their goods to their place, six miles from the station. They are now adrift for the truth’s sake. His married son, with his wife and child, are living in a tent on the Avondale Estate. He is earning six shillings a day. Brother Lord’s only daughter is married, and she and her husband are now living in a small tent in a field near the school. They have given him work. So you see there are those who are suffering for the truth’s sake.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 15)
The father sacrificed a good salary for the truth’s sake, and now his entire family—himself, his wife, seven sons, his married son and his wife, and his daughter and her husband, are living in tents. These fourteen souls are homeless and dependent for bread to eat for what their hands can earn.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 16)
Brother Lord is a converted man, and as firm as a rock to principle. He asked his employer for a recognition of his twenty years of service. Had he made one mistake? Had he been unfaithful in the least? They readily said that he had not. Then why not allow him a pension, as they had others who had served no longer? They refused him this, but said that if he would work on the Sabbath, he should have his place and three pounds seventeen shillings a week. But if he left them, he must expect nothing.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 17)
Both father and mother are brave and courageous. God help them, is our prayer. We shall not let them suffer for food. We shall try to find them work, but at the present time we have no money to pay the workers on the school building. We are in need of the money that has been pledged but has not been paid.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 18)
You see, my brother, we know how to sympathize with you. We pray the Lord to help you out of your difficulties. The truth of God will triumph. The mail has just been received, and there was a letter from Brother Haskell. He writes to Brother Starr, “We have received the £1 you sent, and thank you for the offer of another £1 from Nellie.” I cannot give you particulars to show you how much we are in need, without making my letter too lengthy. But we have had several very remarkable answers to prayer in this line. I think fully one third of the donations received in Brisbane have been from those not of our faith. One man with whom we had a little talk, and who was very friendly and came to the meetings quite often, called on us one night and although we had not asked him for a penny, said he would like to contribute to our building fund. He gave me two five pound notes. Another man who is an infidel gave us two guineas, and so it has been.”
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 19)
The coal mines must have the truth brought to them. The suburbs must be worked. A hospital must be built in Cooranbong. Dr. Kellogg assures me that he will raise $1,000 for this. We shall get believers and unbelievers to donate labor to clear the one acre of land on which the house is to be built. One man has promised to give the logs for building. We are suffering for this building for our sick. One man was taken sick. When the doctor came, he did not put his hand upon him, left a little medicine, and charged two guineas. It is just terrible. The doctors do scarcely anything for the sick. Dr. Rand came and found that the man had had no action of the bladder for days and no movement of the bowels for more than a week. The doctor from Newcastle had asked nothing about his condition.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 20)
Application has just come for a sick girl to be taken into our hospital, but we have only selected the place for the building. God will help us. The building we shall erect will be a sanitarium and hospital combined, and it will be erected on the best site on the Avondale school ground. We must all walk out by faith, and humbly trust and wait and watch and pray. Let us humble our hearts before the Lord and walk softly before Him, for we need the wisdom that God alone can give. If we are tried, let us not be impatient. We shall put our trust in the Lord, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 21)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 47, 1899, 22)
Lt 48, 1899
Brother “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 20, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in WM 335-336; PM 394. + Dear Brother:
Sister Sara McEnterfer in company with Brother James, my farmer, has just gone to visit Brother Coulston, who lives six miles from here in the bush. This brother has embraced the truth since we came to Cooranbong. He was a fisherman, uneducated, yet possessing considerable natural ability. Before accepting the truth, he smoked night and day; but the truth took hold upon his heart. He received it and gave up his pipe, and the Lord blessed him in this. Then came another battle on the question of drinking tea. He went to the Lord for strength, and He helped him to renounce his habit. Leaving off the eating of the flesh of dead animals was a severe trial for the poor fisherman, but he passed through step by step, and obtained a bright experience. In a most wonderful manner the Lord has brought this man near to himself. Brother Coulston is showing by his life that he has a living connection with God. His testimony is always full of rich experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 1)
Brother Coulston has been soundly converted, and his fellow fishermen think it the most wonderful case on record. The refining influence and power of the religion of Christ has transformed the man. He has attended no school but the school of the great Teacher, and he is a new man in Christ. His case has been, as every case should be, a recommendation to the truth we are advocating. He seems to be led and taught by God, and he is teaching others. He and his eldest children, eight, ten, and twelve years old, walk six miles to Sabbath school and meeting when the weather will permit.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 2)
Brother Coulston is a fisherman, but he could not support his family by fishing, and so moved away into the bush, to a place a mile from where carriages can go. He took up a bit of land and is cultivating it. He is living mostly upon what he produces. He is a boatmaker, and sold his boat to purchase this land. His father, mother, and brother live near him, and we expect them all to receive the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 3)
Now news has come to us that our beloved brother has come down with typhoid fever. Mr. Pringle is the only man in the village who knows anything about giving treatment without drugs; but six weeks ago he was called upon to attend Mr. Barnes, who was also down with typhoid. He has stayed with him night and day, and has now returned to his home, worn out with the strain. So he cannot be depended on to nurse Brother Coulston.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 4)
Sara and Brother James have gone up to see what the situation is. If Brother Coulston can be moved, he must be brought within our reach, even if he has to be carried on a litter. We cannot let him lie there and die, to leave his wife and children to the mercy of whoever will have mercy upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 5)
There is no house to which Brother Coulston can be taken. We tried to hire a little house of three rooms, about a quarter of a mile from us. But the owner learned that Brother Coulston was sick of typhoid fever, and he said that we would be welcome to the house, only that he dared not introduce the typhoid fever into the neighborhood. The house stands alone, fully two miles from the neighborhood, but this man has lost a son by typhoid fever, and he is afraid to bring it within miles of his home.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 6)
What shall we do with our sick? Not a stroke has yet been made on the hospital, which we so much need, simply because we have no money. In the mail before last, Elder Loughborough sent five hundred dollars as a loan. We felt that now we could make a beginning, but the draft was sent through the Echo office, so it had to go there. Sometimes we are obliged to wait for months for money sent in this way, for they do not have it to send us. The brethren in Battle Creek must understand that when money is loaned to me, they are not to appropriate the money there, and make me dependent on the Echo Office. This has been done over and over again. Months have passed in which we could get but little, and often nothing. Let your means come direct to us, especially at this time, when we are obeying the word of the Lord, “Go forward.” [Exodus 14:15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 7)
March 21
Sara has just returned with the good news that Brother Coulston is much better. He was attacked, but Mr. Pringle, who was able to visit him, found him a very different subject from Mr. Barnes. Brother Coulston is a health reformer, and when his case was given vigorous treatment, the fever was mastered. He is weak, but is up and dressed, and is cheerful and happy in the Lord. Sara says that the corn he is growing will help largely to sustain his family. They have a hand mill, and grind this corn over and over until it is fine. From this they make their bread, for they have not money to purchase fine flour. We shall send them some flour. This is the work that has been done in several cases. We have just helped men to help themselves. Brother Coulston has that in him that will not allow him, if he has health, to depend on any one. But the man who purchased his boat has paid him nothing, for he could not.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 8)
W. C. White saw Brother Coulston’s necessity, and borrowed eight pounds from our blacksmith and loaned it to him, that he might make a beginning. And all are glad and more than astonished to see the beginning he has made. About twelve acres have been cleared and planted with sweet corn and field corn. The sweet corn they will eat, and the field corn they will sell. The vegetables that have been grown help a great deal in supporting the family. The little lads are working with their father like little farmers. They are so earnest and full of zeal that it is amusing to look at them and see how happy they are in their work. They have not much society besides their own family connections, but they are in the very best school they could be in.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 9)
We feel thankful to God for what we see, and we shall encourage those who come into the truth to take up land which they can cultivate, and so sustain themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 10)
Brother Hungerford belongs to a good family. His brother is in business in Sydney. His family looked upon Brother Hungerford as one who would not amount to much. He kept a livery stable, but seemed to have no desire to better his condition. He used tobacco freely, and for nine months his wife supported the family. She thought it quite hard to have to give her means, earned by washing, to keep him in tobacco. They were all taken sick with influenza. Sara was sent for. She took charge of the mother and children, and sent for Brother Simmons to take care of the father. Sara said that the house contained the poorest supply of the necessities of life that she ever saw. The mattresses on the bed were made of old bags filled with course grass, with grain sacks sewed together for covers. There were only one or two chairs in the house. The necessities of the family were relieved, and with vigorous treatment they recovered in a few weeks.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 11)
The father and mother embraced the truth, and the father threw his pipe in the fire behind the chimney logs. Willie and I employed him to work for us as soon as he was able. He now has steady work at the school, in various lines, and is improving every day. He says he recognizes the great good the truth has done for him. He feels now that he can look upon himself as a man. Others are as much surprised as he is. His shiftless ways have left him. He is a man of excellent appearance. His forehead is large and broad, and I could not see why a man with such a head should be unable to support himself. We supplied the family with clothing and food, but this part of the program is over. That large head, we believe, will be of some account yet.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 12)
There are other cases I might tell you about, but you can see from what I have written that our medical missionary field is a large one.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 13)
Last Friday W. C. White and Elder Daniells went to Sydney. Sara accompanied me to Newcastle. I spoke on Sabbath and Sunday afternoons to as nice a congregation as you would wish to see. The tent was not full, either on Sabbath or Sunday, but the most interesting people were before me. A baptismal service was held one week ago. Considerable opposition was encountered by two families. Brother Lord’s eldest son’s wife was baptized with her husband. Her brother, sister, and mother interfered and tried to dissuade her. When they saw that she was determined, they acted like mad people. Her brother seized her arm and tried to hinder her by main force, talking vehemently at the same time. But she was firm and would not yield. Then her sister and mother cursed her and old Mrs. Lord, her mother-in-law. They laid all the blame on Mrs. Lord. Again and again the sister cursed her, and raising her hands, of course to the devil, she prayed that both her sister and Mrs. Lord might be taken sick and die, as the result of being baptized.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 14)
As the brother and sister tried to force young Mrs. Lord away, a police officer came up, and said to the mother, “This is a matter that concerns your daughter alone. You have no right to interfere, and I shall prevent you going farther. She must have liberty to follow her own convictions.”
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 15)
Another case was that of a husband and wife. This man had always been kind to his wife, but he was very much opposed to her being baptized. He tried to prevent her from going forward,and when he saw that she would not yield, he swore most dreadfully, saying that he would kill her, that he would never live with her again. Nevertheless she went forward in baptism.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 16)
Last Sabbath afternoon this man sat in the meeting with his wife, his children on either side of them. His countenance wore a sad, serious expression, for he was ashamed of himself. We think that he will accept the truth. He is a baker, and is the only one in Newcastle who bakes Graham bread.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 17)
On Sunday Brother Starr visited another man and his wife. The husband is fully convinced that the seventh day is the Sabbath, but the wife stands in the way. She opposes him very strongly. These people both sat on the front seat during the afternoon meeting, and I learned afterward that they were deeply impressed. I had chosen as my subject the coming of the Lord, but as soon as I read my text, I was led to speak on a different subject—the law of God. I had great freedom in speaking.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 18)
After the discourse Brother Starr said to the husband and wife whom he had visited, “You see, Mrs. White carried you over the very ground I went over, giving you the same proof texts that I gave you.”“Yes,” the wife said, “I supposed you told her what you had said to us, for she quoted the same scriptures.” Brother Starr told her he had not said one word to me on the subject. “Now,” said Brother Starr, “you should see that the Lord is calling you by His servants to believe the truth.” She said, “It is very singular, for the last text [she] quoted was the same that you gave us.” This made a great impression on their minds.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 19)
After speaking, I took the cars. To avoid the confusion of a crowded car, it was proposed that I should ride first class. I consented to this, for I understood that the tickets would only cost sixpence more. But when I learned that we would have to pay one shilling each extra, I said, No, I will not pay double price for one hour’s ride. We had a more favorable journey than I expected, and saved our two shillings. At such a time as this, it is not right to pay out even a sixpence or a shilling unnecessarily.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 20)
Before Brother Lord accepted the truth, he held a responsible position in the railway service. He occupied one of the elevated rooms on the line and worked the brakes—a position requiring the most careful management. But when he accepted the Sabbath, he lost his situation, and for three weeks he had no work. He has a large family, consisting of eight boys and a married daughter and her husband to keep. He had but one pound left when a dispatch was sent to him to come to Sydney. He thought it might be possible that he was to be taken back, but no, he was told that if he would work on Saturday he would have his position, but only on that condition. He asked his employer if he would not give him a pension of £50 a year, as he had given others. But this was refused him.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 21)
Brother Lord felt that he could not remain longer in Newcastle without work, and he came to Cooranbong to procure a piece of land. He heard of a place of two hundred acres which was to let, and on which were two buildings. But in one of these the white ants had eaten the woodwork so badly that it had to be torn out and used for kindling wood. The house remaining has no ceiling beyond the rough rafters, and altogether it is not a very encouraging place to move into.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 22)
Last night we sent our cart and platform wagon to bring the family from the station. The two teams have gone today to bring up the goods. Not a cent of money has Brother Lord, and he has had to borrow £2 in order to get his goods here. But the Lord will help those who do their best to help themselves, and who put their trust in Him. It was an unusual sight to see at our breakfast table this morning the seven boys with their father and mother. The eldest son, who is married, is helping to put up buildings on the school ground. The married daughter and her husband are also living in Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 23)
This is the kind of missionary work we must do in this country in helping these people to get a start. We feel that Brother Lord and his wife have excellent material in them. If we can get money to start the food manufacturing business, there will be work for those who have ability. There are several families here now who have had much trial of faith. Want has stared them in the face. But they are now at work.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 24)
Another excellent family live in a little house built up on a rocky piece of land about fifty miles from this place. The father is one of our best Sabbathkeepers. He was a fine workman, a coach builder and first class painter. But the Sabbath stands in the way of his prosperity. These people raise scarcely anything, for their land is so rocky. When Brother Pocock built his house there, he had to carry all the building material on his back up a steep incline which no horse and wagon could climb.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 25)
He took his family to this place, and then we employed him in our house to paint and do other work. When he was leaving, he asked if we had any books we could give him. He told us that he had a small Sabbath school, but had no money to get any books. We furnished him with many of my books, and then he asked if we had any cast off clothing we could spare. We told him that we would help him, and he went away feeling rich. We have sent him a couple of boxes of clothing each year, and he says they have bought nothing in the line of clothing for the family during this time. Our editors are all eager to do this work.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 26)
Brother Pocock has worked with his neighbors, until several persons have embraced the truth. One, a farmer, is quite well-to-do.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 27)
In spite of their poverty Brother Pocock’s family are always neat and are devoted, earnest, God-fearing, God-loving Christians. We have just learned how they are situated, and are trying to settle them on the school land and given him work, so that they may at least have enough to eat. Our hands are fully employed in this kind of missionary work—helping the excellent of the earth to help themselves and maintain their independence, and teaching the shiftless and those who have no work to do something, that they may through right methods become the excellent of the earth.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 28)
We are glad to do this work.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 29)
I have given my largest works to families out of the truth, and I hear the testimonies of some that it was these books, silently reflecting the light upon the Word of God, that converted them to the truth. I have given away to families no less than five hundred dollars’ worth of books, and by this means the work is constantly going forward.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 30)
Responsibilities are constantly crowding in upon us, and it is our work to cast the net on the right side of the ship. We must economize, and then help those who come into the truth. Those who are thrown out of employment are to be looked after carefully. They are not to be carried, but helped to get a start. We must speak words of encouragement to all who have the moral courage to receive and confess the truth. We must try to find a place for those who possess intelligence, that this intelligence may not decrease but increase. There is work for all who have physical strength but have not tact to set themselves to work. And they should be willing to take up the burden the Lord lays upon them, according to their several ability.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 31)
I often present before the workers of every class the truth that Christ honored labor. He understands how to encourage the worker. Our Saviour is touched by human woe, whatever it may be. He is our Burden-bearer. He gives to the weary ones the invitation, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] We must each come to this precious Saviour for counsel.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 32)
He never makes a mistake. Men who are not feeding on Christ, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, will make mistakes. They may reason from their own human standpoint, from policy principles, but they need more than this. They must have the Lord’s ways, the Lord’s thoughts. They must have the Holy Spirit working in them and through them.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 33)
We see the work of God advancing in Newcastle. Already twenty-three have been baptized, and about fifteen more, I understand, purpose to go forward at the first opportunity. The merchants, and businessmen in general, say that there never was anything like this seen in Newcastle before. They say that the influence of the work is extending everywhere.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 34)
There is a special work to be done for the miners. Many of them are interested and are convicted of the truth. There needs to be a special effort made for the proprietors of the mines. This class of work has not yet been entered upon. There must be missionaries who will carry the work to the miners. May the Lord go before us, that we may know how to do this work.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 35)
The city of Newcastle is settled somewhat in this way. The city lies in the center, with suburbs scattered round it in every direction. Missionaries must be sent to these suburbs. First the Bible readings are to be given to every class in every portion of the city. Then the message is to go to the suburbs around.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 36)
This work cannot be completed in a short time. A meetinghouse must be erected as soon as possible. We cannot tell where the money for this is coming from, but we shall go forward, and work and watch and pray. If we can get at the best classes among the miners, they can, when converted, work for their brethren. The Word had come from the proprietors of the coal mines that a great change has come over the men who have come out to the tent to hear. But there needs to be a different kind of work done than mere preaching and giving Bible readings. Some one must get at the working class in the mines and those in the outside ring.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 37)
This matter is lying with great weight on my mind, and I communicate to you the thoughts that are burdening my soul. The net is to be cast into this sea of people, and we are to draw with all our strength. I believe many souls would respond if the work could be carried on as I shall recommend. If our workers will search the Scriptures with the people, some will certainly hear the voice of the true Shepherd. They will appreciate the Word of God as it is brought to them in this simple manner. Railway stations are to be visited. Calls have come from different suburbs, and there must be work done in them. Those souls in poverty need to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. If they can once obtain an intelligent knowledge of the truth, what joy and hope will enter their lives. Their families will be blessed. Christ is the bread of life, and all who eat of Him will be invigorated, and hope and joy and peace will enter their hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 38)
We need those who will shoulder the burden and meet these men just where they are. These people need to understand that Christ receiveth sinful men. The Word of God can be effectually taught them by using nature as a lessonbook. As they dig for the hidden treasure, the earthly things, tell them how to labor for spiritual things, that as they have to work to get out the coal, so they must labor to discern the treasures that are hidden beneath the surface of God’s Word. If they will apply themselves to this task, they will discover treasures that are more valuable to them than coal mines. These men must know what is truth, what is Bible truth. Their intellect must be awakened to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. As the miners ask for light, it must be given to them in clear rays.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 39)
When a question was brought to Christ, His answer was, “Have ye not read?”“What saith the Scripture?” [Matthew 12:3.] Christ could have answered every perplexing question to Him, but He did not do this. He directed His questioners to the great storehouse of light and knowledge. He was not always to be with them in human form, and He would put into their hands the Word of the living God. “How readest thou?” He said; “Search the Scriptures.” [Luke 10:26; Matthew 5:39.] He referred them to His own inspired textbook, that when tempted by the enemy, they might meet him as He had done, saying, “It is written.” Thus the truth would be sent home to the heart, and Satan would be driven back. Satan can have no power over the soul that relies on the living testimony.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 40)
“The entrance of thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” [Psalm 119:130.] Those who are humble enough to inquire, What saith the Scriptures? will not go from the search unsatisfied. The testimony brought to us by the pope, the minister, is not the sure word of unerring prophecy. It is the assertion and commandment of men. When the eternal interests of your soul are involved, you can rest upon nothing with safety but the Word of the living God. A “Thus saith the Lord” is of the highest value. The most eloquent and powerful reiteration of men’s ideas is as nothing compared with the Word of Jehovah. That Word stands sure forever. It is as firm as the everlasting hills. Upon it we may rely. To every man God has given his work, and in this work we have a sure and safe guide. If we will believe with the whole heart, we may know just how to do the work appointed us in reaching souls, for we shall have an unerring guide.
(14LtMs, Lt 48, 1899, 41)
Lt 49, 1899
Wessels, Peter Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia January 1, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 420. + Peter Wessels:
We have been in this place now since December 22. This city is only twenty-two miles from Cooranbong. If we raise a church here it will be of great value in strengthening our interest in this place and in Cooranbong. At Awaba, a station eight miles from Cooranbong, and about fourteen from Newcastle, we have excellent Sabbathkeepers.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 1)
We expected this would be a very small camp meeting. We feared that the holidays would call away the pleasure lovers and also those who wanted to learn the truth. But as I stood before the people, I saw the very countenances that had been presented before me, with the earnest, longing cry, “We want the truth; we want the bread of life.”
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 2)
On the second Sunday after I had spoken, Willie and I were leaving the tent that I might avoid exposure, by clothing being wet with perspiration, when a man of about sixty years of age came running from the tent after us. I was just entering my room when he reached out his hand and said, “I must speak to you. My wife was sick, and I sent for the doctors and ministers, but they could not help her. We had purchased Mrs. White’s beautiful books, Patriarchs & Prophets and The Great Controversy. She searched them diligently, and declared she had found just what she wanted. They made the Scriptures so plain, she said, that she could take right hold of their meaning, and she died in hope and peace. I am searching these books through myself,” he continued, “and expect to find what my wife found.” We have heard many speak of these books. Newcastle has been thoroughly canvassed for them.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 3)
Some of the first men in Newcastle have linked themselves up with Dr. Caro, and one has proposed to go to Sydney with him. Dr. Caro said to me, I hope he will not come until we get our bathrooms. Two wealthy gentlemen, he told me, came to the sanitarium, looked it over, and proposed to take treatment. But when they saw the bathrooms, they were disappointed, and said, I am sorry, but I could never consent to take baths in such a place as this. I would be ashamed to have my people know I had been here. This is a great trial for the doctor. He is well liked. He is simplicity itself in speaking, but he is pointed and plain, as well as pleasant and kind.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 4)
About that time I received from the Pacific Press nearly three hundred pounds. Elder Haskell was in great trouble. The tent he was using was so old that it leaked like a sieve. The only thing I could do was to let my debts remain unpaid, and let the managers of the Health Home have one hundred pounds, and Brother Haskell another hundred. I made a donation of £10 to purchase a new tent. This I felt we must have. We hired a large tent for the Newcastle meeting. We paid fifteen pounds for the use of it during that time, and another £5 for the extra week. We had to use it after the camp meeting broke up until the new tent was made.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 5)
We felt that we would make any and every sacrifice in order to open this new field—Sydney, Cooranbong, Newcastle and Maitland. Because of financial straits we have had to work at a disadvantage from the very commencement of the work. There were those on the school ground who knew not what manner of spirit they were of. When in the meeting held at Cooranbong God gave me a testimony to bear to His people, these men took me by the hand, and said, The Spirit of the Lord was upon you today. You spoke with the power of the Holy Spirit. But they have since turned back.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 6)
When the plans and methods were presented for carrying forward the work on the first school buildings erected, and one and another of the carpenters saw that they could not make large wages upon the school building, they became dissatisfied and refused to work. From sheer necessity we were forced to employ those who would work for the lowest wages, because all the money we had was £1,000 I had hired in order to make a beginning. The tempter came to those who were dissatisfied, and worked upon their minds until he had obtained what he wanted. He loaded them down with his burden of evil surmising, and the very ones who had accepted the testimony, opened their lips to utter falsehoods, just as the Jews did in the days of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 7)
When Christ’s first sermon was preached in Nazareth, the people all wondered at the gracious words that proceeded from His lips. But when He spoke words that cut across their ideas, the enemy took possession of them. They tore Him from His elevated position as speaker, and hurried Him to the eminence on which their city was built. They would have cast Him down headlong had not angels guarded Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 8)
The evidence that those on this ground had, that the Lord had led me and spoken by His Holy Spirit through me, was brushed away as a cobweb, and their tongues were unbridled to say any impulsive thing. The false report has been carried far and near, even to Africa. But although our souls were sad and distressed because these false reports were circulated, yet we knew we were where the Lord would have us, as the future results would show. The Word of the Lord is unchangeable. The Lord would work, and no power could hinder. No human selfishness should be allowed to control matters. No ungodly principles in buying or in selling should be encouraged anywhere on this ground. To the unconverted, who view matters from the lowlands of human selfishness, unbelief, and indifference, right principles and methods appear wrong.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 9)
But the true workers will walk by faith and work by faith. Sometimes they grow weary with watching the slow advancement of the work, where the battle wages strong between the forces of righteousness and sin. But if they refuse to fail or be discouraged, they will see the clouds break away, and the promise fulfilled from God’s point of view. Through the mist and cloud that Satan is ever throwing across their pathway, they will see the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The glory of the Lord is to fill the whole earth. We concluded to rest in the Lord, to trust wholly in Him who is our only hope. Although those we hoped would prove to be true helpers could not understand the situation, and withdrew from us, we continued our work. We have all acted our part, and we have seen poor families acting their part, doing what they could.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 10)
Two school buildings are completed, and the main building is now going up. The meetinghouse is finished and paid for, but there are fences to be built and trees to be set out, to make the place pleasant and attractive. Nothing must be done that is not essential. But the things that need to be done, in order that the work of God in our school shall not be hindered, must be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 11)
One thing all the children of God need to learn to do is to pray in faith, and then seek to work in harmony with their prayers. In this way they co-operate with God. Let each one be sure not to sit for weeks and months on Satan’s stool of idleness, waiting for higher wages, for thus he throws himself directly in the enemy’s way, giving him every advantage.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 12)
There are in every church two classes, those who want to lead, and those who are willing to be led. We cannot always have the privilege of planning the work, although we may feel able to do it. It may be that it would be a great blessing for some one else to do the planning, and become educated to know how, even if we suppose we know how to do everything. It is very nice to encourage those that will to do a great work, while the wise ones are aroused, not to be ready to criticize, but to advise and counsel. It is a splendid lesson to learn how to submit. The Lord tries every man just where he needs trying. If he needs his hands tied, the Lord permits them to be tied and his mouth closed.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 13)
The Lord tries us in different ways, as I realize just now. When I would have gone to Ballarat, I am allowed to become weak and suffering. I must give up my visit to Ballarat, but it may be because my voice is needed in these places close by. There is a chain of places from Newcastle to Morisset on the railway line. Toronto is a large village, a resort of pleasure lovers. We design to visit all these places, Mount Vincent, Toronto, Awaba. As circumstances are, I must interpret this affliction as providential. I know I never in all my life before worked so hard as at Newcastle. On the last Sunday afternoon, when the crowds were filling the tent, and two thousand people were before me, I felt weak and helpless. But I cast myself upon Christ’s strength, and I was sustained. All seemed intensely interested, and now the workers begin to gather in the sheaves.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 14)
I have never in my previous illnesses felt as I have in this one. I think it was because I had not recovered from my great taxation in Brisbane and Rockhampton. But I will now lighten my work of speaking. God give me wisdom to refrain when I feel the spirit of the message like fire shut up in my bones. The burden of souls is upon me, and I cannot hold my peace.
(14LtMs, Lt 49, 1899, 15)
Lt 50, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister [J. J.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 23, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Wessels:
We have been anxiously waiting for some response from you, but none comes. Perhaps it is not time. Everything here is now prepared to go forward. We do not want to make any movement without your advice and counsel if there is any prospect of your coming soon. If your mind is made up to go elsewhere, then please let us know as soon as possible. They are putting up with great inconvenience at the sanitarium, and all is in suspense until we hear from you. We hope to receive a cablegram that will settle the anxiety we are in.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 1)
Please read this letter to your mother. We see the work of God going on in the conversion of souls. We see the great work that is to be done in Newcastle, for it is a place that cannot be gone over quickly. There are men being converted who have not attended meeting for years. They are gaining a most excellent experience. The miners working in the coal mines must be labored for. There are souls to be saved in these mines, and missionaries must engage in this work. Just as soon as the house of worship is erected, the work must be carried on and extended farther.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 2)
It seems a pity that I must mortgage my property here to obtain means to build and keep the work advancing. But the work shall not cease if I can help it.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 3)
The question was asked me by Brother Starr, “Sister White, does it seem that the Lord’s providence would go before us, opening ways for us to work, and then withhold means from us, so that we cannot do that work?” I answered, No; no. It is not the Lord who does this. There is sufficient means in the hands of His stewards to do every line of work that the providence of God indicates should be done, but these means are set flowing in channels which gratify self-indulgence and selfish ideas that will perish with the using. Thus the precious cause of God becomes embarrassed. The Lord’s money is not used according to His appointment. The stewards of means are not doing the work given them by God, and we are compelled to be sorely tried and put to shame before the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 4)
This is not the Lord’s will, but those who should stand in their lot and in their place, using aright the means the Lord has entrusted to them, prove unfaithful. Selfishness and love of show and appearance blinds their judgment, and the work that should stand the highest because it is the Lord’s work is left to bear an impress that falsely represents Him who owns the world and all that is therein.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 5)
O that men would only see that by following their own selfish purposes they rob God of His treasure and themselves of the large reward they might lay up in heaven! We are to do our work in God’s appointed way, showing ourselves to be faithful stewards of the Lord’s entrusted gift, exalting not ourselves, but our Maker. Soon the call will be made, “Give an account of thy stewardship.” [Luke 16:2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 6)
True religion is an imitation of Christ. True Christians represent the character of Christ. They follow in His footsteps. The truly converted soul will not follow his own selfish ways. He will not exalt self and divert the means, every penny, every shilling of which is the Lord’s, to be used for self-gratification. We are to work with the Lord’s interest and glory in view, that we may give an account of our stewardship with joy and not with grief. The religion of Jesus Christ is an experimental matter. God is testing every man, by permitting him to trade on His goods. Each man has a personal account, accurately kept by the Lord, and he is tested by the practical results. O how little do men understand the words, “How much owest thou unto my Lord?” [Verse 5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 7)
There is an actual relation existing between sinful man and his God. The price has been paid for his redemption. He has been bought with a price. But the salvation of the sinner depends upon his personal union with Jesus Christ. Pure and undefiled religion is not guess work, but a practical, living experience. Christ never promises a smooth path for His followers to travel in. God sets before each a life of trial in obedience to His will, and as Christ lived not to please Himself, so His followers will not live to please themselves. The lust of the eye will not cause them to absorb the Lord’s money in things which only please the unsanctified pleasure lover.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 8)
The Lord would have every soul consider that He keeps an account with every man. Each should feel his individual responsibility to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in them, to will and to do of His good pleasure. God works, and man works. If man consents to co-operate with Jesus Christ, he will be declared complete in Him who purchased men and women with His own blood. In order to make high attainment in true religion, we must love righteousness and hate every evil way.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 9)
I submit this to you to read to your brothers, for they need these words. May the Lord open their hearts to receive and act upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 10)
In much love to your wife and her mother and your mother and her family.
(14LtMs, Lt 50, 1899, 11)
Lt 51, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister [Peter] Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 23, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 18MR 276-280. Dear Brother and Sister Peter Wessels:
I have only a little time to write to you. I have been writing hours before daylight. I may not be able to get this copied, but I want to say we thank you that you assisted us in our time of necessity. We did need help so much, and we thank the members of your mother’s family that they sent relief in our time of need, so that we were enabled to build our meetinghouse without a debt upon it. Thank the Lord, O my soul, and praise Him for all His benefits!
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 1)
I think of you all because peculiar temptations come to every soul upon the weakest point in their character. That weak point needs to be strengthened and conformed in righteousness. Following Jesus Christ means that you are doing the very same works of righteousness which Christ would do were He in your place. Following always implies obedience. No soldier can follow his commander unless he obeys orders. Following means imitation. In every case of action you are to do just as Christ would do in your place. “Learn of me,” says the Great Teacher. [Matthew 11:29.] Then keep your eye on the copy. Christ is our model. We are to do all things to His name’s glory, and in the love that Christ has for us individually.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 2)
Christ came to our world to teach every man for whom He died how to practice His virtues in his daily life. “I,” said Christ, “sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified through the truth.” [John 17:19.] Christ was exalted above His associates, because He loved righteousness and hated iniquity. The Lord Jesus in His life was without sin doing that which was just and right in all things. We are to do as He did. Iniquity signifies whatever is crooked, whatever is twisted out of the right line. Oh how important that we love sound principles, sound doctrine!
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 3)
The eye of God is in every place; He knows all our temptations, and He expects us to resist them as He resisted the devil. We must have sound principles, pure, elevated, ennobling; these we can take with us into the eternal world. As a divine Saviour, Jesus died for us that we might live His life of purity, truth and righteousness. He teaches us how to live. Our prayers should be, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” [Psalm 51:10.] Out of the heart are the issues of life. The inward fountain of life must be cleansed, purified. The will must yield its helm to the command of Christ. Paul, the great apostle, describes this as “putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” [Ephesians 4:24.] The evidence we bear of this new creation in Christ Jesus is to love righteousness and to hate iniquity.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 4)
My brother, may the Lord God sanctify you wholly, body, soul, and spirit, because you are a diligent student in the school of Christ. As you educate yourself, you are prepared to educate others. True religion is simply to follow Christ. A religion expressing selfishness is worthless, for the sinful heart is the real citadel. Until the heart is surrendered unconditionally, the blessing of God cannot flow into the soul; the sunshine of His righteousness does not illuminate the chambers of the mind or the soul temple, and a new life does not begin.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 5)
No compromise with sin can ever be accepted by a pure and holy God. No conversion is genuine which does not radically change the heart, the character, and every line of conduct. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” [2 Corinthians 5:17.] The gift of the Lord Jesus is a new character, a new creature in Christ Jesus. Not a moment should be wasted on a patchwork religion. We must shine as lights in the world. May the Lord bless you and your family, that you may reveal Christ in a life of faith, purity, true godliness, and holiness. Thus it must be with every soul who is a citizen of heaven. Our citizenship is above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. This present life is only our training school, it is to purify us, that we may be without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing—meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 6)
We are individually to be true and loyal to higher laws. Our Redeemer, who paid His life as a ransom for us, has said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” [John 14:15.] The world around us sets its standard of customs and fashions to suit the inclination of unsanctified hearts; but they are not the rules for those who love Jesus Christ. Christ has chosen us out of the world, and has given us His own life to be our standard and our pattern. Every one whom God loves will say, I must live in this world, and yet not be of it. I must be as Christ has appointed. He says, “Ye are the light of the world.... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:14, 16.] Keep the windows of the soul open toward heaven, and let the pure, holy atmosphere of heaven flow into the chambers of your mind and into the soul temple. Then the windows that open earthward will close of themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 7)
The world will never be converted by conformity to its evil practices. But what an influence will be exerted upon the world by a people who live and speak and act as sons and daughters of God, as citizens of heaven itself! We should be as salt with all its saving properties. Oh what witnesses we would be for Christ! What a power would be our example to the world. We could lift up our voice like a trumpet, and show “my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” [Isaiah 58:1.] As souls born again, as our high and exalted birthright, we are never to venture to stoop to anything low, cheap or questionable, never to be found in suspicious places, never to let our good be evil spoken of.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 8)
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so much higher, purer, nobler should be a Christians ways above those of the sinner. Never need he apologize to the world because he dares to do righteousness. Christ describes His people as a city set on a hill; they cannot be hid. His eyes were directed to the city of Saphet [Safed or Zefat] set upon a hill. The city was in full sight, and could be seen from a great distance, catching the beams of the morning sun and flashing back its evening glories from its bright battlements.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 9)
The Bible Christian is a man of principle, sober, watchful, prayerful, a man full of faith and good works. He is not seeking the prominence of the hill, but is firm, established, strengthened, settled. It requires a sound conscience to do the works of Christ. It requires consistent and holy living. By much prayer, watching unto prayer, [and] self-denial, the true Christian lifts the cross of Christ and follows in His footsteps. He walks with God, not with Satan. A Christian is the world’s light, and the only Bible that many in Africa can read.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 10)
God help you, my brother, to be a true Christian, consistent today, consistent tomorrow, always solid in speech, with no frivolity, no lifeless or trifling words. He is reaching up unto Christ, and does not fall into spiritual declension. “Walk as wise men, not as fools.” [Ephesians 5:15.] My brother, seek to be a well-built Christian, having a character symmetrical in all its parts. Be always inquiring, “Is my name written there, on the books bright and fair?”
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 11)
God grant that you may have an abundant entrance into His kingdom, that Christ shall not be ashamed to own you, your wife, and your children. Be Christ’s representatives, pure, holy, undefiled, sanctified to God in body, soul, and spirit. The Lord bless you and keep you sound, clean, pure in mind and practice. Then will rest upon you the heavenly benediction, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” [Matthew 25:21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 12)
With much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 51, 1899, 13)
Lt 52, 1899
Prescott, Amos Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 23, 1899 Previously unpublished. My Friend Amos Prescott:
Your case has been brought distinctly to my mind. I was conversing with you in reference to your past experience, when you loved the Lord, and were doing Him service. You related your past experience to me, and I spoke the words to you which the Lord gave me to say. I said, Amos, you are not an infidel, and never have been one. You have been standing in the position of the prodigal son, who left his Father’s house. His history is your history. You loved the Lord, you stood manfully for a time, but errors were committed by Emma, and this was your stumbling block. She had no love for domestic life, and she misjudged her duty. You became tempted, and after a fierce battle, your heart lost all its love for your wife.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 1)
The sad result of these errors has been serious. You have given yourself up to be controlled by the enemy, but the Lord has given me a message for you. He loves you, but He does not love your sin, your disobedience to His holy law. He calls, Come unto me, you who are weary and heavy laden because of your own perversity of character. Come unto me and I will give you rest. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 2)
My brother, why did you leave your heavenly Father? He loves you still. You are not happy in your worldly business life. You desire something better than this. You want the love of God in your heart. You want Christ your Redeemer. All that Amos Prescott’s talents can do is but a cypher until he puts the name of Jesus at the head of them all. He has purchased you with His own blood. If you believe in Him, learn of Him, follow in His footsteps, He will give you eternal riches, and a life that measures with the life of God, in which you will enjoy the imperishable treasures of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 3)
When the truth gains full possession of a man’s conscience, when his sensibilities are aroused, his soul is all light in the Lord. The whole man is a representation of the truth. Come, Amos, the Lord calls for you. He wants your service. You are not your own. You have been bought with a price, and what a price! God calls upon you to look and live. You are beloved by Him. He is acquainted with your every trial, your every sin, your every difficulty, and He will accept you as His child if you will return to Him. You wanted me to think you were without feeling, but I knew you were not.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 4)
I would speak of your children. Will you take these with you to the enemy’s side? You cannot afford to do this. You are now educating your son to dishonor the Sabbath, and how much his works may be doing in leading other souls from truth and righteousness, you know not. Your life has been graciously spared, for the Lord is inviting you, Return unto Me, and I will return unto thee, and will heal all thy backslidings.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 5)
Sin is the most costly thing in the world. It costs us the favor of God and heaven. We grieve the Holy Spirit, and what do we gain? Death. I invite you in behalf of Christ to come just as you are, and hang your helpless soul upon Jesus Christ. I urge you to consider what the opening of the books of heaven will reveal. The book of remembrance will confront you at the judgment bar, revealing in distinct lines the long-suffering of God. God could cut you down as a cumberer of the ground, but instead He points you to the open door, and says, “Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” [Acts 3:19.] In the judgment when every case is decided, there will be revealed in its fulness the responsibility of every man. You will realize the influence you might have had over other souls had you stood under the bloodstained banner of Jesus Christ. How interwoven is the web of human influence! The course of action followed by every man has a direct bearing upon the life of others.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 6)
I have had presented to me the solemn scenes of the judgment, and I now ask you to stop and consider, How is it with my soul? Shall not the prayer go forth from your lips, “Wash me thoroughly from my sin, and cleanse me from mine iniquity”? [Psalm 51:2.] The Lord will hear the prayer that is offered to Him in sincerity. Believe in Christ as your personal Saviour. Grasp the promises before it is everlastingly too late.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 7)
You have been entrusted with talents to improve to the glory of God. The Lord has need of every faculty and power of your being. He requires these talents to be used and not abused. He has loved you and loves you still, but regardless of God’s honor you have taken yourself in your own hands. You have abused your affections and degraded your being to please yourself. You lie down in sleep without any effort on your part to keep life in your body. Your heart beats independently of your will, because God keeps the living machinery in motion. There is a guardian eye watching over your pillow. The hand of God is shielding His undutiful child, guarding the ebb and flow of the vital current. When you awake, where are your thoughts? Do you render to God the fruit of your lips in thank offerings to Him?
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 8)
Whether you realize it or not, you are bound by the most sacred ties to do God’s will, for you are His purchased possession. Should the Lord give you up for one hour, Satan would have his revenge on Christ by destroying you without one emotion of pity. You are just as dependent upon God as it is possible for a human being to be—I was going to say, as a child upon its parent; but this is no fitting comparison. A parent cannot keep the human machinery in action for its child. You are bound by the most sacred ties of God. You are His by creation, you are His by redemption. His watchcare has been over you from your earliest years.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 9)
But for how many years have you used your God-given powers to glorify your own will and pleasure? How does Christ your Redeemer feel as He sees you, whom He has bought with a price, using your talents against Him? He knows what the results will be if you continue to disregard your Saviour. He will not be able to save you. Your talents are not now used to His name’s glory, although all the brightness of your intellect was given you by God.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 10)
You are on trial for your life, the life of your soul. Have you lost eternity out of your reckoning? Your mental and physical strength was given you that you might act as a co-laborer with Jesus Christ. Have you surrendered your soul to His keeping, your life to His ordering? Are you doing those things that are pleasing in His sight? If so, you need not lie awake one moment in regard to your life insurance policy. The first chapter of Second Peter tells you all about this matter. Read the entire chapter. Here is a ladder of eight rounds for you to climb, and while you are ascending round after round, you are working on the plan of addition, and God is working on the plan of multiplication.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 11)
“If these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hast forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things (add grace to grace), ye shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Verses 8-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 12)
This is your life insurance policy. Will you seek to make your calling and election sure? You have known these Scriptures from a child. God is responsible for you just as long as you abide in Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 13)
All this may be distasteful to you, but I will not close without giving you an invitation to put some of the Lord’s money into a hospital for the treatment of the sick. It is to cost about seven thousand dollars, and is to be built on the school estate. The school has donated ten acres. We would be pleased to have you represented in our hospital. I am now obtaining donations for this, and if you feel free to help us in our good work, we shall accept gratefully what you send.
(14LtMs, Lt 52, 1899, 14)
Lt 53, 1899
Craw, Brother “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 23, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in RY 96-98. Dear Brother Craw:
I write you because you and I are getting old, and we need now to carefully examine ourselves. What are we doing with the talent of means lent us by the Master? What have you done during your life, my brother? Have you returned to the Lord that which is truly His? Do you feel that you have done all He requires of you to advance His work? While praying over the matter of our great need of money with which to enter new fields, and lift up the standard in places where the truth has never been preached, you were presented to me. It was as though your name was spoken, and the Lord said, “He has My entrusted money, and it would be for his own eternal interest to place it in new missionary fields that must be worked.” I decided to write to you, my brother. Cannot you send us a donation in our great need?
(14LtMs, Lt 53, 1899, 1)
If the Lord signifies to you that He wants the money you have to be used in the advancement of His work, will you not send me money to invest? I have used everything of my own, and now I ask you to return to the Lord His own entrusted goods. We see so many fields opening in every direction. People are calling for us to come and hold meetings with us, and we dare not refuse. I have tried to mortgage my place, but the banks in Australia do not care to invest money in this way. The Lord has indicated plainly that you could relieve us by investing means in the good work. There is a great work to be done, and we wish to move in the opening providence of God. Considerable advancement has been made, and we cannot stop now.
(14LtMs, Lt 53, 1899, 2)
I address you definitely. Will you now give back a portion of your Lord’s money, and relieve us in our pressing necessity? May the Lord make your heart willing, is my prayer. We wish to do everything that it is possible to do to save souls from perishing in their sins. One soul is of more value than the whole world. We realize that a good work is being done. About thirty-five souls have been baptized in Newcastle, and fifteen more are waiting for baptism. The whole place is aroused. The cities near Newcastle must be worked. Shall we be hindered for lack of money, when it is in the hands of God’s stewards, and should come to us?
(14LtMs, Lt 53, 1899, 3)
In the parable we are shown that every one has received something from the Master. Each is to do his part in supplying the needs that occur in advancing the truth. Property is a talent. The Lord sends His message: “Sell that ye have, and give alms.” [Luke 12:33.] All that we have is the Lord’s without any question. “The silver is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” [Haggai 2:8.] Why should we not, when pressed financially, present our great need to those whom God has signified hold his money in trust, to be used in advancing the work of saving souls ready to perish? We do not want you to sow sparingly, because then you will reap sparingly. We want you, my brother, to lay up treasure in heaven. They that sow bountifully shall reap also bountifully. The reaping will be proportionate to the sowing. Read the ninth chapter of Second Corinthians.
(14LtMs, Lt 53, 1899, 4)
Soon Christ will reward every man according to his works. Soon your money will pass out of your hands for another to handle. It will then not be the test of your stewardship. Now it is yours, by which the Lord desires to try you. While you are alive, be your own almoner, and receive the blessings which will come to you in a faithful discharge of duty. Give back to God that which is His own. This is God’s way. He always lends His talents to His stewards, to be used to spread the knowledge of the truth. This work cannot be done without the funds that are in the hands of God’s servants. We now invite you to dispose of your property. This the Lord calls upon you to do. We have to build meetinghouses and hospitals for our sick. We want means to advance the work of God in this new world. Be liberal, that God may advance His cause.
(14LtMs, Lt 53, 1899, 5)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 53, 1899, 6)
Lt 54, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 24, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 6T 114-116; RH 05/09/1899. Dear Sister Henry:
I awake at two o’clock a.m., and know that there is no more sleep for me tonight. Your letter was read with interest. I am very grateful to my heavenly Father that if we cannot meet face to face to talk with each other, we still have the advantages of pen and ink. I have not an idea that these words I write to you will be copied.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 1)
My eyes are afflicted at the present time, but I venture this morning to write you a few lines, my sister. I was riding with my editors and secretary in the country when a gnat flew in my eye. It felt like a spark of fire. My eye felt disagreeable, but I used it. The next day, accompanied by my secretary, I went to Newcastle to fill my appointment to speak Sabbath and Sunday afternoons. Friday night I suffered much. A week has passed, and the difficulty is not yet entirely removed. I have written much with one eye bandaged; but I thank the Lord I am much better, although not entirely restored. I would not on this occasion fail nor be discouraged. Wearing my glasses, I managed to speak twice in Newcastle to an interested congregation.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 2)
There is a large work to be done in Newcastle and suburbs, and we are seeking to do all we can. Thirty-five precious souls have been baptized, and fifteen more will be baptized in a week. The ministers are now aroused to opposition. We feel sorry for the shepherds and sorry for the poor sheep who are starving for the precious words of life, which God’s servants would give them, and which they long to receive, but are afraid. God help them, is my prayer. If we could only impress them with the value of the human soul, if they could be made to understand that they must act for themselves, that they have souls to save or souls to lose, they would individually act independently of any human influence. If we can make these souls, who are hanging in the balance, gain a clear conviction of the excellency of the human soul, which Christ has valued so highly as to give His life to save, we would win them for Jesus. What an account the ministers must have who are making of none effect a plain, distinct “Thus saith the Lord.”
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 3)
The work you are doing to help our sisters feel their individual accountability to God is a good and necessary work. Long has it been neglected. But when this work is laid out in clear, simple, definite lines, we may expect that home duties, instead of being neglected, will be done much more intelligently. The Lord would have us ever urge the worth of the human soul upon those who do not understand its value.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 4)
If we can arrange to have regular, organized companies instructed intelligently in regard to the part they should act as servants of the Master, our churches will have a life and vitality that they have long needed. The excellency of the soul Christ has saved will be appreciated. Our sisters generally have a hard time with their increasing families and their unappreciated trials. I have so longed for women who could be educated to help our sisters rise from their discouragement and feel that they could do a work for the Lord. This is bringing rays of sunshine into their own lives, which are reflected into the hearts of others. God will bless you and all who unite with you in this grand work.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 5)
Many youth as well as elder sisters appear shy of religious conversation. They do not take in the matter as it is. The Word of God must be their assurance, their hope, their peace. They close the windows which they should open heavenward, and open their windows wide earthward. But when they see the excellency of the human soul, they will close the windows earthward, which depend on worldly amusements and associations in folly and sin, and will open the windows heavenward to behold spiritual things. Then they can say, I will receive the light of the Sun of Righteousness, that it may shine forth to others. The most successful toilers are those who cheerfully take up the work of serving God in little things. Every human being is to work with his thread, weaving it into the fabric to help to complete the pattern.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 6)
The work of Christ was largely composed of personal interviews. He had a faithful regard for the one-soul audience. From that one soul the intelligence received was carried to thousands. Educate the youth to help the youth, and in seeking to do this work they will gain an experience which will qualify them to become consecrated workers in a larger sphere. Thousands of hearts can be reached in the most simple, humble way. The most intellectual, those looked upon and praised as the world’s most gifted men and women, are often refreshed by the simple words of one who loves God, and who can speak of that love as naturally as the worldling can speak of the things his mind contemplates and feeds upon. The words well-prepared and studied have little influence. But the true honest words of a son or daughter of God, spoken in natural simplicity, unbolt the door to many souls that have long been locked.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 7)
Every worker, whether a child, a youth, or a person of mature age, is to put on Christ, that is, seek him in prayer and believe that the prayer is accepted by God. He has been charged to watch and pray without ceasing. Some pray during the Week of Prayer, and then suppose that their praying is to cease. They do not continue in prayer, and therefore they do not receive. They must continue to ask, that they may receive. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” [John 16:24.] Seek me, and ye shall find me close beside you, ready to shield, to help and bless you. I will lead the current of your thoughts away from cheap, frivolous things. I will open to you subjects the contemplation of which will bring you My peace, My joy, My consolation, and these will take away your worries. Our powers are not to be employed and worn out in bearing responsibilities which belong to God, which He has not given the human agent. Let us educate the soul not to chafe and irritate, weakening its powers unnecessarily, but keep itself in calmness and peace.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 8)
The wails of a world’s sorrow are heard all around us. Sin is pressing its shadow upon us, and our minds must be ready for every good word and work. We know we have the presence of Jesus. The sweet influence of His Holy Spirit is teaching and guiding our thoughts to speak words that will refresh and cheer and brighten the pathway of others. If we can speak to our sisters often, and in the place of saying, “Go,” lead them ourselves to do as we would do, to feel as we should feel, we shall have a strong and abiding conception of the value of the human soul. We are learners, that we may be teachers. This ideal must be imprinted on the minds of every church member.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 9)
We fully believe in church organization, but this is not to prescribe the exact way in which we shall work, for all minds are not to be reached by the same methods. Nothing is to be allowed to keep the servant of God from his fellow men. The individual believer is to labor for the individual sinner. Each person has his one lamp to keep burning, and if the heavenly oil is emptied into these lamps through the golden pipes, if the vessels are emptied of self and prepared to receive the holy oil, its light will be thrown on the sinner’s path to some purpose. More light will shine on the pathway of the wanderer through one lamp than through a whole procession of torchlights got up for a show.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 10)
O what a work may be done if we do not stretch ourselves beyond our measure. My sister, there are many ways open before you. Address the crowds whenever you can. Hold every jot of influence you gain, by association, that will introduce the leaven into the meal. Every man and every women has his and her work to do for the Master. Personal consecration and sanctification to God will bring better results than the most imposing display. Personal work must be done, and personal sanctification makes each one a partaker with the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is invincible. Those who follow in the footsteps of Christ will not seek for show and parade. Christ is not there. “He that will come after me,” He says, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] Without Me ye can do nothing to My name’s glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 11)
All this world’s pleasure and power will pass away. No soul can carry its supposed valuable treasures with it to the eternal world. But the life spent in doing the will of God will abide forever. The labor given to advance the kingdom of God in this world will carry its results into the future eternal world. Teach our sisters that their question should be each day, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do this day? Each consecrated vessel will daily have the holy oil emptied into it, to be emptied out into other vessels. Every day we may advance in the perfection of Christian character. As we wait and watch for opportunities to do the will and work of God, every word we utter, every work we perform in Christ’s lines will have an enduring preeminence.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 12)
I am so glad, my sister, that you did not sever your connection from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. You may have to sever this connection, but not yet, not yet. Hold your place. Speak the words given you by God, and the Lord will certainly work with you. You may see many things you do not approve of, but do not fail nor be discouraged. I hope and pray that you may be clothed daily with the righteousness of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 13)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 54, 1899, 14)
Lt 55, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 24, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in BCL 19-20. + Dear Brother:
I have nothing more at present to send you, except that the Lord has impressed my mind forcibly that anything more I might say would do no good. There are some things that can be said in the future, when hearts and minds are where the Holy Spirit can work them.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 1)
All I have to say now is that your way and spirit toward your brethren is not approved by God. He calls for unity. Variance and dissension are not created by the Lord. The Lord has given light to men that it may be a help to them and all connected with them. If the same spirit is manifested to justify and condemn that has been cherished in the past, settle it in your mind that Jesus Christ is not glorified. The softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God is greatly needed. Nothing can dishonor God more than the independent self-sufficiency which marks the defections of your brethren and fails to see your own dangers and defects. I am afraid for you. I am afraid for my brethren in responsible positions.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 2)
I will now hold my peace; for anything I might say may confuse. I fear for nothing that I have written. It lies out in clear straight lines, because the Holy Spirit is working with the human agent. I greatly fear that the power and glory of God which may cone in will not be recognized. God says, Work in unity. He does not say that your course has been one which will advance and unite hearts. You need to put on Christ, to follow your Leader more closely. You are in positive danger through your own spirit, which will always strive for the supremacy unless it is kept in subjection. You are upon a high pinnacle of greatness, because the Lord has prospered the principles you have advocated. But the Lord never designed that you should criticize your brethren and hold yourself aloof from them because they do not put their whole interest in the work you are interested in.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 3)
My brother, the Lord does not sanction any disunion or variance. If you draw in even cords with your Redeemer, you will draw in even cords with your brethren. There is need of unity, else Christ would not have prayed for this oneness. This oneness does not mean that all should do the work you are doing, or that you are to feel that you are to do the work your brethren are doing. Your several works are to blend together. If you are one with Christ and with one another, you bear the credentials that God has sent His Son into the world. The Lord then has a seal to His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 4)
We must cease the work of criticizing and faultfinding, and sustain the hands of our brethren. We must not tear one another down. The work of absorbing in America the means in the churches, so that foreign fields are deprived of facilities with which to carry on the work, should not be encouraged. We have been deprived, in this country, of means we should have had. The light came to me, clear and distinct, that the medical missionary work was absorbing too much, while a more definite work in special lines was being neglected, that you were gathering into your arms a class of work that is never ending, which was eclipsing the work that needs to be done in every city—the proclamation of the soon coming of Christ. The third angel’s message was being blanketed, and you were not altogether straight on these things. There was danger in several ways that you did not discern. You are a man of special influence.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 5)
You will sway heavily in any course you take, whether right or wrong; and I wrote to this effect. The danger is that you will withdraw yourself, and make of your work a great center; and this you will certainly do unless you fulfill to the letter the Word of the Lord. You are to build up, and in no wise to weaken or tear down. The Lord will lead you if you do not pull too strongly to lead yourself. When you are baptized with the Holy Spirit of God, you will draw together. When your brethren are baptized with the Holy Spirit, you will all draw in harmony.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 6)
You are to stop censuring your brethren, and they are to help to sustain you, for a heavy responsibility rests upon you. You are not to exalt the work you are doing, for it is only as the arm is to the body. You would make the medical missionary work the body and not the arm. This cannot and must not be. You are out of order, and you must be called to order. I write this because I do not want anything turned in this one channel to the extinguishing of every other important work. I do not want your sympathies drawn wholly in one direction while everything else is ignored.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 7)
I leave these words with you, my brother. You are certainly gathering more than you can carry. God help you to be wise, that the church, as well as the medical missionary work, may be helped. The medical missionary work needs to be more proportionately balanced. God help you.
(14LtMs, Lt 55, 1899, 8)
Lt 56, 1899
Hare, Joseph Refiled as Lt 105, 1893.
Lt 57, 1899
James, Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 28, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister James:
I write to inquire if you have been successful in securing means. If so, will you please loan me as much as you can conveniently spare? We are very much in need of means at the present time. We are now clearing the ground for our hospital. We are raising means in small and large sums. Some men give work, and several have pledged one week’s work each. Solicitors for many are now visiting the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 57, 1899, 1)
Yesterday afternoon and evening meetings were held regarding this subject, in the afternoon at Martinsville and in the evening at the chapel in Cooranbong. These meetings were excellent.
(14LtMs, Lt 57, 1899, 2)
Several men are now at work on the hospital ground. The foundation will soon be laid and the work pushed right ahead. We would be pleased if you could have some share in this work. Can you obtain any donations in Ballarat? We ask you to loan us money besides this.
(14LtMs, Lt 57, 1899, 3)
I would have been pleased could I have attended your camp meeting. But I was too much afflicted at the time. I am improving now, and am gaining in strength. We see a great work to be done. We see many places where the truth has never entered—Maitland, Singleton, and the suburbs of Newcastle. There are forty new Sabbathkeepers in Newcastle. Before and after the camp meeting good work was done there, and a church will have to be erected very soon. We feel very grateful to our heavenly Father that He has moved upon hearts and opened the minds of the people to hear the Bible testimony. In Brisbane about fifty are keeping the Sabbath. The Lord is working by His Holy Spirit. There are many most remarkable experiences. The Lord is certainly going before us to prepare the way, and the truth must be proclaimed.
(14LtMs, Lt 57, 1899, 4)
Please let us know at once what we may depend upon.
(14LtMs, Lt 57, 1899, 5)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 57, 1899, 6)
Lt 58, 1899
Durland, John. Refiled as Lt 57, 1887.
Lt 59, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.]; Tenney, G. C. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 29, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell and Elder Tenney:
I am having great trouble with my eyes. Two weeks ago a gnat flew into my left eye, and I have had a serious time with it since. Still, I cannot help using it somewhat in writing. This affliction is sometimes severe. But I feel grateful to God that I have been able to keep my eyesight thus far.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 1)
I wish you could know how grateful to God we feel that you have your meetinghouse built. I wish I could be with you when you dedicate the same to the Lord, but this is impossible. I do not know but that it is needless for me to say to you that meetings should be held in the different sections of the city, as you have been doing. I have had kept before me two distinct places of worship. The most perfect symbol of this was presented to me in the two white clouds that appeared before me as I was on my way to Brisbane. I had tried to interpret this as Newcastle and Brisbane, but it will not admit of that interpretation. The clouds would come together and touch one another, and then part. Thus it was for several times, until we changed cars. Then I lost sight of the clouds. But I interpret these clouds to mean Brisbane.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 2)
The locality where no church is built is really more favorable for our work than the district where the church is now located. You may say, Why was not the church built there? This we may not discern at present. You are on the ground and can answer this question if the work is done in Brisbane. If the place is thoroughly worked, another church will be erected there. I have reason to expect an open door. Invitations will be constantly made by the compelling power of the truth, and many more will listen to the invitation, “Come to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 3)
May the Lord help Elder Tenney in giving this compelling message, is my earnest prayer. He has a most serious, solemn work before him. But if he will give his whole soul and interest to the work, the Lord will certainly be with him. It is necessary that the work in both localities be kept up.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 4)
We shall have the same thing to do in Newcastle. In Hamilton a church will be erected. In Wallsend there will be another church to accommodate that part of Newcastle. It would be an expensive business if all the people had to go to Hamilton from Wallsend, ten miles away. If I had the money, I would purchase the old stone church at Wallsend, but we are bound about for means.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 5)
I am very glad there is One who knows all about our distress, and He will not leave us without opening the way for us to follow His providence. The fields are all white for the harvest, and there are only few workers. There should be one hundred workers where there is one. We expect that right here in Cooranbong and in the surrounding places in the bush souls will respond to the invitation to the marriage supper. We must never stop our work. We must go ahead.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 6)
“Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against them. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 7)
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.” [Jude 14-25.]
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 8)
God help every one who can to work and press forward. The words of the great apostle come to us with all their deep meaning, “But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” [1 Timothy 6:11, 12.] A great and solemn work is given to us who have experience. God will help us. Our testimony must be borne over and over again to the souls who are ready to perish. We are not to give up the matter after one trial.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 9)
There are souls palsied by sin, and the truth must be repeated to them in order to impress their senses. Nothing but the life-giving power of the gospel can reach the souls who are dead in trespasses and sins. The work of the great Physician alone can be successful in co-operating with the servants of God as they labor in word and doctrine.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 10)
The living fountain is to be kept before the souls who are perishing in their sins. They must arouse. They must come to the fountain opened in the house of David. They need the balm of the Saviour’s love applied to their bruised and wounded souls. We must have the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit, with all its quickening, transforming, life-giving power, in order to penetrate the palsied soul. Work we must in spiritual lines. Lift up Christ in His power in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is waiting for them to open the door and admit Him. His presence will thrill every nerve and muscle. Every organ will begin to perform its functions, and the whole man will be restored to spiritual soundness as he sees Christ by faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 11)
We must call upon the people to open their windows heavenward, to let the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness in, for He has healing in His wings. These souls are to be solicited again and again. They are to be pulled out of the fire. As workers together with God, we must pray much, and watch for souls as they that must give an account. God will work with every one who will work with Him. “Without me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] We must seek by earnest prayer and living faith to keep Christ as our constant Companion and Counsellor.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 12)
Brethren, there are many more souls to be sought for in Brisbane. More urgency is needed in the giving of the message. Let all see and understand that it is a life-giving message. They need it; they must have it. Open the way for the Holy Spirit to work with you, and you will see the salvation of souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 59, 1899, 13)
Lt 60, 1899
Brethren Refiled as Lt 5, 1883.
Lt 61, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 2, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 9MR 50; 11MR 92-93; 4Bio 412, 438-439. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
We received your letter this morning. No mail came on Friday, as it was a holiday.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 1)
We have been very much occupied of late. Brother Lord and his family from Newcastle are here in Cooranbong. This family with their connections number fourteen. Brother Lord has eight sons and one daughter. Seven of the sons are at home. His eldest son is married and is living in a tent on the school ground, working on the buildings as a carpenter. His daughter is married, and she and her husband live in Sister Taylor’s house. They have rented this place.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 2)
Brother Lord was a signalman on the railway line at Newcastle. This is a very important position, and he held it for twenty years. When he accepted the Sabbath, he asked that he might have the day off, but this was refused. He then asked for a pension. This they are in the habit of giving men who have worked for a less number of years than he has. This they also refused. He asked them if he had not given satisfaction in his work. They said, Perfect satisfaction. He had always been trustworthy, but they had no mind to favor Sabbathkeeping. Let him keep the day others kept. Thus he lost a place where he had been receiving three pounds seventeen shillings a week.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 3)
Well, they came to Cooranbong, and are now living in a little old, broken-down, ant-eaten shanty. He was compelled to borrow money to pay their passage down. We met them with our team at the station, and moved their goods for them to their place, six miles away. I felt heartsick, fearing that he would not be able to get along on the land, as he is without a knowledge of this work. His boys can help him, but I am not in favor of their hiring land and putting labor on that which will not be their own. They must have something whereby they can get a living.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 4)
Three of the boys are working here, burning stumps and gathering up and burning brush. They eat at our table, and we pay them for their work. Brother James handed the father two pounds for the boy’s work, and he was perfectly satisfied. And what if we do not get the worth of our money? We have done for them what we could. Last Friday Brother Starr was here, and we went to take them two pieces of iron roofing for the house. Brother Lacey has given them a cow which furnishes them with three quarts of milk a day.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 5)
April 3
Brother Pocock and his family came to Cooranbong yesterday. He has given up the home he selected several years ago. This place is among the rocks, on the side of a mountain, in a place which cannot be reached with a horse and carriage. He has five very pretty children. The eldest, I learned last night, is ten years old. Last week he came by request to paint on the school buildings. We learned that the necessities of his family were very great, and we borrowed three pounds, put it in his hands, and sent him back for his family. Meanwhile we were trying to find a house for him. The house by the long bridge on the way to Dora Creek was all that we could find, but Mr. Walmsley, the owner, asked three and sixpence a week for it, and it is not fit for habitation.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 6)
So we passed by that offer, and made inquiry of Mr. Hughes, who has recently built himself a nice cottage. He at once offered Brother Pocock a home in the two-roomed cottage they had left when they moved into their new home. He said that he would not charge them any rent. This was gratefully accepted, and last evening Sara established Brother Pocock and his family in their cottage, furnishing them with provision and bedding until their meager stock shall come. The whole family were obliged to walk three miles in the hot sun, and the heat of the sun soon cut down the little boy of four years, who is next to the youngest child. Sara had to begin her work for the two younger children who were both sick when they came here, but more favorable symptoms appeared.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 7)
Now we must secure for this family a spot of land, and put them in a way to get a little house on the land. This is missionary soil. Brother Pocock is one of the most conscientious, self-denying, self-sacrificing, uncomplaining men I have ever seen. He is just such a man as will do credit to the truth. We should keep the land reserved for such ones as, without help to obtain a situation, cannot possibly provide a home and support their families. Now Brother Pocock will have a chance to help himself. He is a hard worker, but circumstances he could not control have kept him in poverty. We must help such ones. They are God’s precious jewels. Now we have this family where we can do something for them. We packed a basket full of the clothing you left to be appropriated. Brother Coulston received his portion, and Brother Pocock will receive his portion, which will be highly appreciated. I want you to know that they feel highly favored with these goods.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 8)
Yesterday was a broken-up, trying day, with so many matters to adjust. Sister Harlow came from school with her brother, who was to return to his home. He is a poor, sick young man, but a Christian. We feel deeply for this afflicted lad, for he cannot be helped by any earthly physician. I made him a present of Patriarchs and Prophets and Fireside Sketches, while his sister gave him Desire of Ages. Have you received the copy of Desire of Ages from America? I charged them at Pacific Press to send you one as soon as it was published. If they have sent you a cheap binding, sell it, and I will send you the best binding. But we must wait until we get the book. I have sent to the Echo office for several copies. Let me know if you have received your book.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 9)
Yesterday W. C. White, Brother James, and I walked over some land adjoining ours. It runs back opposite the road that leads from our place to the school. If it can be obtained, we think it would be well to secure this land and cut it up in sections for just such families as I have been speaking of, in order to put them in the way of helping themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 10)
Brother Colcord cannot labor any longer in Newcastle. He suffers from pains in his lungs. Yesterday he was sick in bed. Elder Starr visited him. Elder Starr is now alone in the work at Newcastle. Herbert Lacey is called to the school. Elder Daniells has had to leave the school in order to attend to money matters.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 11)
As yet we have not been able to get any means from the Echo office, and a woman who loaned the school three hundred pounds says she must have this at once. She seems very determined about the matter. I have sent to see if Sister James can loan me another hundred pounds. The Echo office is negotiating with the Pacific Press and myself in regard to the plates for Desire of Ages. We have sent terms to them. If our terms are accepted by the Echo and the Pacific Press, a set of the plates will be sent to this country.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 12)
As yet we have received not quite one thousand dollars for the hospital. The appeals sent to America have not yet brought returns. Dr. Kellogg states that if I say so he will raise five thousand dollars from our people, and five thousand more on the back of that; but I dare not go just that way to work through the doctor. It does not seem just the right way, and would not make the very best impression upon our people. I would rather they would have the appeal, and then let the Lord impress their minds to do willingly. If the means come, I shall be very thankful. We could not obtain money to pay the workmen on the school buildings, and a large debt has accumulated at Newcastle for provisions, and at Sydney for lumber. But all we can do is to wait and hope and believe, and keep working in faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 13)
I have not paid my workers for a large share of last year, and nothing as yet for this year. But we hope that the next mail may relieve the situation. I thought it not prudent to give my sanction to Dr. Kellogg to sweep up all the means he could draw, using my word as an authority for doing this. I have laid open before him the work we wish to do, and now our brethren can help us in any way that seems best. I do not wish to press our necessities, irrespective of the position in which it will place the brethren in America. The Lord understands every rope in the ship, and I am not at all confused or confounded. He has the means to help us, and help will certainly come. It is no use to get tired and impatient over delays.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 14)
We are now at work on the hospital ground. We are securing volunteers to clear at least two or three acres. Today the students from the school under Brother Palmer’s direction will make a bee to help in this work. I am boarding Brother Heaton from Awaba, also Brother Wood, who are helping to clear the land, donating their labor. I was to speak in the open air at Martinsville, but it began raining, and I did not go. W. C. White, accompanied by Brother Robb, rode up to the place, but I have not heard the result. I expect to speak today to those who shall work on the hospital ground. A dinner is to be prepared by the school, and served on the grounds for the whole school family, making the occasion a kind of picnic in the open air.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 15)
We are trying to make every move possible to advance. This hospital must now be erected without delay. If the Lord favors us, we shall put up a two-story building, and several small houses around it for patients sent out from the Sydney hospital.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 16)
The families that we are trying to provide with homes will now be looked after. They are not to be located on the grounds devoted to the school use, but elsewhere on the estate. At present we have medical missionary work, all that we can possibly attend to, in assisting those of our own people who are blessed with large families of children, and who cannot obtain work. At Newcastle the citizens are watching with intense interest to see how [Brother] Lord and his family are coming out. We are going to do our best for them. We must provide some kind of work for Brother Lord. These families that are turned out of employment have a great trial of faith. The employers are expecting Brother Lord to give up the Sabbath and come back to his work. It seems to be a test case.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 17)
When I wrote you in my last letter in reference to the necessity of having the work carried forward at both places in Brisbane, I knew that was the thing which it must be arranged to do, but I did not suppose that would change your attitude in regard to leaving Brisbane, and bearing your testimony to the churches in Newcastle, in Cooranbong, Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, and Adelaide. But do not feel that you must do this. Learn your duty from God.
(14LtMs, Lt 61, 1899, 18)
Lt 62, 1899
Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 2, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister:
I have been conversing with Sister Wilson in reference to our getting means for carrying forward the work of God in the opening fields where the truth has never been preached. The school needs means to carry on the work that is essential there. The new building, which is now receiving its finishing work, will soon be opened, and now we are in need of a hospital, where our sick can be cared for. Some may say, Why not take them to the hospitals already built? There are several reasons why we do not do this. We do not wish to trust our dear ones in places where drugs are freely administered, and where the sick are often hurried out of the world for want of the treatment they should have.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 1)
Some time ago one doctor was called from either Sydney or Newcastle to see a very sick man. He gave him no treatment, neither prescribed any treatment for him, but charged ten guineas for the visit. One of our physicians came to see the man, and found that if he did not soon receive assistance, he would in a little while be beyond the power of earthly help. For days he had no passage from the bowels or the bladder. For two weeks after this, our doctor worked over this man, and through the blessing of God saved his life. We have seen and heard of many who have had to pay out money in this way and have received nothing in return. At times our house has had to be a hospital. Sara, my nurse and secretary, has travelled miles to attend the sick, and she has always had success.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 2)
Calls are made from different places for us to come and speak to the people. They want to hear the truth, but they are as sheep without a shepherd. Their minister seldom comes to preach to them. Today I had an appointment at Martinsville, five miles from where we live. There are two little churches at this place, very small and rough. But the people are so afraid that we shall convert some of their number that they will not give us the use of them. Last Sunday Elder Daniells spoke to a little company in the open air. All seemed interested. They were seated on the Lord’s earth, covered with its green velvet carpet, with heaven’s dome above them. I was to speak at a meeting of this kind this afternoon, but the rain came, and we could not go. A number of these people are interested in the truth. They are themselves struggling to secure homes, but they are willing to do what they can to help us build our hospital.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 3)
We must have a little house built at Dora Creek in which the people can assemble for worship. We cannot expect them to walk four miles to church. We now hold meetings there in a hired room. From forty to fifty persons assemble each Sabbath in this place, and as the room is small, it is uncomfortably crowded. If we can build a small meetinghouse there, all the people will do their best to help.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 4)
I tell you these things that you may see how we are situated. We would be glad to receive your help in any of these enterprises. Will you help us build our hospital? We shall be glad to receive any donations you may feel free to give. We are drawing from every resource possible, but the people here are in great poverty, and they can do but little. I am doing to the best of my ability, and yet there is much to be done. May the Lord bless you and enable you to co-operate with Him in advancing His work. He says, “We are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] The Lord expects us all to do our best, and when we do this, He will help us. May the Lord help you, my sister, and make your heart willing to consecrate your talents of influence and money to help the work along. By doing this you will lay up treasure against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 5)
This is our time to work. Waiting and watching and praying, we are to prepare the way of the Lord, to make in the desert a highway for our God. The warning must go. The message must be proclaimed to all peoples, kindreds, tongues, and nations. The Lord will help you and me to act our part, to stand in our lot and in our place as consecrated channels through whom the Lord can prepare the people to stand in the last great day. We must be wide awake now. We must be vigilant watchers, having the oil of grace in our vessels with our lamps.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 6)
Be of good courage under trial. Do not be cast down. Look upward. Bear patiently. Keep the windows of the soul closed to earthly things, and throw them open wide heavenward, that the sweet, pure breezes of heaven may come in and give joy and health to your souls. Let us crowd all the good possible into our earthly life, for we are homeward bound.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 7)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 62, 1899, 8)
Lt 63, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister [John] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 4, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in UL 108; PM 28; 11MR 93-95. + Dear Brother and Sister John Wessels:
We were thankful to receive your letter at last. It seems a long time before we get returns from Africa. My dear brother, I shall be glad to write just as definitely as I can. I thought I had done this in my former letter. I then presented the situation as plainly and frankly as I could do, and I am unable to write you anything more definite than was said in my letter which stated the particulars to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 1)
The Lord does not give light in such a way as to leave the one addressed no chance to walk by faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1.] There is not a straight line marked out for any one of us. We need to pray and believe and watch unto prayer, ever praying and trusting. My brother, you must seek the Lord in order to know your duty.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 2)
We thought we should be unable to select a place on which to build a sanitarium, but we are going to see if it is not possible to arise and build. I have directed that everything I have in America be sold. The proceeds will be but little, but the Lord can work. He is teaching us that we are not to wait for wind or tide. “Go forward” [Exodus 14:15] is the word, and in the past we have obeyed. A meetinghouse has been built in Stanmore to accommodate the believers in Sydney, Stanmore, and the suburbs that are around Stanmore.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 3)
In Brisbane a church has been erected, and fifty Sabbathkeepers assemble there. This church was dedicated last Sunday. Thus far the rain has held off. Elder Haskell wrote me that no rain had fallen while the church was being built. But yesterday, Monday, the rain commenced falling in soft showers. It has continued to fall all through the day today, and the wind has blown quite severely. We seldom have high winds in Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 4)
Brother Tenney is now working with Brother Haskell, who has had much to do. Since Brother Wilson died, he has been alone in the work there.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 5)
The work in Newcastle is still encouraging. A meetinghouse must be built in Hamilton without delay. After a long drought the winter rains have set in. If the outsiders will do as well as they did in Brisbane, the church can be built. We hope and pray that it may be built as soon as possible, because it is so much needed. The building will be put up as economically as possible. It will be without any fancy or ornamental work, but will be neat and substantial.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 6)
The spot we have selected for the hospital here will soon be cleared. Last Monday the students were to make a bee to work on this ground, and were to have eaten their dinner under the trees. This would have been quite a picnic for them; but the rain came, and little work was done. The foundation of the hospital will soon be laid, and we shall advance just as fast as the providence of God opens the way.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 7)
Our largest school building is now finished. It is plain, very plain, without any artificial ornamentation. We feel that it would be a great mistake to expend one shilling unnecessarily, for the fields are all white unto the harvest. We have received a loan of £100 from Elder Loughborough for the hospital. In the work on this building, we shall obtain all the donations possible. Those who have no money will give a donation of labor. Among those not of our faith there seems to be a willingness and eagerness to do what they can. Sara McEnterfer, my secretary, has been physician and nurse to those nigh and afar off. This has made them willing to do anything for us.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 8)
This building is much needed. Sister McEnterfer has been just called away, at one o’clock at night, in the greatest storm we have had since we came to Cooranbong. I have not seen her since last evening. A sweet little child is very ill, and we fear dying. There are five children in the family, which was once in good circumstances. The father, Brother Pocock, is a coachmaker by trade, and he is also a carpenter, but unfortunately he was thrown out of work, and observing the Sabbath has kept him out of work. In appearance he is a refined gentleman, but for several years has been living with his family in a house on the side of a mountain, two miles from the nearest neighbor. He had to carry the material of which his house is built up the mountain on his back. The land is covered with rocks, so that it cannot be cultivated.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 9)
We knew that Brother Pocock was out of work, and we sent for him to come and paint on the school building. He came a week ago last Sunday, but when we learned from Brother and Sister Starr the situation of his family, their deep poverty and their lack of nourishing food, we advised him to return and bring his family to Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 10)
Brother Pocock has been the means of bringing three families into the truth. Brother Starr was sent to baptize these people, and by this means we learned of Brother Pocock’s necessity. We borrowed money, and loaned it to him to enable him to bring his family up, and told him to let his shanty go. Come he must. He arrived yesterday. We had secured for them a house of two small rooms from Mr. Hughes, who said that he would charge them no rent. They are now situated where they will be comfortable. We will not see them want.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 11)
All were glad to get here, but two of the children were sick, the youngest, a baby in its mother’s arms, and a four-year-old boy. The whole family had to walk three miles on a very hot day in order to reach the cars, and we think this boy was sunstruck. We settled them in their house yesterday, and until evening Sara gave the sick child treatment. She was called up again in the night to go to see him, and I have not seen her since. We fear the child will not live. But I am glad they are not in that terrible place among the rocks in this fearful storm.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 12)
Brother and Sister Pocock have nothing. For three years we have supplied them with clothing. They have bought nothing, they say, for they had no money. We shall now do our best to get them a little home on the school ground, and will help them by giving him work. He has two good trades at his command and will be able to amply support his family. Their experience has indeed been trying, but they have never murmured, never complained. If they had told us anything of their situation, we should have urged them [to] leave that place three years ago.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 13)
Willie says that I am to tell Brother Harmon Lindsay and his wife and Mother Wessels that the school land is not to be sold for farms. A few acres only will be used as homes for such families as Brother Pocock’s, who are the excellent of the earth.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 14)
Brother Lord was a signalman on the railway line at Newcastle, at the most important point. But he embraced the truth at our camp meeting and lost his situation. He has a family of eight sons and one daughter. The two elder children are married and have accepted the Sabbath. There are fourteen in all, including the married children and their families. They could get nothing to do in Newcastle, and have come to Cooranbong. We are trying to get Brother Lord a piece of ground, that he may set his boys at work. We have been giving some of these boys work, and they eat at our table. The eldest is twenty years of age, but looks only sixteen, as he is very small.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 15)
A letter has just been handed me, brought by Brother Lord’s son, containing a pass on the railway to and from Sydney, and asking Brother Lord to come to Sydney and meet with the railway commissioners. We hope they will regard his case favorably and give him his position again. This is the second time they have sent for him. He had been in the same position for twenty years, a faithful and true workman. Not an accident that happened in his line of work. But his employers said that if they gave him the Sabbath, other men in their employ would want to keep the Saturday Sabbath, and this would cause trouble.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 16)
Brother Lord was sent for the first time two weeks ago. His employers thought he would look at his large family, and come to their terms by giving up the Sabbath. But he said that he could not do this, for it would displease God. He asked them to give him a pension because of his long years of service, but they refused him this. Whether they have sent for him now to give him a pension or to give him his place again, we know not. He will never, I am sure, give up the Sabbath in order to get work. Our farmer took him to the station yesterday in the pouring rain. We must hope and pray in his behalf. We have supplied them some money and some food since they came here. We have supplied the boys £2 for their work. As signalman Brother Lord received three pounds seventeen shillings a week, and it is quite a change for them to have nothing coming in.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 17)
This is the fourth large family that has been accommodated with land. Brother Worsnop has paid for his home, and is doing well on his five acres of land. On the opposite side of the road Brother Robb has built a house of iron, until he can earn enough to build a better. Further on lives Brother Thomson, who has ten children, seven boys, and three girls. The father and two eldest sons get work on the school buildings. They are all three carpenters. We were desirous to save these grown up children and the younger ones. I gave Brother Thomson a start by purchasing land and putting him on it. If I had been obliged to raise the cash, I could not have done this, but the school has my money, so I took the land in payment, and put the family on it. They built a house of bark and iron, and pitched a tent.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 18)
The boys have worked splendidly. They have planted a good garden, and have almost lived off it. They had cows and therefore found it easier to get along. We let them have a horse, to be paid for when they could. Thus we have tried to help them. One of the members of my family loaned Brother Thomson £5, that he might bring his family here. Before this he brought up a boy of twelve, who had injured his knee, and was obliged to walk on crutches. We decided that he must be helped. Sara gave him treatment, and we kept him with us for six months. His knee improved so much that he went home. But he is very active, and it began to trouble him again. We bought him back to our house, and Sara gave him treatment. His knee is now almost well, but he is still a member of our family. I think this boy would have lost his leg had we not done this for him.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 19)
We find no lack of medical missionary work right among us. There is a Sister Patrick, who has two smart little lads, one eight years old, and the other ten. She moved to Cooranbong that she might put her children in school. These boys work like little men helping their mother. She has only twelve shillings a week coming in, and what more she needs for the maintenance of her family, she earns by washing, dressmaking, and taking care of the church. This sister came from Queensland, where she had a nice little home before she accepted the truth. But the house took fire, and her husband, in trying to save it, injured himself, and lost his life. In one week she lost husband and home.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 20)
We are gathering in many poor families, and many more mean to come. We dare not hold out our hand to deter them. They come here that they may save their children from the associations of the city. We are helping all these families to help themselves, to get homes where they will not have to pay rent, and where they can raise from the ground much that they need. We really have a medical missionary station right here. We cannot give them money, for we have none to give, but we thank the Lord for the privilege of doing something for the needy ones, as we know Christ would do were He here. We shall give them clothing as we can spare it, but in a short time they will be able to help themselves, for we shall employ them to do our work, instead of giving it to unbelievers.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 21)
A number of persons have accepted the Sabbath since we came here, and several more, we are sure, will keep it. Many are searching for the truth as for hidden treasure.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 22)
Never have I been more sure of anything, in any move we have made, than that the Lord’s hand was in the selection of this land. We must now advance with the opening providence of God, and erect our hospital. We must have a sanitarium built nearer Sydney, but not in the city. Hawkesbury is the place we are contemplating for its location. We do not propose to have an immense institution, but a plain, suitable building in some such place as Hawkesbury. Then we can have branches established in Sydney, Newcastle, and other places. This is the way the Lord would have us do. He does not design that we shall erect a colony of buildings in one center, as has been done in Battle Creek. Our work is to extend over a large territory.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 23)
We must move forward slowly, surely, solidly. We are binding about the edges of everything. Economize we must, for it is our only way. The sanitarium in Sydney has been waiting to hear from you, but because of the way in which you have stated matters, we cannot say, Come, until you feel it your duty to come. When you can feel it your duty to loose yourself from Africa, we shall be prepared to receive you. The Lord is willing to hear our petitions, and we shall let Him work in His own way. We do not mean to wait for you or any one, if Providence opens the way for us to secure a site for our sanitarium, though as yet we have no means.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 24)
You say Dr. Kellogg writes that if I should authorize him to raise $5,000 he would do it. He wrote me that he could raise $5,000 besides the first $5,000, and why do I not say, Do this? I am not permitted to tell any man what he shall or what he shall not do. I lay out our situation as the Lord has directed me to do, but I have no liberty to go farther. I wrote Dr. Kellogg a letter, a copy of which I will send you if I have one, in which I asked him why he, who was centering everything in America, and could obtain large trusts and the use of large means, did not use the intellect God had given him to understand how the work should be done in Australia?
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 25)
Could he not see that the same process must be gone through again as when my husband and I started the work in Battle Creek, when we decided to take from the office only four dollars a week for our labor, and afterwards only six, until the cause of God could be established in Battle Creek, and the printing office built, and the hand press and other crude material placed in it for the work? Did we not know what it meant to work hard and press all our necessities into as small a compass as possible, while we advanced step by step on a sure basis, dreading debt as we dreaded some terrible, contagious disease? We went over the same ground in California, selling all our goods to start a printing press on the Pacific Coast. We knew that every foot of ground over which we travelled to establish work would be at great sacrifice to our own financial interests.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 26)
We have had to do the same work in this country. We have had no large donations, excepting from your mother’s family. What we should have done without this help, we do not know; but you may all thank God that you have put out your money to usury, for it is doubling itself in churches raised up, in meetinghouses built. Philip has one hundred pounds in the school, and this is accumulating. Peter, and other brethren in Africa, whose names I do not now remember, have means invested in the work. Elder Haskell has sent his surplus means, until I am in debt to him £500.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 27)
I shall never say to Dr. Kellogg, Go ahead, gather money from the churches, under my authority. This is not the way I do the Lord’s work. Our physicians came from Battle Creek barehanded, and in debt for their education, and no buildings could be erected for a sanitarium. There were no means to pay the workers in the field. We could not heed the Macedonian cry. How could the work grow? How could churches be organized? I saw it all, and in the night season I was instructed to call upon Sister Wessels, and ask for the loan of a thousand pounds. She responded to this call. You, her children, I believe, advised her to do this. I thank you all for this help.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 28)
Again I was directed to call for help, and from Brother Lindsay and Sister Wessels came two hundred pounds, at a time when it told with tremendous effect. We felt that we must build a meetinghouse, but on every side was heard, “You cannot do it; you cannot build a chapel here in Cooranbong.” I had talked with Brother Daniells about the matter, and he said that we might put up a shell and get into it, finishing it at some future time. We decided that though we could get no help from the conference, we would do our best. In the night season a voice addressed me, saying, “Arise and build Me a house, where I can meet with those who worship Me. Arise and build without delay.” I said, “We will, Lord.” The next day in the mail from Africa, the two hundred pounds reached us. If you had known how much was at stake, you would have done just as you did.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 29)
We carried forward the work, thanking the Lord God of Israel. God honored our faith and prospered His work. At that time there were in Cooranbong several experienced carpenters who were out of work. These nearly all agreed to work for six shillings per day, and gave half of their work as a donation. I do not think there has been a time since when we could have obtained workers at reduced wages or even at full pay. Our church was neatly and tastefully finished, and was dedicated without debt. It will seat four hundred people when the wings are used, and now we begin to feel that before many months we shall have to have these wings enlarged. I do not believe there was ever a church built more under the supervision of God than this chapel. The Lord’s name has been glorified.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 30)
Now, my brother, I have given you a rough sketch of the matter. I want to tell you that the Lord does not bid me give you such definite particulars, so that you would move on my light and have no personal experience. If you are specially moved to go to England and begin the work, go there.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 31)
I want you to be just where the Lord would have you, be it in England or Australia. This matter I shall leave for you to settle. You must bear the responsibility of your actions. However much we stand in need of means, I shall not say to Dr. Kellogg, Gather all you can for us now, for we want a sanitarium, and should have had it long ago. That is not the Lord’s way of working. I say that which I have to say, and no more. I will not say to you, I know it is your duty to come to Australia. If you ask wisdom of God, He will tell you what to do and will guide you in judgment. I have a special interest in your mother’s family, as though the Lord had linked them with me.
(14LtMs, Lt 63, 1899, 32)
Lt 64, 1899
Olmstead, Br. Refiled as Lt 3, 1878.
Lt 65, 1899
Olsen, O.A. Refiled as Lt 43, 1890.
Lt 66, 1899
Wessels, Henry “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 5, 1899 Previously unpublished. My Dear Brother:
You must rivet your soul to the Eternal Rock. This will keep you steadfast and immovable. You have not yet made an entire surrender, and until you do this, you will be vacillating, unhappy, irresolute, changeable. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not than man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” [James 1:5-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 1)
This is a correct representation of your case. You are strongly affected by influences. Is this weakness always to exist? Will you not walk with God? Will you not take Jesus as your Counsellor? Will you not keep yourself in the channel of light? The work is yours of keeping yourself away from the companionship of those whom you are willing to please and want to please, but who do not lead you aright. If you will be humble enough to acknowledge your weakness to yourself and to God, and then pursue a different course, you may become a man who exercises all the talents God has given him.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 2)
It is right that your name should be on the church books. Why? Because by placing it there you show that you have entered into a covenant with God to follow the Lord Jesus in accordance with His invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] Uniting in church covenant means that you have pledged yourself to wear the yoke of Christ, the yoke of restraint and obedience, that you engage by solemn covenant to be a follower of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 3)
Will you comply with the invitation to yoke up with Christ? Uniting with others in church capacity means much. It means that you have volunteered to serve Christ. But a formal union with the church without heart-union with Christ is worthless. We invite you to become a student in the school of Jesus Christ. You need a daily, genuine conversion. Link up with Christ every day by earnest prayer. “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] Have you done this? When you do it from the heart, you will see that it means much to be a Christian. But by failing to lift the cross you lose much in this life and everything in the future life. If you have decided to be towed along, as the ship is towed by the hardworking tug, you will find yourself in the condition of the foolish virgins, without oil in your vessel with your lamp. Prayers and exhortation, all the good advice in the world, cannot save you.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 4)
If God has entrusted one talent to you, use it for Christ. Do not, for your soul’s sake, let your service be divided. If you give all you possess to God, this is but a small offering, but if it is your best, the Lord will work with you. Frail and inefficient you need not be if you decide that it is not best for you to try longer to serve God and mammon. By trying to serve two masters, you spoil yourself utterly for either. You neither make a successful worlding or a successful Christian. Your Redeemer has said—and His lips never made a false statement—“Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” [Matthew 6:24.] Then why not do the only safe thing for you to do—follow that which you know to be right, irrespective of inclination?
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 5)
You have grown to manhood, but you have not outgrown your childhood of self-indulgence. Genuine conversion is a grand and noble thing. It means leaving childish things behind, and being a man, one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father, the faith clinging to Christ, the friend of sinners. When you acknowledge Christ as your very best friend, when you are entirely satisfied with Him, you will be a happy man. You will put away childish things.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 6)
You and your wife both need every word I have written. Confess to God that you have wasted your opportunities and have used His money to gratify pride, to indulge appetite and the desire for pleasure. Cut away from your life the love of the world, Henry, cut it away quick! Remember that your willpower, the power of deciding, must be cultivated. If you would be what you might be but what you are not, you must bind up your will with the will of God. In short, you must yoke up with Christ. You must join yourself to the Lord. You then join your weak indecision to His firm strength of purpose, your ignorance to His wisdom, your unworthiness to His worthiness, your frailty to His enduring might. Then your words, your habits, your moral power, will be wholly on the Lord’s side. Spiritual poverty has passed away, because you have heeded the invitation, “Buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.” [Revelation 3:18.] In the place of using so much money to keep up an appearance, you will be careful, because you realize the money is the Lord’s, to be placed in His treasury. You will see the necessities of the cause, and will realize that self-denial and self-sacrifice must be practiced, in order that there may be meat in the Lord’s house, that those whom the Lord sends with His message to relieve suffering bodies and needy souls, will have something with which to work.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 7)
In the heavenly courts we are called “laborers together with God.”“Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building,” the word of Inspiration declares. [1 Corinthians 3:9.] When you wed heart and hand to Jesus, you become an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ. God loves you with the same love that He loves His only begotten Son. You are given a life insurance policy. “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you,” the apostle Peter writes. [2 Peter 1:2.] On what condition? you ask. On the condition that you work on the plan of addition. Set your God-given talents of intellect at work.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 8)
Turn away from frivolous things and receive the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. Are you learning of Christ? Are you putting to the stretch every spiritual sinew and muscle to obtain an increased knowledge of God through obedience to His commandments? Let us read on. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” [Verses 3, 4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 9)
Do not suppose that you can unite yourself with the amusement-loving and self-indulgent, the gay and pleasure-loving, and resist temptation. But if you are seeking a knowledge of God, whom you realize has called you to no cheap character building, remembering always the words, “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building” [1 Corinthians 3:9], the companionship of Christ takes you right away from the company of those lacking in virtue and nobility, and places you in a life-giving atmosphere, because you are seeking with all your powers to glorify God. Man works and God works, and the promise is, You shall be a partaker of His divine nature, because you have escaped the corrupting influences of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 10)
What is your experience, Henry? You are not to stop at any low standard. You cannot serve God and the world at the same time. There is a ladder for you to climb, round after round. The base of this ladder rests firmly upon the earth, and the topmost round reaches to the highest heaven. Christ Himself took humanity. He hid His divinity under the robe of humanity, that you might follow in His steps. The apostle continues, “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, (character), and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:5-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 11)
Henry, will you work on this plan of addition? Will you work on the giving side? While you add to the value of your character, the Lord works upon the plan of multiplication, for we read, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ... But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off.” [Verses 2, 9.] He lacks discernment. He needs the gold of a virtuous character—faith in Christ, the love expressed in the new commandment. The man who has forgotten that he was purged from his old sins cannot see the advantage of keeping self under control. He is uncleansed, as he was before, full of passion, full of wrath, full of bitterness.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 12)
If with the diligence enjoined in this chapter he had continued to advance in Christian growth, living upon the plan of addition, he would not be so blind as to what constitutes a virtuous character. He would understand that without the oil of grace in his vessel with his lamp, he is in a worse condition than the sinner, for though he has had the light, he cannot see the advantage of possessing the advantage of holiness.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 13)
“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things ye shall never fall.” [Verse 10.] Henry, my brother, this language should be sufficient for you. This is your life-insurance paper, not made out according to the manner of the world, but according to the abundant provision of God. It assures you that if you work in God’s lines, you shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Can you, my brother, take hold of this hope set before you in the gospel? Jesus Christ is made unto us wisdom. How much you need this in verity and in truth, that you may determine to labor steadfastly to reach a higher standard.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 14)
A reward is presented to you far beyond any of the trifling things with which you now occupy your mind, the amusements which bring no satisfaction, no reward. Cannot you see that you must give account of your influence? It is God’s talent, lent to Henry Wessels, which he is not to bury in the earth. He is under obligation to God to use his entrusted gifts to glorify his Redeemer.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 15)
Are you doing what you can to co-operate with God in the saving of your own soul, which will never be saved unless you co-operate with God with all your mind and soul and strength? All that there is of you God requires you to put into the conflict; and improvement will come, in wisdom, in grace, in intensity of desire to conform your will to the will of God, and heed the exhortation, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” [Verse 10.] You can make your life a lamentable failure by rejecting the light, or you can make it a glorious success by complying with God’s conditions. Your calling and election has been provided. Every means has been placed at your command; therefore be diligent, be earnest, be determined to make a record altogether different from the record you have made.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 16)
Blessings infinite and eternal are given to those who in this life partake of the divine nature and bear witness to what the truth of God can do for them. Will you not show the world what the truth can do for Henry Wessels? For your soul’s sake remember that it is your privilege to lay hold upon divine sufficiency. This will enable you to be a lightbearer to the world, because you do not exalt self, but Christ. You have consented to build in harmony with God, to bring altogether different material into your character-building.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 17)
“Ye are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Take care, Henry, take care. You are now building on the sand. The storm and tempest will beat upon your house, making of it a complete wreck, unless you turn square about, refusing to associate with those who will lead your feet in false paths. If you go on as you have been going, all your castle-building will prove vain and treacherous.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 18)
“Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] You and your wife have acted more like children than like souls bought with the precious blood of Christ. Christ says, My son, give me thine heart. [Proverbs 23:26.] I will lead thee, I will guide thee in safe paths. Will you now accept the rich blessings God waits to give you, before which all earthly objects, all ambitious projects, fade into nothingness? Man can receive no greater good than eternal blessedness in the kingdom of God. With Christ as an abiding Saviour, your joy will be full. Blessings you will have to give and by and by eternal riches to receive.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 19)
You are asked to be a laborer together with God. Are you, Henry? The Lord has rich blessings for you if you will receive them. Seeking for them, you will no longer be vacillating, all hope and brightness one day, yielding to temptation and expressing unbelief the next. Christ will pardon all your transgressions if you will only believe. There is full redemption for you if you will now humble your soul before God, closing the windows of the soul earthward, that the poisonous malaria of unbelief may not enter, and opening them heavenward, that the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness may shine in. Remember that there is something for you to do. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 20)
Rest in the promises, for God is behind every promise. Jesus loves you. He is making intercession for you. Do not be so indifferent, so careless and unstable. This is the height of folly. You must awake to divine realities, or you will surely lose your soul. A wise and prudent man will heed counsel. I have strong hopes for you. May God help you to see this matter as it is. Dismiss the temptations of the devil. Heed no cunningly devised fables. Enter into no evil path. Choose the good, and depart from evil. Cling to Christ every day, and you will be safe. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. If you will heed these words, they will help you to help your brothers.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 21)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 66, 1899, 22)
Lt 67, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 6, 1899 This letter is published in entirety 16MR 287-294. + Dear Brother:
I have just read your letter. This, with the enclosures, was the only mail I received this month. I am very much better in health. I can accomplish a large amount of writing, and I find there are many things to engage my mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 1)
I wish I could see you face to face, but as I cannot I will write. Thank you for your prescription. I will be careful. The Lord help me, is my prayer; and I pray that the Lord may help you, my brother, that you may not take on too many burdens, and by so doing disqualify yourself for the management of them. Should you be removed by sickness or death, who is there prepared to carry these responsibilities? The physicians under you may have an interest in this large and broad work, but they have not the long experience you have had. While you are in a position to educate, you should select a number of men and train them to carry the responsibilities. Under your education they may learn to do the work you have been doing by the help God has given you.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 2)
The influence you have gained in the medical profession is large and broad, and in some respects it has been as God would have it. You have caused the light God has given you to shine forth to others, and this light has influenced others to labor in the different lines of the medical work. But according to the light the Lord has given me, something of the spirit of Freemasonry exists, and has built a wall about the work. The old, regular practice has been exalted as the only true method for the treatment of disease. And to a large degree this feeling has leavened the physicians connected with you. They have resorted to drugs in cases of fever—to break it up, as they have thought. This method has broken up fevers and others diseases, but it has broken up the whole man with it. The Lord has been pleased to present this matter before me in clear lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 3)
Fever cases need not be treated with drugs. The most difficult cases are best and most successfully managed by nature’s own resources. This science, fully adopted, will bring the best results if the practitioner will be thorough. The Lord will bless the physician who depends on natural methods, helping every function of the human machinery to act in its own strength the part the Lord designed it to act in restoring itself to proper action.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 4)
Dr. Kellogg, God has given you favor with the medical fraternity, and He would have you hold that favor. But in no case are you to stand as do the physicians of the world to exalt allopathy above every other practice, and call all other methods quackery and error; for from the beginning to the present time the results of allopathy have made a most objectionable showing. There has been loss of life in your sanitarium because drugs have been administered, and these give no chance for nature to do her work of restoration. Drug medication has broken up the power of the human machinery, and the patients have died. Others have carried the drugs away with them, making less effective the simple remedies nature uses to restore the system. The students in your institution are not to be educated to regard drugs as a necessity. They are to be educated to leave drugs alone.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 5)
The medical fraternity, represented to me as Freemasonry, with their long, unintelligible names, which common people cannot understand, would call the Lord’s prescription for Hezekiah quackery. Death was pronounced upon the king, but he prayed for life, and his prayer was heard. Those who had the care of him were told to get a bunch of figs and put them on the sore, and the king was restored. This means was taken by God to teach them that all their preparations were only depriving the king of the power to rally and overcome disease while they pursued their course of treatment, his life could not be saved. The Lord diverted their minds from their wonderful mysteries to a simple remedy of nature.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 6)
There are lessons for us all in these directions. Young men who are sent to Ann Arbor to obtain an education, which they think will exalt them as supreme in their treatment of disease will find that it will result in the loss of life rather [than] restoration to health and strength. These mixtures place a double taxation upon nature, and in the effort to throw off the poisons they contain, thousands of persons lose their lives. We must leave drugs entirely alone, for in using them we introduce an enemy into the system. I write this because we have to meet this drug medication in the physicians in this country, and we do not want this practice, to steal into our midst as a thief. We want the door closed against the enemy before the lives of human beings are imperiled.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 7)
Dr. Kellogg, I am perplexed to know what to do for means, but I do not ask you to take this burden upon you. God forbid that you should have any unnecessary burdens to bear. On thing I shall do: I shall make appeals to every church, irrespective of any persons in responsible positions. There is a work to be done in this country, and the people who have had the benefit of my husband’s labor any my own in building up the work on the Pacific Coast and in Battle Creek must understand how hard we have labored, and help us. We do not call on the conference. I come to the people and appeal to them for help. If we can once get established, we shall work without assistance, but we must have help now, we cannot do without it.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 8)
You write that the conference [brethren] say that Australia has had more means than any other place. That may be, but as long as the providence of God opens new fields for us, shall we refuse to enter them and establish in this new world a working force that will send laborers into other fields? How can the people hear without a preacher, and how can he preach except he be sent? We mean by the help of God to warn the world, to carry our testimony to regions beyond.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 9)
We are called upon by the Lord to preach the truth without delay. All the country between the places where interests are already established is calling for the truth. We have the third angel’s message, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and this truth is to encircle cities and towns. We are to carry the message from point to point, establishing in each a little community of missionaries. The workers in Australia are directed to enlarge the sphere of their labors by sending help to the unpromising fields in regions beyond, where the standard of truth has never yet been lifted.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 10)
We do not propose to colonize, to build up strong centers to the neglect of other fields. But we are to enlarge the circle of our operations, as those who believe they are giving the last message of warning to the world, Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:19, 20).> God’s professed people in America should have been awake to do this work. In the place of centering so many interests in Battle Creek, plants should have been made in city after city. If they had been filled with zeal for the truth, they would have let their light shine to others, and would have labored to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 11)
We may have had more means than other places, but we have a showing for all this. Progressive work has been done. New fields have been entered, and still there are more opening around us. We are to traverse all parts of Australia. Missionaries are needed who will come to this country to do earnest work for the Master. May the Lord arouse His people who know the truth to impart the knowledge they have. Let us pray each day the prayer so full of meaning that Christ gave His disciples: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” [Matthew 6:9, 10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 12)
Aggressive warfare is before all who believe the truth. We are to make unbounded progress and improvement in carrying forward the work that mortal man is privileged to do under the command of the great General of armies. God sends His angels as ministering spirits to go before the true worker and unite with him. The truth is to work our hearts by the Holy Spirit’s power. We are to call upon those who know the truth to enter into the work of co-operating with the angels of God. We are to be discouraged at nothing. We are to hope for everything in moral advancement, in spreading the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ our Lord. We are to call upon the Lord in every emergency, at every step.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 13)
Living principles are laid down in the Word of God. Why do not believers read to a purpose Why do they not appoint themselves missionaries? We need families in Australia, not men and women who wish to be carried, but workers, wise men who can manage. We want those who can lift with us.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 14)
Our duty to the world is broad and deep. We are to do unto others as we would they should do unto us. The truth must go everywhere, and we want those who can plead with the Lord in prayer, who will bend the knee before God, abolishing the fashion which has come in among our people and has been transported by our workers to other countries, of standing like the Pharisees and praying to be heard of men.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 15)
We want all who know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent to bow low at His footstool, and pray that the world may hear the message of warning, that it may be caught up by those who hear it and carried to those who know it not. Let us kneel before God with humble hearts and give expression to our reverence for Him. All pride, all pomposity, must be laid in the dust. Make known your desires to God. The sincere, truehearted worker will not fail nor be discouraged, for God from His high and holy place looks upon the contrite one, and He will empower him at every step. He will set in action almighty agencies to warn the world to prepare to meet its God.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 16)
The human instruments through whom God works are not to stand, in discord and variance. Those who have faith in Christ as their all-sufficient Saviour will be in perfect unison with Him. When self is hid with Christ in God, there will be no disunion, no variance, no strife. All will be in perfect sympathy with Christ to save the world in God’s appointed way. God calls upon His church to minister for Him and with Him in the saving of perishing souls. Then in the place of drawing away from Christ and from one another, the workers will seek to keep the breath of life in the church. They will trim their lamps with the holy oil which the two olive branches will, through the two golden pipes, communicate to them. Light will be imparted by the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 17)
God will test every church in our world. Those who know the truth but are not doers of the Word are the worst stumbling blocks we could have in our work of advance. God calls upon His people to arouse and trim their lamps. Never till Zion travails for perishing souls can she see the working of the Holy Spirit in sinners born again. Christ is waiting to be gracious to those who will labor with one spirit and one mind to minister the truth for this time. Christ has appointed the Christian ministry and the various means of grace comprehended in the ministry. When unity in Christ is revealed, when Jesus is acknowledged by precept and practice, the Holy Spirit will reveal the willingness of the two anointed ones to empty the golden oil out of themselves into the vessels prepared to receive it.
(14LtMs, Lt 67, 1899, 18)
Lt 68, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister [John] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 10, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in WM 232; 9MR 236. + Dear Brother and Sister John Wessels:
We received your letter and were much pleased to hear from you. I was brought into a position where I could hear words that passed among some of the members of the Wessels family, casting on me the imputation that all I wanted was the money you would bring with you to Australia. I cannot say that I wanted this money, for personally I did not want one penny. What I do want is that your money should help us in our emergency, for it has been placed in your hands as stewards of the Master, to be appropriated to the glory of God in the advancement of His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 1)
Whenever we have been called to any new country, it has been to break ground and to cultivate the Lord’s vineyard. I came to this country at a sacrifice of all that I possessed, for it will take every penny I have to cancel the debts I have incurred in obeying the call, “Go forward.” [Exodus 14:15.] We have been advancing from point to point, saying, I will not fail nor be discouraged. As the Lord directed me to call upon the Wessels family to impart of the Lord’s goods for us to trade upon in this field, I called, and I thank God that a response came in a time of our greatest need.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 2)
I thank the Lord that Mother Wessels and Philip Wessels did make at the first an offering to God. In that great day when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, every member of the Wessels family, if they continue in the faith, making Christ their personal Saviour, will be of that number who shall receive the benediction, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 3)
Brother Peter Wessels, Brother and Sister Lindsay, have co-operated with the Lord’s servants in laying the foundation of God’s work in this new field. My heart rejoices to see the work that has been done. It brings joy to my soul to see companies of Sabbathkeepers converted to the truth. If those who have acted any part in holding up our hands, in providing facilities which have enabled us to work, will be true and faithful, steadfast in the faith, they will receive their reward.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 4)
I have seen your danger as a family. I have been giving you messages of warning, for I have seen that you were in danger of losing your heavenly reward. I have invited your donation in the past, not for myself; for I am putting every dollar in[to] the treasury, except what I actually need for food and clothing, and to provide a humble house to live in, and a place where ministers, and doctors who come to visit the sick, and any who need my hospitality, may be entertained and refreshed. It is not Sister White who wants your money. The Lord invites you through His delegated servant to lay up for “yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life.” [1 Timothy 6:19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 5)
“Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not highminded nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” [Verse 17.] This danger is surely not only threatening, but is in reality imperiling your souls, and as I am to watch for souls as they that must give an account, I have sent warnings and entreaties and most earnest appeals to the Wessels family. We will thank God that some of your money is in bags that wax not old, laid up in the bank of heaven. It is the Lord’s money, entrusted to you for this very purpose.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 6)
The charge continues, “That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” [Verses 18, 19.] It means a great deal to me and to you what disposition we make of our means. It means very much to every member of the Wessels family whether they lay up for themselves a treasure in the heavens or whether they bury their Lord’s talents in the world. The talents entrusted are to accumulate by being invested in the work of saving souls. These souls saved will work for other souls, and the work will go forward and upward, the treasure all the while accumulating. May the Lord make you channels of light.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 7)
When I asked Dan to make a donation of the one thousand pounds, I was in earnest. I wanted him to give back to the Lord His own, willingly, gladly, to show by this practical action that he felt his accountability to God, and that he would render to Him a thank offering. The Lord never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. Of all the gifts that heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most valuable, and brings the highest honor. But I would not accept an unwilling offering. Dan shall not be disappointed in getting back the one thousand pounds, unless he feels, himself, that he would consider it a privilege to return to the Lord His entrusted gift. Can he not at least return this much to the Master?
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 8)
The work here is opening in many places. The Lord has moved upon the people in Battle Creek to help us put up a sanitarium, and we shall do the very best we possibly can with the means that has been given. We shall not build a mammoth building, but one that will serve the present emergency. Our methods of treatment are taking with the people, and we hope that the sanitarium, having once obtained a standing, will gain success that will give solidity to the work in this country. It is best to work where God is working.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 9)
Brother and Sister John Wessels, what I have written, I have written, and now I must leave the burden on you. It rests not on others, but on you personally.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 10)
We do not desire everything to be centered in one place. Plants are to be made in different localities, that the light may shine forth. We do not want to do as they have done in Battle Creek, where they have established a publishing house, a school, a sanitarium, an orphans home, and a home for the aged, in one city. Homes for the aged should be found in private families, where they can receive love and attention. God has a people in this world, and there are many who can adopt children, and care for them as God’s little ones. But the changeable life of a minister and his wife makes it impossible for them to take this responsibility. They are to be fathers and mothers to their own flesh and blood, and so train their children that they will be laborers together with them in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 11)
The influence centering in Battle Creek should have been divided and sub-divided. One quarter is all that could be properly and thoroughly carried. And the first building, in Cape Town, the sanitarium there, was all they could properly carry. Spacious buildings will not run themselves. There needs to be men of mind, men of talent, men who learn every day in the school of Christ, to carry on all that has been entered into. If the sanitarium was capable by its large proportions of converting the people, it is none too large. It has grown large, but the advancement in piety and Christlike experience has not been proportionate to the growth of the building.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 12)
This is my anxiety for you. The windows of the soul are not closed earthward against the malarious atmosphere deleterious to piety; they are not opened heavenward to the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. What is the matter with the people who have had great light and great opportunities? They are world-bound, they do not obey God’s direct command, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing.” [2 Corinthians 6:17.] To what does this refer? To all spiritual defects in character and practice, to every window opened earthward, which looks out upon the world, allowing its habits, its customs, its pride of appearance, its extravagant use of the Lord’s entrusted capital, to lead the human agent to gratify unsanctified ambition. The sinful lust of selfishness, this is the unclean thing. This worldly element hides Jesus from the view.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 13)
The Lord will not prosper any such self-glorification. Everything pertaining to selfishness and self-love is condemned by God. “Come out from among them,” is the call, “and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [Verses 17, 18.] This is the Word of the Lord. But worldly customs and worldly practices are preventing men and women from growing in grace and in the knowledge of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. The Lord is not served, the Lord is not worshipped, the Lord is not glorified, by a divided, half and half life.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 14)
Parents have a more serious charge than they imagine. The inheritance of children is that of sin. Sin has separated them from God. Jesus gave His life that He might unite the broken links to God. As related to the first Adam, men receive from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death. But Christ steps in and passes over the ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He redeems Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall by coming forth from the trial untarnished. This places man on vantage ground with God. It places him where, through accepting Christ as his Saviour, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Thus he becomes connected with God and Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 15)
Christ’s perfect example and the grace of God are given him to enable him to train his sons and daughters to be sons and daughters of God. It is by teaching them, line upon line, precept upon precept, how to give the heart and will up to Christ, that Satan’s power is broken. “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.] This is the work, the grand and holy work of parents. They are to keep before their children the great and vital work of receiving Christ, of believing on Christ as their Redeemer, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is the instruction they are to give to their children. All who will accept Christ by living faith will take His life as their pattern.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 16)
“Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] What a privilege to be adopted into the royal family, to be children of the heavenly King. “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 17)
“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it; because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” [1 Corinthians 3:9-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 18)
Satan will try to snatch these things out of our minds. Shall we allow ourselves to be made the sport of his devisings? He lies in wait to catch souls, but as Christians we ought to know that it is high time to awake out of sleep, for the time of the end is nearer than when we first believed.
(14LtMs, Lt 68, 1899, 19)
Lt 69, 1899
Wessels, John “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I can only say that what I have written I have written. You must do what you feel it your duty to do. The conference is sending us means to advance the work in Australia, and this is the right thing for them to do. The money I shall receive on my last book will, I hope, settle the debts which have long been a burden on my mind, and when these debts are wiped out, I shall thank the Lord and go forward still. We shall not fail nor be discouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 1)
You may ask, “Why am I needed?” My brother, the Lord is working in Australia. We see a great work to be done in Western Australia, and in all the regions about us. If this work had been placed on a proper basis years ago, it would have given the people confidence in us, but as it is now, we need help, and we shall be very pleased to have you with us. But I cannot advise you what to do. I dare not. I just lay the matter before you, and you must work out the problem for yourself.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 2)
It has been presented to me that this move on your part may prove the means of drawing the Wessels boys from their present associations, placing them where they can breathe a different atmosphere. Their abundance of means, to handle for the indulgence of self, has been no benefit to the young members of the Wessels family. Henry has not exerted a saving influence. Neither he nor his wife have felt their accountability to God. For years the matter has been laid before me that these young men must break up their present association by placing themselves in the light, and by yielding themselves to the influences of the Spirit of God become a savor of life unto life. Unless the Holy Spirit shall mold and fashion their entire experience, they will make shipwreck of faith. Do you suppose Satan will leave them alone for one moment? He has spread his net for their souls, and unless a change takes place in them, and they strive to reach the gospel standard, they will lose eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 3)
I am constantly writing to the Wessels family, in the hope that sometime my words will break down the barrier, and they will see that if souls would shun perdition, they must pursue a course different from that which they have hitherto taken. It is the glamour and gloss of riches that has made so many lives what they are, deceptive and soul-destroying. The enemy took Philip from under Christ’s banner, and placed him under his rule. Philip thought to have his own way, and to do marvelous things in his own human weakness; but the Lord, who loved and pitied him, would not prosper him, because He knew it would prove his ruin.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 4)
Philip’s failure in financial matters has been a blessing in disguise from God. He must now heed the words of the great Teacher, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] When Philip yokes up with Christ, humbling himself before God, then the Lord will lift him up. But just as long as he strives to be a great man by breaking the commandments of God, all heaven will pronounce him the least.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 5)
All Sister Wessels’ children need to cleanse the soul-temple from moral and spiritual defilement, or they will perish in their sins. God is in earnest with us. We cannot play at loose purposes with Him. He requires the whole being, heart, mind, soul, and strength, to do Him service. Shall this be a game that wins heaven or that loses the soul? Life or death will be the result of what we individually are before God. Christ has made every provision whereby we shall be saved, but notwithstanding the light shining upon our pathway, leading us to the strait gate, the narrow way, the perverted imagination, the unconverted appetites and passions, are leading souls to choose the broad way, to the ruin of the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 6)
High and holy must be the purposes of every soul who obtains the character we must all possess if we win a crown of everlasting life. Which way do we face? Which road are we travelling? The broad road of self-indulgence or the road that leads heavenward? These are solemn and important questions for every soul. If we are walking in a safe path, the only path that leads to glory and honor, immortality and eternal life, then we shall catch the spirit of Christ our Saviour. We shall love to contemplate His beauty, and by beholding Him, we shall become changed into His divine image.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 7)
Which road are we travelling? We may take with us into the broad road all our evil tendencies, our cheapness of character, our associates in evil. We may choose to listen to their words and laugh at their wit, but in so doing we shall descend lower and lower in the scale of moral value with God, and at last the words will be spoken, “Cut down the unfruitful tree. Why cumbereth it the ground?” [Luke 13:7.] It remains to be seen whether the members of the Wessels family have chosen Christ or the world, whether heaven is of the highest value to them, or whether self and self-indulgence are more to them than Christ and God and heaven. It remains to be seen whether they will follow Christ. “He that will come after me,” Christ said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 8)
Dan entertains the idea of becoming a lawyer. He may have the companionship of Christ instead of that of associates who will lead him away from truth and holiness and heaven. This is a life and death question with him. He should have taken his stand long ago, giving his life and influence to Jesus Christ, who gave His life to redeem him from ruin. The great work before the children of my much-respected Sister Wessels is to keep before their mind’s eye Him who loved them and gave Himself for them. There is no honor in this world save that which Christ Himself has purchased with His own blood.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 9)
Satan will present his allurements, but he has woven a tissue of lies. He presents honor to all who will follow him, but he gives the reverse of honor. His followers reap degradation and slavery to sin. It seems to me as I look upon the gins and nets of Satan, whereby he deceives souls, that the schemes he has devised by which to ensnare the human mind are without number. How, I ask myself, can human beings choose this companionship and be deluded by his insinuations and his lies?
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 10)
I would now address Dan and Andrew. The Lord says to each of you, “My son, give me thine heart.” [Proverbs 23:26.] The great object to be gained by you is the salvation of your souls. This you should ever keep in view. Vain hopes, vain theories, vain calculations, are now composing your character-building. Come to Jesus just as you are. This is the invitation Christ has given you. You must not suppose that you must have a special agonizing of souls, but you must repent of your sins. As you advance to Christ, He will advance to you. He sees your disorders. He knows that your soul is diseased by sin, and He would say to you, Young men, thy sins are forgiven thee. Whatever may have been your sins, Christ knows how to deal with them. Shall He be forced to say of these dear youth, Ye would not come to me, that ye might have life? The great Physician will save to the uttermost all who come unto Him. He understands what to do for you.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 11)
I feel an intense desire that you, Dan and Andrew, should have your sins washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not delay. Do not wait for any feeling you suppose you must have. Christ has invited you to come. He will save all who look to Him and believe in Him as their personal Saviour. Do not dishonor God and Jesus Christ your Redeemer. For your soul’s sake, make no delay. Commit the keeping of your soul to Him, as to a faithful Creator. Christ’s dying love for you is a proof of His willingness to save. His resurrection and ascension are proof of His power.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 12)
“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.] “O Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” [Isaiah 40:9-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 13)
Young men, will you come? I cannot endure the thought of you remaining in a Christless state. If you will conform your will to His, Christ will enter into all your life, directing, pervading, and giving character to every action. Enter into His service, and He will be your teacher. If you will come to Jesus, enlisting in His army, your personal qualities will be acknowledged by the heavenly angels. Put your heart into God’s service. Be a true child of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 14)
I will carry this matter further in the next letter I write. Please write to me, for my heart is drawn out to you both. The Lord has given to every man his work, and each of you have a work for the Master. Then enter into it. Take it up. Be men. Leave behind you a bright light that others may follow.
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 15)
“Seek the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” [Isaiah 55:6, 7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 69, 1899, 16)
Lt 70, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 14, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 95-96; 4Bio 415, 417. + Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
Yesterday, April 13, the main school building was dedicated. The morning meeting commenced at six o’clock, a time when those who had been and still were working on the ground could have the benefits of the meeting. W. C. White, Brother Palmer, and Brother Hughes spoke for a short time. Then I spoke, and at the close of the meeting made the dedicatory prayer. This was a very precious meeting, and I was glad in my heart to see so many students present. If you and Brother and Sister Tenney could have been here, it would have pleased us much. It seemed to me all the while that you ought to have been here. The new school chapel is, I think, an excellent room. It is large and very favorable for the speaker.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 1)
At the three o’clock meeting, we expected Elder Starr and some of the government men. We sent to Morrisset and Dora Creek to meet them, but no one came. I suppose the reason was that the sky looked as though we might have a downpour any moment. Nevertheless the room was full. The room was decorated and festooned by flowers from our gardens, and beautiful tree ferns, some of which were placed before the entrance to the building. W. C. White spoke well. Brethren Palmer and Hughes followed. Herbert Lacey then addressed the people, but I had become so weary that I could not remain till the close of the speech, although he spoke well. It is painful for me to sit long in one place, and I had to leave. I remained longer than I ought.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 2)
Several weeks ago Brother Pocock was sent for to help in the painting of the building. He is a coachmaker and a painter and builder. We had been calling for him for some time, but he was reluctant to leave his wife and little ones. We have from our family sent them clothing from time to time, and the clothing you left will help them. We made most searching inquiries in regard to the situation of his wife and children, for we had been informed by Brother and Sister Starr of their extreme poverty. We learned that he could not live where he was and provide for his family. We sent him right back, with word to bring his family to Cooranbong without fail.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 3)
When they reached here the two youngest children were very sick. The whole family had to walk three miles in the hot sun to reach the train, and they thought the little boy had been sunstruck. He is four years old, a pretty child, and very intelligent. They came to our house from the train, and after dinner they were taken by their earnest wish to the cottage of two rooms which Brother Hughes of Cooranbong has in the liberality of his heart granted them. Mr. Hughes and his family have done everything they could do in their kindness of heart for Brother and Sister Pocock. This family must be saved if possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 4)
Sara immediately began giving the little boy treatment. We soon saw that his symptoms were those of acute poisoning. He was not well when he left his home. After walking three miles he drank a lot of water. The day before leaving, the father and mother sent the children to the grandparents, while they slept in their shanty for the last time. The grandparents are not believers, and they had cooked a parakeet, of which the boy ate very heartily. He was tired and hungry, and this used him up. Afterwards nothing could be given him which he could retain on his stomach, but the discharges continued nearly constantly.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 5)
Sara was with him night and day, and Sister Robb was sent for to share the burden with her. We knew that it would be a battle for his life, and everything was done that it was possible to do. But the boy died on Sabbath about eleven a.m.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 6)
I spoke on Sabbath morning, after Brother Palmer, who read some extracts from the Special General Conference Bulletin. I was much pleased with the way in which he handled the matter. We had a most precious meeting, also a meeting in the afternoon, which I dared not venture to attend.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 7)
On Sunday afternoon brother Pocock’s dear little boy was laid at rest. There was a good attendance at the funeral. Brother Hughes conducted the service and, it is reported, did excellently well. I could not attend the service, for I had an appointment at Dora Creek, at an open air meeting. Ninety were present, and I had the best of attention. Some were seated on the ground, others were standing. The fishermen stood off in a little company by themselves, but they may come nearer after a while.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 8)
I had much freedom in speaking on this occasion. I spoke upon the subject of Christ as a healer. Not only was He the sin-pardoning Saviour, but the Restorer. I felt very pleased with the freedom with which W. C. White spoke. He set before the people that our work was to do the work of Christ, to seek to save the souls and bodies of the afflicted. He referred to the efforts we were making to erect a hospital. The school has given fifteen acres of land for this purpose, and now they think they should add five or ten more for the benefit of those who shall come to the hospital. They should have an opportunity to get exercise in cultivating the soil.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 9)
I now feel interested in the work of building small churches at Martinsville and Dora Creek. We shall be helped in this by those interested in the truth, but who have not yet united with us in church capacity.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 10)
We have been in one of our closest straits financially, but we hope that release will soon come. Some has already been sent from Battle Creek, but it had to go through the Echo office, and they could not raise it for us, for they were short of means. It has become necessary for Brother Daniells to disconnect from the school to go to Melbourne and Adelaide to raise means. If the people in Battle Creek make us dependent on the Echo office, we shall not have anything more than we now have. Why cannot they see and understand these things? If the Echo office had the means, we could obtain from it that which we need. But we shall expect something by the next boat from America.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 11)
All these circumstances, the sickness and death of Brother Pocock’s child, the opening of the new building, the clearing of the land for the hospital, have taxed every power that we possess. On Wednesday the school had a holiday and took their dinner to the school ground near the chapel. It commenced misting in the morning and kept up some time. After dinner the weather was showery, and a meeting was held in the church. Several of us had something to say. After one hour the meeting closed, and again the workmen went on to the grounds. W. C. White and Brother Palmer were right on the ground with the workmen.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 12)
I am very glad that there is some prospect of help from America. We have been so perplexed to know what to do, but light is coming in, and we hope it will not cease its shining until the perfect day. As yet we have received nothing from America except the donation of one hundred pounds from Elder Loughborough, and that was tied up in the office for two months. Half of it, I think, has come, but there are workmen here waiting to get their pay. We are hoping and praying that means will come, that we may not be dishonored before the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 13)
Everything that comes into our hands is swallowed up as quickly as possible, and still we want more. Dr. Kellogg says he has sent us money, but nothing of the kind has reached us except the one thousand dollars for the hospital. We had thought it best to use this at once to pay the workmen; then the school can give us its value in lumber for the hospital. The large school building is completed. It is plain, neat, and roomy, and all feel pleased.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 14)
We are hoping, trusting, and praying. Encouragement has come, and we trust we shall not have to wait long. I think if our American friends knew how we were placed financially, they would not send their money round by the Echo office. If the Echo office had money, we could have used it long ago. But they cannot get it. A widow lady who had loaned Elder Daniells £300 for, as he thought, a long time, called for it some time ago from the Echo office, and would not wait. They could not obtain the money from the bank to pay her. Thus it is at the present time. We hoped that the mail would bring us some drafts that we could use, but they forget, or do not know, that we must have a duplicate. If the duplicate does not come in this mail, we shall have to wait until it does come. But it will all come right soon. We have had a long time of waiting and anxiety. We almost fail; then we gird up by faith, and pray, and trust, and wait.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 15)
Now, Elder Haskell, as soon as you think you can, please come and you shall have our parlor or Sister Peck’s room, just which you please. We shall be very glad to have you any time, and if you need rest we shall be glad to have you rest. The perplexities we have had in the past, we hope will soon be over. There is hope for us in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 16)
I will write more when I am rested. The hospital must now have our attention. We expected Dr. Caro yesterday, but he did not put in an appearance. We want some suggestions from him in reference to size of the hospital rooms and bathrooms. The clearing of the ground will continue while we can get donations from the workmen. We mean to make our money go just as far as possible. I must now close. I have written this letter in great haste, and am feeling very tired. Remember us to Brother and Sister Tenney. Tell them our next letter will be to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 17)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 70, 1899, 18)
Lt 71, 1899
Anthony, R. S. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales April 17, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Anthony:
I have a few words to say to you this morning. I cannot write much, for the mail to Africa must leave this morning. I intended writing to you yesterday, but Brother and Sister Starr and a sister who stands in a responsible position in Hamilton, Newcastle, were here visiting us. This sister has been convicted of the truth for several weeks, but has only just come to the point of decision. Thank the Lord for this. None of her family are with her, but have opposed every step of advance. The Lord is working upon her mind, and she is now fully convinced of the truth. May the Lord strengthen her.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 1)
A matter has been presented to me by letter for advice in regard to the color line. When you see souls seeking for the truth as for hidden treasure, no distinction should be made because of the color of the skin. All are to be treated as Christ would treat them. This is a vexed question, because of human prejudice. The world’s Redeemer made no difference because of caste, nationality, or color. He, the Majesty of heaven, gave His life for the life of the world, and all who receive Him are His property and are to be treated as such.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 2)
“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.] Think of this. Shall we make distinction between believers because of color? Never. Among the colored people are some of the choicest souls, and shall we venture to say, “Don’t sit near me; You are black; I am white”? Rest assured that the one who takes this position needs to have his soul washed and purified from its uncleanness.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 3)
I will write you further on this subject another time. I wish to ask you why you hold on to Brother John Wessels. Has the Lord given you light from heaven, that you venture to do this? I write this merely for you, but I say, Take your hands off. The whole family needs to be broken up, and obtain an experience altogether different from that they have had, or they will lose their souls. In the place of hindering him, you should have helped him to make this change with as little delay as possible. I would not have written him as I have done if I had not understood what I was writing about. He is waiting for me to say more than I have said, leaving him no chance to exercise faith. I shall never do this. He must seek light from God, and walk in the light as He is in the light.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 4)
I now leave this matter with you to act upon discreetly. I can say no more now. May the Lord help you, and give you clear discernment, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 5)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 6)
P.S. Show this to Brother Hyatt. Tell him not to hinder in this case.
(14LtMs, Lt 71, 1899, 7)
Lt 72, 1899
Tenney, Brother and Sister [G. C.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 20, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 557-558, 561. Dear Brother and Sister Tenney:
We feel very grateful to our heavenly Father that we can advance, and that the Lord has helped us. There are means coming to us from America. I expected help in this last mail, but none came as we expected. It will come next mail, we hope, for we want to go forward with the hospital. The plan of the building is already drawn. I see a great work to be done in the sanitarium to be established, and we wish to secure the very best location possible. We shall consider Hornsby and Hawkesbury, which are within easy reach of Sydney. Then we can have branches in the city and in Cooranbong. Our hospital will be one branch, Newcastle another. Newcastle perhaps will be more of a center.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 1)
We need much wisdom and grace, and we know just where to obtain it. I could not believe that the Lord would leave us destitute of help and leave the impression upon the people that we must depend upon them to help us, that we are in their power to keep us down and limit our influence. God would have us stand on vantage ground, [with our] buildings that will leave a favorable impression on the people and bring glory to God. Time has been lost, but the Lord will work in His own way. I wish Dr. Kellogg could visit Australia, and give us some of the influence and knowledge. I am going to ask for it. Let us have courage in the Lord. We shall cling to one mighty to save even to the uttermost.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 2)
I believe the Lord will give more souls as sheaves in the very field where you are now laboring. Christ is your Helper and your God. Take firm hold of His strength, and you will see the salvation of God. We must reach the people just where they are. One phase of our work is to give the compelling message, for there are those who need your urgency to make them decide to obey the Word. “Come, for all things are now ready.” [Luke 14:17.] I am so glad that so many have taken hold of the truth. This is as it should be. Everything should be done that can be done to win souls to Christ. Then everything possible should be done to draw them to Him. The work is to be done that is represented by Jude as “pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” [Jude 23.] God will work to co-operate with His chosen workers. We are never alone. One can chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 3)
You can see what need there is to hold on after the camp meeting, making every effort to gather in the sheaves. Souls are precious. Christ gave His life to save the highest in authority, like Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord God of heaven would have that king bow to His authority and own that the Lord God of heaven rules. From the light given me by the Lord there is not the effort made that should be made to convince and convert those in the highways. There are honest men who will yield to evidence, and efforts should be made to draw them, and even to pull them.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 4)
Those who have worked on false principles, and have perverted their sense of righteousness, are not to be left without effort. God calls them. The Lord would have special pains taken to win them and leave them without excuse. We must work on the right hand and on the left. We must draw nigh to God and obtain His Spirit, and then work for souls. Even the great men are more easily drawn by the simplicity of the gospel than by any effort made in human power. We need more of God and far less of self. God will work through the weakest human agent who is charged with His Spirit. He wants every worker to be supplied with His abundant grace.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 5)
In the history of men we learn how dangerous is prosperity. It is not the men who have lost their money and their property who are in the greatest danger, but those who have obtained a fortune and are placed in a high position. These need careful, earnest labor. Adversity may depress, but prosperity elevates to presumption. Prayers are often requested for men and women in affliction, and this is as it should be; but the most earnest prayers should be solicited for those who are placed in a prosperous position. These men are in the greatest danger of losing the soul. In the valley of humiliation we can walk securely, while we reverence God and make Him our trust. On the lofty pinnacle, where praise is heard, where our wisdom and greatness are extolled, we need a special power, a special arm to sustain us.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 6)
This is the light in which we should regard those not of our faith. The men who are exalted and praised need greater help in the simplicity of Christ than they receive. They need more earnest, persevering prayer, that they may be saved from destruction. The minister of the gospel should be faithful to very soul, but the wisest, firmest labor should be given to those ministers who are not of the faith. There are many who know no better than to be misled by ministers of other churches. Let faithful, God-fearing, earnest workers, their life hid with Christ in God, pray and work for honest ministers who have been educated to misinterpret the Word of life. Our ministers are to make it their special work to labor for ministers. They are not to get into controversy with them, but with their Bible in their hand, urge them to study the Word. If this is done, there are many ministers now preaching error, who will preach the truth for this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 7)
Brother Tenney, let us draw closer and still closer to our Redeemer. He will save us with an everlasting salvation. We want light every day. We want a power that God alone can supply. We must have it. There are precious resources for us if we will walk in the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment and to hide self in Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 8)
Daylight is coming, and I must speak this morning to the students at the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 9)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 72, 1899, 10)
Lt 73, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 17, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 8T 172-176; 2SM 285; 2MR 339-342; 7MR 325; 10MR 15; 11MR 307; 4Bio 438. + Dear Brother:
I have received and read your letter with surprise. I cannot sleep past twelve o’clock p.m. I am inquiring what I ought to do or say that will change the condition of your mind. I have had the most intense interest in your behalf, and may the Lord guide my pen. The Lord has made you a man of His appointment, and angels of God have been your helpers. I have written that the Lord has placed you in the very position that you are in, not because you are infallible but because He would work your mind by His Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who has placed you where you are to impart the truth, present the truth as it is in Jesus, in this period of the earth’s history. I know the position you are in, where such great and momentous responsibilities are entrusted to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 1)
On no account should you be entangled and woven up in any work that will endanger your influence with Seventh-day Adventists, for the Lord has appointed you to fill a place of His appointment, to stand before the medical profession, not to be molded, but to mold human minds. Every day you are to be under the supervision of God. He is your Maker, your Redeemer. He has a work for you to do, not separated from Seventh-day Adventists, but in unity and harmony with them, to be a great blessing to your brethren in giving to them that knowledge which God has given you.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 2)
We are God’s great building. Every stroke, every stone put into the building, is only a part of the whole. Every worker is himself to become just what God designs he should be in building his own life with pure, noble, upright deeds, that at the end he may be a symmetrical structure, a fair temple, honored by God and man. God must be in this work. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Through you He has worked, and will work, to honor by trusting to you great responsibilities. “We are laborers together with God,” and God would use you and me and each individual who engages in His service. Each is to stand upon his watchtower and listen attentively to that which the Spirit has to say to him, for every word and act leaves an impress not only on our characters, but upon the characters of others engaged in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 3)
The Lord would have you stand forth as Daniel, every phase of your character under His own ministration, that day by day you may grow into a structure that will stand forth not as a perfect whole in itself, but, connected with the work of other chosen workmen, as a beautiful temple for the Lord, a living witness to the value, stability, and mobility of the man who keeps his eye single to the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 4)
Your faculties are separate and distinct, yet each is dependent for its success upon the other. So each day God works with His building, stroke upon stroke, to perfect the structure, which thus grows into a holy temple for the Lord. One stone mislaid affects the whole building. This figure represents human character, which is to be wrought upon, point by point. There is not to be a flaw in it, for it is the Lord’s building. Every stone must be perfectly laid, that it may endure the pressure placed upon it. God warns you and every worker to take heed how you build, so that your building may bear the test of storm and tempest because it is riveted to the eternal Rock. Take heed how you build. Every hour may be spent in placing the stone on the sure foundation, ready for the day of test and revelation, when we shall be seen just as we are.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 5)
This warning God presents to me as essential in your case. He loves you with a love that is immeasurable. He loves your brethren in the faith, and He works with them to the same end that He works with you. His church upon the earth is to assume divine proportions before the world, as a temple composed of living stones, every stone emitting light. This building is to be the light of the world, a city set on an hill, which cannot be hid. It is composed of stones laid close together, stone fitting to stone, making a solid building. All the stones are not of the same form or shape. Some are large, some are small, but each has its own crevice to fill. And the value of each stone is determined by the light it reflects to the world. This is God’s plan, and He would have all who profess to believe His Word fill their respective places in the great, grand work for this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 6)
We are, dear and much-beloved brother, living amid the perils of the last days. Every mental and physical power is to be cultivated, for all the powers are essential to make the church a building which will represent the wisdom and character of the great Designer. We are to cultivate the talents given us by God. They are His gifts, and are to be used in their right relation to each other so as to make a perfect whole. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; man makes the character. The mind is the Lord’s garden, and man must cultivate it earnestly in order to form a character after the divine similitude.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 7)
The Lord has wrought with you, my much-respected brother, enabling you to act your part as His workman; but there are other workmen who must act their part as God’s agents, His members, who help to compose the whole body. all are to be united as parts of a great machine. The Lord’s church is composed of His living, working agencies, who derive their power to act from the Author and Finisher of their faith. The great work resting upon God’s individual workers is to be carried forward in symmetrical harmony. There is a work for you to do. God has appointed you to do your work, as a physician and your brethren to do their work. You and your wife have been noble workers and have set a right example to the world. But God has also other instrumentalities which He uses to do their work, that all may become, through sanctification of the truth, members of Christ’s body, of His flesh, and of His bones. Representing Christ, we act for time and for eternity, and men, even worldly men, take knowledge that we have been with Jesus and learned of Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 8)
God’s people are not to be in confusion, lacking order and harmony, consistency and beauty. The Lord is greatly dishonored when unity does not exist among His people. I have been sensibly impressed with the strife, discord, and emulation in society. Those who believe the truth for this time must know that truth is a unit. Spasms of feeling are not inspiration. The unity that God requires must be cultivated day by day. if we would answer the prayer of Christ. The disunion that has existed among those who claim to believe the last message of mercy to be given to our world is a great hindrance to the advancement of our work. All are to be united in one as Christ is one with the Father, their powers, illuminated, inspired, and sanctified, making a complete whole. God is dishonored by the variance existing among His people. Those who love God and keep His commandments are not to draw apart but press together. <Philippians 2:1-4.>
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 9)
The Lord does not forsake you, my brother. Bear in mind that this world is but the pilgrimage through which we are passing, that the future world is the home to which we are going. Have faith in God. If my words have wounded and bruised your soul, I am sorry, for I am wounded and bruised also. Our work, a strange work, a great work, given us by God, links us heart and soul together. You dare not throw off your armor. You must wear it till the end. When the Lord releases you, then it will be time for you to lay your armor at His feet. You have enlisted to the very close of the battle, and you would not disgrace yourself and dishonor God by deserting from the army. May the Lord open to you many matters which He has opened to me. Satan is watching his opportunity to dishonor the cause of God. I have been shown your peril, and your guardian angel preserving you again and again from yourself, keeping you from making shipwreck of faith. Lift up the standard, lift it up, and be not faint-hearted or discouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 10)
I cannot think that I have written anything to you that should make you write me such a letter. I know that at times I have greatly wondered how my brethren in America could think we could possibly make headway with nothing to create even a foundation for work. The providence of God has been opening the way, the people have been turning to us for light and knowledge, but we were not prepared to educate them.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 11)
I have a letter written to you January 15, but find none written January 25. I shall look again carefully. In the letter written January 15 I refer to the publishing house and the working of men in that office. There were two articles I did not send, which were written in January. I read them, and thought that there might be a possibility of Dr. Kellogg or some one thinking I meant the sanitarium, when I did not refer to it at all, but to the dishonest measures which have been clearly specified again and again. I said, I have not strength to read those articles for this mail. I will read them and send them next week. I thought I would make their application definite. Is it possible that these articles went to you? I know not, unless you send me the original.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 12)
Did I not send you a letter stating how the Lord had kept you from dishonoring Him in the time of test and trial, when so many failed? I certainly thought those letters went to you. The Lord would not send matters to you which were not true. Have not letters reached you, telling you how God had been leading you step by step, and that, as you looked to God in your critical operations, angels of God were standing by your side, and their hands were seen as your hand? Was not the statement made that God had put you in a position of trust, of wonderful responsibility, that through you He had wrought to remove prejudice from the minds of physicians and people of all countries, because your religion was respected and elevated, and God was honored? What you have applied to yourself regarding scheming and underhand work belongs where you know as well as I it belongs.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 13)
The light given me by God, which I have written to Brother Moon and to Brother Irwin, and which they can show you, was that they should have helped you, that you should counsel together; that in the place of holding themselves aloof, they should have been your fellow helpers; that you were ordained by God to stand in a position of trust, that as you used your talents, God increased them, and that you needed help instead of censure.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 14)
Please send me the letter which had led you to suppose that I have not confidence in you, for I cannot find it. In my intensity of desire that you should make straight paths for your feet, I have written earnest words, but never, never to denounce or condemn you. I thank the Lord every day for the Saviour’s keeping power. O that God would let you understand that I have not changed in the least in my faith or deep interest in you. I have had only an intense desire that you should stand in God, firm, tried, and true, for your own good and for the glory of God. I know that the Lord wants you to have the crown of victory. I thought to send you a cablegram this morning, but decided that the Lord could speak His word to you much better than a human agent could.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 15)
The Lord loves you, the Lord upholds you. In God you can triumph. I have appreciated the confidence you have ever maintained in my humble self, as the Lord’s servant, who speaks and works His will. You have ever shown me respect. In return you have my sincere appreciation of the same. I would not wound or bruise your soul, but restore and heal. If I have spoken plainly to you, Dr. Kellogg, it is because I have seen dangers that you have not seen, and which I wished you to guard against.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 16)
I thank you for your liberality in proposing to send means from yourself and your kind brother Willie, whom I have ever loved since he was a babe in his mother’s arms. The Lord loves him, and He would claim him as His own beloved son. He would have him take his position as His witness. By the Review of March 14, you will see that your words to me were not idle tales, that there was money in the Sabbathkeeping churches that could be invested in the work in Australia. This makes your donation, for which we thank you in behalf of the sanitarium. If you could now visit Australia, and give us the benefit of your talks for a short time, we would be so very, very glad. How would it do for you to undertake this journey. I would be so glad, and many others who know you have said the same. But do not send your gift, wait until there is a positive necessity. You are in debt yourself.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 17)
And Willie—what shall I say? I appreciate his offer more than the value of the money, because he thus testifies he has confidence in the work we are seeking to advance. But I would not take your means. I never thought of such a thing as Willie or you making a personal donation. The light given me was that your influence would place the work where it would give speech and power to the medical missionary work in this country. Over and over again I have laid out our necessities quite distinctly to the General Conference, without one favorable response. Then light came to me to make an appeal to the managers of the sanitarium, because the Lord’s money was to come to us in Australia and England, that we might build humble houses of worship, a health home in Cooranbong, and a sanitarium near Sydney. We are now thinking of building a house of worship at Hamilton, Newcastle, one at Dora Creek, and one at Martinsville, six miles from here in the bush. The two last will be very humble houses.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 18)
As yet we have received only two hundred and fifty pounds from you. Special direction was given in regard to the manufacturing of health foods, but lately we have not had money to invest in peanuts for our own family. We eat no meat or butter, and use very little milk in cooking. There is no fresh fruit at this season. We have a good yield of tomatoes, but our family think much of the nuts prepared in a variety of ways. For many months my food has been uncooked tomatoes and bread.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 19)
I cannot eat a great variety of food in the vegetable line. Sometimes I venture to go a little farther in taking dried peas, prepared as I had them prepared at the sanitarium. But it costs me too much. Gas accumulates and crowds my heart. We have nice string beans, but these I do not eat. I do not use potatoes. But I am so thankful that the Lord has given us enough to eat. There are poor families who do not have enough to satisfy hunger. I am thankful that I can eat my two meals, and feel in every way comfortable. Apples here are high, and of an inferior quality, but we shall soon have fresh oranges and lemons.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 20)
We have a prospect of financial relief, but do not send our money to the Echo office, for they cannot relieve our necessities. They had to overdraw on their own account in the bank in order to get the last money sent us. Sara McEnterfer has had no pay for her last year’s work. We have had to dole out a few shillings at a time to our workmen. Brother Palmer, with whom we have just been talking, said he managed to keep one shilling now, whereas for many days he had only sixpence, while five hundred pounds were to be paid to the workmen on the main school building.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 21)
We thank the Lord that now the sanitarium will be built. You know something of what that will cost. The hospital must go right up, else we fear we shall bury Sara. She is supposed to be the most successful physician in treating the sick. She has been working over the sick night and day, and she is very much worn. Last Sabbath she had an exhaustive sleep that nearly cost her her life. She slept fourteen hours, and could not be awakened. Her breath was almost gone. She has not appeared like herself since. We want that hospital so much.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 22)
I would say again, I have had no thought of you taking from your personal funds for me to use in the work here, and I am not now compelled to do this. I am so glad. The word comes that means has been sent to us, but as yet nothing has come except what you have sent. We live in prospect of some financial help. If we once become established, I think we shall get along nicely. In our keen necessity and almost despair, I may have written too strongly, and not as guardedly as I should have written. But I have felt for the suffering cause of God. We are trying to bring souls into the truth, and the representation they see of our work is so hopeless, as though the Lord did not favor His commandment-keeping people. When the pictures of our poverty and inability to do what ought to be done was presented before me, and the instruction was given me to call for means to cultivate the Lord’s vineyard in this new world, I felt ashamed, and yet I knew I could and must press the matter; for the Lord would move upon hearts to do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 23)
I am pleased that you can dispose of my place in Battle Creek. The mortgage will cut out quite a slice, but I will probably have fifteen hundred dollars. Five hundred of this must go to build a small cottage for Brother and Sister Belden. Both are quite incapacitated by their stay in Norfolk Island. We support them. The money I receive will allow me to build them a comfortable house. Brother Belden works a little, but he had been very sick and is yet far from well. He has nothing at all to depend on. But they want for nothing, and shall be cared for as long as I and they shall live.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 24)
I have received no letter from Edson for some time. I know not where he is. I see him in my dreams very busy getting out a book, but this is all I know. Forgive me for taking up so much of your time to read this letter. I will not write as much as I have done. I shall only write when I am charged to write.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 25)
In much love and sorrow because I have caused you sorrow.
(14LtMs, Lt 73, 1899, 26)
Lt 73a, 1899
Kellogg, J.H. [edited from K-073-99] Cooranbong, Australia April 17, 1899 Copied from 8T 172-176.
Lt 74, 1899
Butler, G. I. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 21, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 427; 8MR 262; 4Bio 406-407, 437. Dear Brother Butler:
I received your letter a few days since and read it with interest. Every mail I have designed writing to you, but each time something has come in to crowd me upon other things, and I could not get your letter written. But now I will write you a few lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 1)
You misapprehend me when you suppose I have lost all hope of you. This has never been the case. I have had a great desire to see you, and to converse and pray with you. I would be pleased to see you take hold of the work again and move forward, drinking in the rich truths which God has given us. I desire to see you stand on vantage ground and realize the blessing of God in your own heart and life.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 2)
I ordered that The Desire of Ages be sent to you, because it is a privilege to me to have you and Aurora have this book, which the Lord has helped me to get out. All the people of the world should have it, but our own people especially need the instruction which it contains. I am glad you are pleased with it. If the Lord accepts this from His unworthy child, I am satisfied. All the money coming from this book, above our immediate expenses, will be devoted to missionary fields. This field is large and has been represented to me as a new world, a second America, but very different from America in its government. But America is far from being what it once was. I feel sorry when I consider this.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 3)
In regard to your situation, be assured that if I had the opportunity, I would grasp your hand with gladness and call you brother. I think I am unchanged from the simple, humble servant of Jesus Christ you have always known me to be. You and I are getting along in years. But as far as my memory and activity are concerned, I have never in any period of my life done more earnest, hard work in speaking and writing than during the year 1898. I see so much to do. I cannot see any place where I can let go my hold. Souls are perishing, and I must help them. I speak in the church and out of the church. We drive out into the country places and speak in the open air, because the prejudice against the truth is so great that the people will not consent to our speaking in the little rough house where they assemble for worship.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 4)
Last Sabbath I spoke in our chapel in Cooranbong, which must soon be enlarged. I had a most solemn message to bear to the people in regard to practical godliness. On Sunday we went to Dora Creek, three miles away, and spoke to the people in the open air. About ninety persons were gathered there, and I had much freedom in presenting to them Christ as the great Healer and wonderful Teacher. All listened with interest. By this means I can reach a class who will not come to any hall or meetinghouse. We have good singing. When I closed, W. C. White spoke with much clearness.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 5)
Last Sabbath I spoke again in the church in Cooranbong. There was quite a revival among the students. Twelve went forward in baptism. This day will long be remembered because of the manifest grace and mercy of God. Some hard cases took their position on the Lord’s side. We were much encouraged to see this movement among the students. On Sunday afternoon I filled an appointment at a place called Martinsville, six miles distant. Here the people have taken up land right in the forest and are cultivating it. They have excellent crops of corn, and they plant trees and make gardens in the wilderness. They take up government land and work their way until they get farms of their own. Martinsville has one little store, and the people have some good cottages. Poor, but intelligent men and women are living in this place. In some cases a carriage cannot be driven within miles of the houses.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 6)
Notices were sent out that Mrs. White would speak to the people Sunday afternoon. There were about sixty persons out to hear. The Lord gave me special freedom. Our meeting was held in a paddock which had no entrance. I had either to crawl under the fence or climb over. I chose to crawl under. I spoke to the people from I John 3:1-4. Some planks were provided as seats, and all the people were as decorous as in a meetinghouse. I think I have never had more freedom in our large camp meetings than at this meeting. I trust that the seeds of truth were sown in hearts, and that they will spring up to bear fruit to the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 7)
Yesterday I spoke for one hour to the students in the school. The Lord helped me to present before them the preparation essential for the higher school in the kingdom of God. Then we devoted the forenoon to counselling in regard to the Health Home that is to be built on the school ground. Miss Peck and Sara and I just left for home when a messenger came with the word that there were about twenty dignitaries from Sydney who had just come up in a steam launch from the lake to see the school and to know the reason why we had left the city to establish ourselves in such a retired place as Cooranbong. Among the number was the brother of the Premier of New South Wales. Willie inquired if he could have his mother’s carriages and horses to add to the school conveyances to take them round. The outfit was soon in readiness. The visitors took lunch at the school, and were then shown round. I have not seen Willie since, and do not know the result of this visit.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 8)
W. C. White accompanies me to Newcastle today, Friday, to speak to the people [on] Sabbath and Sunday afternoon. W. C. White speaks in the evening. Elder Starr is to speak in Stanmore. His wife accompanied him to Sydney, and also a Miss Gow, who is at the head of a large drapery store in Hamilton. She has been investigating the truth for months, and this coming Sabbath will take her stand. She has come out of a large family, all of whom are engaged in this store. It has seemed impossible for her to keep the Sabbath, but she is now determined. God will help her, and her business will not stand in the way. This lady is the responsible one in the shop, and if she comes out, she will be the means of doing much good.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 9)
Sometime ago a minister from one of the suburbs of Newcastle visited our school, and he has now sent his son to be educated here. Miss Gow’s father also visited the school, and he sent his son. We are gaining an influence among the people high and low, and the Spirit of the Lord is going before us. Forty have embraced the truth in Newcastle. Sixty have taken their stand in Brisbane, a city in Queensland, twenty-four hours’ ride on the train from Newcastle. All the places along the line from Newcastle to Queensland are to be worked. We are to have no release.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 10)
The towns and villages along the line between Newcastle and Sydney are to hear the message of truth, and also from Sydney to Melbourne. The standard is to be planted in new fields. Ministers are needed who will open the gospel of truth to the people, who will prepare the way of the Lord and make a highway for our God. We must have centers, but we will not stop to build up as they have done in Battle Creek. There must be no tarrying until the banner of truth is lifted high and established in all the cities and suburbs of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and in the regions beyond.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 11)
The Lord lives and reigns, and His work must go. The light must be carried into all parts of the world. In every place where the standard of truth is planted and churches are built up, there must be faithful work done to impart the light. We must do our appointed work. We must not fail nor be discouraged. The end is near, and we have no time to lose. “Go forward” is to be our watchword. [Exodus 14:15.] Circumstances are not to make us; we are to make circumstances, and form our surroundings. We are not to be creatures of circumstances.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 12)
Light, precious light is for the people of God, and we must lay hold of it and improve it. I see work, work, work, everywhere to be done. Sabbathkeeping means very much to some. There are many who are turned away from their employment, and we are glad that we have land where we can help these poor people to help themselves. We are glad we are away from the city, where we can place large families on a few acres of land and teach them how to cultivate the soil, that it may yield its treasures. In this work we are doing the highest kind of missionary work.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 13)
Sister McEnterfer is nurse and physician for all the region round about. She has been called upon to treat the most difficult cases, and with complete success. We have at times made our house a hospital, where we have taken in the sick and cared for them. I have not time to relate the wonderful cures wrought, not by dosing with drugs but by the application of water. We use charcoal largely, making it into poultices. It destroys the inflammation and removes the poison. We are teaching the ignorant how to become intelligent and keep well.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 14)
But I must stop writing. It is now five o’clock a.m., one hour before daylight. I left my bed at one o’clock. I have written this letter to you and two pages to Dr. Kellogg since then. Tell me in your next letter if you can read my writing. I cannot always get my letters copied. If you can read them, I will send some in this way. I would say to you, Have faith in God. Trust in Him for He knoweth all things. He is true and patient with all His erring children. God bless you, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 74, 1899, 15)
Lt 75, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 20, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 96-97; 4Bio 423. My Dear Brother:
We have just returned from the school buildings, where several of us met to discuss the plans for the hospital. We had a long council, and decided that the prospect for building a sanitarium was favorable. A few miles out from Sydney, toward Cooranbong, there is a healthful location, Hawkesbury and Hornsby Junction. This latter is situated on a high elevation. If a regular sanitarium could be established there, away from the din and noise of trams and the constant rattling of carriages, this would remove the necessity of a large building being erected in Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 1)
We learned also that we must not call our building a hospital. If we do this, we shall come under the supervision of the medical authorities, shall be forced to observe special laws, and employ a physician, perhaps of their own choice. We shall call it a Health Home, and shall not make it as large as we had planned. We shall try to build it within one thousand pounds. This will not include the furnishing, which perhaps will be an extra expense. We shall not appropriate more than we can possibly help, for we must have something to establish the work in Western Australia. This is a new field, and is now being worked. There are thousands of people in that part of Australia who must hear the message. The Lord means that they shall have it. When our numbers are increased, there will be means enough to sustain the work. Then a school must be established and a church built, and workers sent to this field. You can judge how we feel as we see so many places calling for workers and have none to send.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 2)
After dinner W. C. White sent me word from the school, which we had left only a short time before, that a company of twenty grandees, men of responsibility, had come to the school in a boat from the lake, and W. C. White asked if I could spare all our carriages and horses to show them round. One man was brother to the Premier of New South Wales. They are now being accommodated with the best we have. I am so glad that the main school building is up and furnished. This was done in a cheap way, but it looks nice. We treat all who come with deference and respect. We desire to make a good impression. We have had bankers and men of high repute call upon us to see what was going on here in Cooranbong. This place has been regarded as so insignificant, and the inhabitants so poor and degraded, as to be unworthy of notice. But all are surprised at that which is being done here.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 3)
People keep coming, and we shall soon be known. We are anxious to make as favorable an impression as possible. Of late we have had so little margin in the bank that we have not been able to borrow money. The bankers do not think we are safe. But if the Lord stirs up the minds of the brethren in America, as I know He has done and will continue to do, the work will advance. The money is the Lord’s, and we shall use it as a sacred trust upon which to trade.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 4)
We are helping families to settle on the school ground on the other side of the road from the school buildings. A few acres are now being secured for our much-esteemed Brother Pocock. He is the pattern of a Christian gentleman. I tell the school board that I will consent to trust him and let him pay as he can. In our family all who are able will unite in helping him to put up a house, which will be built cheaply, costing about forty pounds. He has suffered much poverty. He has a good trade and is an excellent workman.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 5)
We encouraged him to leave his little house among the rocks on a high mountain. No carriage could reach this place. He carried up on his back to this place all the lumber needed to build a little shanty. But the family were often hungry. Once or twice a year our family sent them a box of clothing, and this is all they have had.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 6)
One of the little children died a week after they moved to this place. He was poisoned by eating a cooked parakeet. Everything was done for him that could be done. Sara was with him day and night, but the poison had taken hold too deeply. The night before they left their home, the parents sent the children to their grandparents, while their goods were carried to the boat to be brought to this place. No doubt the neighbor thought that she had done a very neighborly action in giving this boy this kind of food, but it cost him his life.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 7)
No sooner was Sara released from this family than she was sent for from down the river. She went in the carriage for about three miles, and then eight or ten miles in the boat. She found the children apparently sick unto death. They live close by the waters of the lake, and they had gathered crabs, cooked them, and eaten them. Sara and Sister Robb did all they could to save the children. For two nights they watched over them and gave them treatment. But one of the children died. Sara was so used up by the terribly offensive effluvia that we were afraid for her. But she has been improving. I do not know what the state of the two other children is now. The children threw up half digested crabs. The mother did not know what had made them sick until the contents of their stomachs were discharged.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 8)
If our building had been up, we could have taken these children from their home and given them treatment, and perhaps saved them all. But we fear the other children will die, if they are not now dead. They were beautiful children, as handsome as a picture. But the people need to be instructed in regard to what to eat and how to cook it. The love the children expressed for their father and mother, and the parents for their children, was very marked. O, I see so much to do, and yet can do so little. Our Health Home must be erected, and then we shall be able to do something for the sick. I try not to feel too strongly about this, but I cannot prevent an intensity of desire and earnest zeal, try as I will.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 9)
Friday morning, April 21
I cannot sleep past one o’clock. There are families all through the forests who have taken up their residence there. Among these are some most excellent people, and we are reaching them. They have no shepherd to visit them, and they are hungering for truth. We must send our hunters and fishers all through this country, that we may by the help of the Lord find lost sheep and gather them in to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Our work is to go forward to victory. This morning I have had light. The whole of yesterday afternoon was devoted by responsible men, Sister Peck, Sister Sara McEnterfer, and myself to considering the plans of the Health Home. We decided that as money was so short, we would cut four feet from the plan.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 10)
But in the night season light came to me. We must not diminish. All the room which the plan specifies will be needed. Then we shall enlarge if necessary. The building would not be symmetrical if four feet were cut away from it. Better invest the necessary money now than spend double the amount in making additions. I am now fully settled in regard to this matter. A two-story building must be proportionate, or it will look objectionable and show to disadvantage. In all our houses we have yet built we have no place to accommodate those who visit us. We have to make room by turning our own family into any position, however disagreeable. If there are unoccupied rooms in the Health Home, we can make it a home for the comers and goers, who will continue to come and go as they have done in the past.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 11)
Doctors, ministers, over-worked women from different departments of the work, have come to Cooranbong for change and rest, and my house and W. C. White’s have had to receive them. I am glad we shall have, not a hospital, but a health home. Elder Haskell and his wife are worn out by constant labor, and they must have rest, away from the school where the bell is heard every few hours. All I can offer them is a small room which we use for parlor and reception room. If the Health Home were only ready for them, they could find rest for soul and body.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 12)
The first plan for our Health Home will cost £350. The £50 we planned to save, but we dare not do it. Light has come, and we shall accept it and walk in it. This is an important center, and we must devise liberal things. Thus the lesson is given us.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 13)
Another point was presented to me. We should not solicit money from unbelievers. All about here are poor, and one dollar given will be looked upon as a large thing. They will think that they should be treated free because they have given this. The feeling will be created in their minds that the building was erected by the contributions of the people, and therefore they have a claim on it, as if it were wholly a charitable institution. None of the needy poor will be turned away, but it would not do to say anything of the kind in this place. We must build, but we must not solicit money from the poor families, or from those outside our faith. If the Lord moves upon hearts to give, we shall accept the donations gratefully. Some have given a few days of labor in clearing the land. Others have promised to do the plastering. This we accept, because it is the promise of a man who will soon unite with us in the faith. All these minor points mean very much to us here in Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 14)
When we came to this place, it was full of lazy, shiftless families, who lived by begging and stealing. But the community has changed wonderfully, and it is remarked by all who know the place. There are here worthy people who will receive the truth and obey it. We hear on every side, “You can never know what your coming to Cooranbong has done for this place. It is like the garden of Eden in comparison to what it was before you came.” We have helped those who were poor and shiftless to have respect for themselves, to be diligent, and to place themselves in a more favorable position. We have done all that we could for them. Land is now being cultivated. Families are tilling the soil. Our labor has been an object lesson to all around us, and has brought its result.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 15)
We shall trust God and go forward. We are in a place where above all places I have ever visited there is a most decided work to be done. We see things that make us very sad. Everywhere we go we see imbruted souls, bodies weak and ill-formed through hereditary degeneration, through wrong habits in eating and drinking, through the use of tobacco and liquor. How can we reach the beclouded and almost eclipsed mind? How can we awaken in them a desire to be purified and strengthened by hygienic food and proper exercise?
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 16)
The body needs attention, before the mental powers can be quickened for moral improvement. They must be educated from the A B C, for they are deplorably ignorant. They had led shiftless, idle, corrupt lives, and need to be trained, yes, drilled into orderly habits. They need to be taught to rise above their wretchedness. We have a work to do—and the Lord will help us to do it—in every place, in the cities and in the byways of life. The Lord Jesus is the great Physician of the soul. He comes to heal. It was not the purpose of Christ, in coming to the world and giving His life a ransom for its sin, to destroy the pure and holy law of God, the standard of human character. He did not come to save man in his sin, but to take away the sin of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 75, 1899, 17)
Lt 76, 1899
Brethren in America “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 26, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in GCB 2nd Qtr 1899. + Dear Brethren in America:
We feel deeply grateful to our heavenly Father that the Holy Spirit has moved your hearts to action in regard to the work in Australia. The school work here is advancing. The first term of this year is now closing, the second term commencing. We humbly acknowledge the Lord as the first great Cause, standing behind the work which has been going on in Battle Creek. The Lord is the source of all power, all strength, all sufficiency.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 1)
We see a great work to be done. We find no place where we can sit down and fold our hands. There are many places to be worked. Every town or village on the railway is to have the message the Lord has given us. We cannot stop to rejoice over a few victories. We must press the battle to the very gate. The Lord has never left Himself without a witness. The truth must be presented in the different suburbs of Newcastle. At times we may have to speak in the open air. I have done this on two Sunday afternoons with good results. Last Sabbath I spoke to a goodly number under the tent at Newcastle. The Lord gave me much freedom.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 2)
On Sunday I spoke in Wallsend, a suburb ten miles from Newcastle. Notice had been given that I would speak there. A goodly number were present, and the Lord gave me a message for them. The people seemed to rejoice that they could feed upon the Word. This suburb has eight thousand inhabitants. Newcastle has only begun to be worked. We have not sufficient workers to take hold of the work. We are hoping and praying and waiting for earnest, devoted men and women. The work has been going forward in Hamilton, Newcastle, and most marked reformations have taken place. We are now planning to begin work in a different part of Newcastle. God will help us by raising up laborers for this field.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 3)
Our brethren desired me to go to Newcastle last week to make a beginning in Wallsend. It was a question whether to commence the work there, but the people are intensely interested and have been saying, “We want meetings held at Wallsend.” This place is nearer Cooranbong by ten miles, and although the road is a mountainous one, we can reach it best with our horses and carriage.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 4)
Then there is [Awaba], a place eight miles from Cooranbong, where they have secured a church in which I am to speak as soon as I can find time, which will be next Sunday, or one week from Sunday. If they had not given us permission to speak in the church, we should have held a meeting in the open air. Then there is Toronto, a pleasure resort. These places are all within ten and twenty miles of Cooranbong and must be entered as soon as we can find consecrated families whom we can locate there to hold the interest awakened. All these fields are white for the harvest, but we can do nothing without devoted workers, who can enter, and arouse and hold an interest.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 5)
We look to God to lead us on. We need to feel a sense of dependence which will drive us to prayer. We shall then have the experience that He is the rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 6)
When this ground was first brought to our notice, I was shown that there was a large work to be done in and around Cooranbong. Repeatedly companies had been presented to me, reaching forth their hands in supplication, and saying, “We are as sheep without a shepherd; come and open to us the Word of God.” This means much to us. God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent are to be kept before the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 7)
The Lord designs that a new revelation shall come to them in the opening of His Word, showing His dealings with the world and with individuals in the working out of His great plan. He would have them realize man’s accountability and responsibility in view of the future judgment. Then our Redeemer and Advocate will be our Judge. We have a great work before us, and men and women must be prepared to communicate the knowledge they have of the infinite wisdom, love, and power of God. He who died to make it possible for the world to be cleansed from sin and keep the commandments of God would have believers meet and work harmoniously, one in the unity of faith, bound up with God, one with Christ as He is one with the Father.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 8)
We must work our way very carefully in order to remove the prejudice we find in every place. We must have places in which the people can meet to worship God. Wherever a company is raised up, a chapel must be erected. Many of the people are quite poor. The indolent, the tobacco devotees and liquor drinkers, are many. But the truth must go to them. It has worked wonders in this very place, and will still do great things. Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in present truth must not abide alone with those who receive Christ. Christ died to save the world, and we are to work more zealously in acting our part.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 9)
We are to look upon fallen humanity as our field. God cares for them. They have been bought with a price. They are His special property, and upon every true believer in Christ rests the solemn responsibility of being a laborer together with God, of speaking the truth as it is in Jesus. All are to become messengers to proclaim the truth. Through the power and work of Satan, the world has mistaken and forgotten God, and is living in sin. Man’s influence works against God. His knowledge of God and His Word is perverted. His understanding is darkened. But the Lord speaks through His delegated servants. Not one soul is to be left in darkness. The Lord is not careless in regard to His work. He will not look upon the peril of men, and remain silent. He sends His warnings, and we must voice His words, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight.” [Matthew 3:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 10)
In this new world we feel intensely. We thank God every day for the increasing light. As we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. The world is bearing its last message of mercy. This is a solemn thought. All must be willing now to take their place in the vineyard and cultivate every neglected corner. All our consecrated influence is needed. Every soul is to stand in his appointed place. There are to be no idlers. God calls for workers, for means, for men and women who will give the Word of life to those who are starving for food. The knowledge of God has long been perverted, and there must be no limit to our labor.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 11)
There is nothing that will bring vitality into the church like the earnest work of those in the church. Those whose duty calls them to tarry by the home, to be home missionaries, revealing the truth in the character, are doing faithful work, and will be rewarded by God. But there is to be a much wider influence go forth from every true believer, who is a representative of the faith, and therefore a representative of Christ. He is to do the work that Christ did when He was in the world. Every self-sacrificing worker will have the witness in himself that there is a God, and that God is his God, his Father, his Helper, his Friend.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 12)
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.” [John 17:3.] The Spirit of God within me draws my heart but in praise and thanksgiving because of the help we expect from America. We hope it will not be diverted into other channels. We must have the sanitarium erected here. This will give character to the work. We are working toward this. There is nothing that converts the people like the medical missionary work. This work makes the path straight before us, and bears the impress that it is of God. Jesus is in the work, and He cannot be hid.
(14LtMs, Lt 76, 1899, 13)
Lt 77, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister John “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 1, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7BC 969; MM 11-12; 3MR 367. Dear Brother and Sister John Wessels:
I received your letter dated March 26, and will answer it so as to reach the boat which leaves Thursday. I do not want to urge anything upon you that seems unreasonable, but I have said that which I felt it my duty to say. A letter to Brother Lindsay should have gone to him in the last boat, but was overlooked until too late for it to be copied.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 1)
My brother, I want you and your wife to be perfectly convinced in your own minds in regard to your duty. The experience of the past should have an influence upon your mind. What the future may unfold before us in Australia, we know not; but we do know that the present is our time to work in Australia. This time we must improve to the very best of our ability, and we are seeking counsel of the Lord to know just how we shall move. We will not, cannot move hastily.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 2)
To every one God has given his work. He will give light and conviction in regard to duty. This He has done in your case. My brother and sister in the Lord, I must leave you with the Lord, to understand your duty for yourselves. Seek the Lord, and whatsoever He bids you, that do. I think you understand the matter. You can come yourself, with your wife and family. Then after seeing the situation, you will better know how [to] take hold. As the Lord leads the way, you will receive impressions from the Holy Spirit as to how to advance.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 3)
From the first knowledge I have had from the Lord of your situation, I have known that the Wessels family would do much better in every way if they were not situated and connected as they are. They have reason to praise the Lord that they have used their means to advance His work. This is all known by the One who has entrusted them as a family with means. And if you see that the influences surrounding you are of a character to hinder spiritual advancement, God has given you reasoning faculties to inquire into the matter and find out, by searching investigation and most earnest supplication, the reason of all these hindrances.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 4)
The Lord not only has made you a family stewards of means, but He has also made you individually responsible for every capability—mental, physical, and moral—which you have. The Master wants the whole man, and all there is of him. If His purchased possession is, through association or influences temporal or spiritual, placed where he is trammelled or misdirected, where his powers are weakened, the Lord would have him look to Him, and He will give impressions and convictions which, if heeded, will place him where he can use all there is of him to gather with Christ, and not scatter abroad.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 5)
Every soul in our world is the Lord’s property, by creation and by redemption. Each individual soul is on trial for his life. Has he given to God that which belongs to Him? Has he surrendered to God all that is His as His purchased possession? All who cherish the Lord as their portion in this life will be under His control, and will receive the sign, the mark of God, which shows them to be God’s special possession. Christ’s righteousness will go before them, and the glory of the Lord will be their rereward. The Lord protects every human being who bears His sign.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 6)
“The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily, my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you; everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among the people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death; wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” [Exodus 31:12-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 7)
This recognition of God is of the highest value to every human being. All who love and serve Him are very precious in His sight. He would have them stand where they are worthy representatives of the truth as it is in Jesus. The whole of the Wessels family have been bought with a price, a gift of as much greater value and magnitude than gold, silver, and precious stones as it is possible for us to conceive. Yet as a family, gold and silver have an influence over them, an influence which has hindered their spiritual advancement. God says to every member of that family, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate (from the world), and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 8)
Here is the covenant which God would make with every member of the Wessels family. He says to you, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah 27:5.] God is an all-sufficient Saviour. It was God who gave His life a ransom for the human race. Be assured He will set His mark upon every man or woman who will accept His righteousness. If they see no beauty in Him, that they should desire Him, it is because they have not taken pains to “behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” [John 1:29.] Satan has more charms for them than Jesus Christ. And therefore the Redeemer declares, they will not come unto me, that they might have life.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 9)
God’s healing power runs all through nature. If a human being cuts his flesh or breaks a bone, nature at once begins to heal the injury, and thus preserve the man’s life. But man can place himself in a position where nature is trammelled so that she cannot do her work. Physicians in sanitariums have borne the testimony that if the narcotic tobacco is used, the body becomes saturated with the poison, and when accident occurs to a tobacco-user, he is difficult to cure, for the healing power of nature is weakened to a greater or less extent, so that life is endangered. When intoxicating liquor is used, the system is not able to resist disease in its original, God-given power as a healer. It is God who has made the provision that nature shall work to restore the exhausted powers. The power is of God. He is the great Healer.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 10)
It is possible for man, by yielding to Satan in the associations of the world, to lose his power to exercise his will in resisting temptation. The wiles of the enemy are constantly pressing in upon mind and soul to bind man a captive to the force of habit. The evil finds entrance, and he does not resist it, but deliberately chooses the evil in place of the good. The spiritual kingdom is regarded as of little consequence. He does not appreciate its pure, elevating, ennobling principles; and therefore he is not made pure and holy by them. A great injury is done to mind and soul by the indulgence of appetite. Men and women who allow themselves to be governed by appetite cannot appreciate God in Christ as the great Physician. Self and self-indulgence becomes a power which counterworks the work of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 11)
Do you want to be healed from your sins? Heed the invitation of Christ. Come to Him of your own free will, and put yourself under the care of this mighty Healer. Then Christ can say to you as He did to the poor paralytic, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.”“Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” [Mark 2:5, 9.] We must understand this soul-healing. Then we shall not inquire, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” [Jeremiah 8:22.] There is One who is longing to be your Healer, One who has all power. But you must place yourself under His care, to do His will and take His prescriptions. He may say to the man whose physical and spiritual health is in danger, You must have a change of climate. You must no longer breathe a malarious atmosphere. You will be helped in every way by this change.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 12)
In every place there needs to be close attention given to this matter, so that the best results may be secured from our labors. The Lord has given to every man his measure of usefulness and power; but He does not ask any to live in an atmosphere which means spiritual death to them. Every worker is to arouse and put forth his God-given ability to place himself where he can walk and work in a manner acceptable to God. He is to be as a light that burneth. None of us live to ourselves. Therefore each has a solemn sacred duty to perform in preserving every jot of spiritual and physical power, even if in order to do so, he has to leave his country and associations.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 13)
Let the ministers, the shepherds of the flock, contemplate these things, and be explicit with the members of their churches, counselling them, if they are in danger, to change their associations, lest they sleep the sleep of spiritual death. They must instruct line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, if by any means some who are now in constant danger may change their attitude and place of labor, and the truth of God be carried through the heart and conscience to the hand and life.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 14)
Great deception will come to the minds of men. They will acquiesce in the theory of the truth, but they do not apply the truth to the life. Therefore they do not become one with Christ. It is not enough to assent to a faultless creed while leading a godless life. Let none perpetuate the reign of sin under the control of the powers of darkness. He whom Christ makes free is free indeed. Let us think and act intelligently. Progression in spiritual lines, growth in grace, will make the human agent strong and aggressive. Each will realize that he has a mission from God, and that he is bound to fulfill his high calling in Christ Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 15)
Our day is signalized by an intensity of action on the part of the powers of darkness, for the enemy sees that he has but a short time to work. Shall those who are entrusted with the greatest truth the world has known be half asleep? The Lord would have us wide awake, and gathering with Christ, preparing His truth to go from nation to nation, until it belts the world. The intensity of Satan is setting in operation every evil work, to counteract the efforts made by the heavenly universe. God’s people are to co-operate with Him, and no longer retard the final completion of His eternal plan.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 16)
Truth is being planted in foreign countries, and if the churches would lay hold of the light God has graciously given them, and work in accordance with the command to let their light shine, what would be accomplished? Truth is extending. The knowledge of it is spreading over the world. God calls upon the churches to arise and shine, for their light is come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon them. They are not to sit down in self-complacency and talk of the good sermons they have heard, doing nothing to communicate to others the precious light they have received.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 17)
You may ask, What is our work? Every believer is to be a messenger. It is not great light that we need, but an earnest zeal to let the light we have shine forth to others. We are no longer to work with antagonism but in harmony, co-operating with one another in one great brotherhood.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 18)
I now leave this matter with you. I can say no more than I have already said. You must decide for yourselves. The Lord help you, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 77, 1899, 19)
Lt 78, 1899
Lindsay, Brother “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 20, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Lindsay:
I cannot keep you out of my mind. I have written you some things in regard to your failure to improve your talents. By this neglect you are sustaining a great loss and losing your influence for good, with the church and with the Wessels family. Had you used your God-given talent of influence, you could, in the hands of God, have been an instrument of blessing to that family. I am distressed, for you are losing the capabilities and knowledge you have obtained, because you are not trading upon the Lord’s goods. May the Lord help you, is my most earnest prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 1)
My brother, I want you to recover that which you have lost. Would it not be best for you to leave Capetown and come to Australia? I regard this as the very best move you can make. Come and obtain a better fitting up for school work. You have been a growing young man. You did run well for a season. Why did you not continue to improve? Your talents are such that you could be a man of influence wherever you are. We would be pleased if you could feel free to come to Australia, and recover from that state of mental weakness which has come over you because of inaction. You must be converted to God every day, as a vessel cleansed and purified, that you may be a fit receptacle for the Holy Spirit. We are to examine our own souls, and we can only calculate our resources and measure our ability by looking to Jesus, our efficiency. We shall have a clear view of God as we understand His Word. “Wherewithal,” asks the psalmist, “shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto, according to thy words. With my whole heart have I sought thee; O let me not wander from the commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” [Psalm 119:9-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 2)
Brother Harmon Lindsay, come to Australia, and you will see that it is the busiest place you were ever in. Your duty is plainly marked out. “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life.” [Philippians 2:14-16.] You are to gather to your soul divine rays of light, and you are to gather that you may give. You are to receive the truth, that you may communicate it to others. Man is to keep his soul as clear as crystal, then heaven’s light can shine through him to others. “Ye are the light of the world,” Christ says. “A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.... Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:14, 16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 3)
Christ is our light. “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” [2 Corinthians 4:6.] The Creator has set the moon in the heavens, that it may reflect to us the light of the sun after it is set. So He designs that men shall reflect to his fellow man the light of heaven as seen in the face of Jesus Christ. Are you doing this, my brother? Do you reflect the light of the love of God? Is your life all aglow with heaven’s light? Arise, and place yourself in the channel of light, that you may shine to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 4)
I am concerned for you, for you cannot now be that which it is your duty to be in the Wessels family. Time and influence have been lost. Will you now work for the souls of others by consecrated, noble effort, and with a determination that will not fail in its purpose? Arm yourself with the mind of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 5)
Brother Lindsay, I would urge that you and your family come to Australia. Let us have an opportunity to study together, and to seek the Lord with full purpose of heart. You are not to give up in discouragement, but climb the ladder round by round. I could bring forth strong reasons why you should come. For your own sake your surroundings must change. You must open your windows heavenward instead of earthward. This is your trouble. You can do a good work in the strength of the Lord. To let yourself go down in literary attainments is a mistake. You have not been laying upon the foundation gold, silver and precious stones, not because you cannot, but because you do not arouse yourself and realize the great fact that your life must be hid with Christ in God, that “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” [Colossians 3:4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 6)
We cannot say what position you could fill in our school in this place or in any other place, but I know the Lord is not glorified in your life now. Your work can be more telling in the establishment of His kingdom. He who abides in Christ learns what it means to be crucified with Him, to be dead to the world and alive to Christ. If you abide in Christ, you become partakers with Him of His resurrection-life. He is glorified in you. You have a work to do for the Master which no one can do for you. If you wear the crown of life, Christ must be formed within, the hope of glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 7)
Monday, May 3
I have strength to write but little this morning. I leave my bed at two o’clock a.m. to write something for the African mail. The night before last I could not sleep after ten o’clock p.m., and wrote a letter to John Wessels. We invite you to put on the whole armor of God and be prepared to do His work and glorify His name. You have talents which are unused. The machinery has become clogged by disuse. Had you kept your powers in action, you would have been much farther advanced in intellectual lines than you now are.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 8)
Brother Lindsay, we see a great work to be done right here, within thirty miles from Cooranbong. Newcastle is a large city, widely spread out, and there is work to be done in the different suburbs. We have no less than three or four small meetinghouses to build, just as the location demands. In Hamilton, a suburb of Newcastle, a meetinghouse must be erected at once. It should have been now in running order, dedicated to God, but the first stone is not yet laid. The land is not yet purchased. This would cost more money than we can now obtain to invest in it. One week ago last Sabbath I spoke in the tent at Hamilton to an intelligent audience. About forty souls have newly come to the faith there. The church is not yet organized, but will be as soon as another baptism takes place. Connected with the church will be a school building.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 9)
Maitland, only twenty miles from Newcastle, is a very pretty, flourishing city. This will be worked during the year 1899. A church must be erected there, and a church school started. We must make preparations to hold all we gain and keep the standard uplifted. Next comes Singleton, a promising place. All these towns were greatly stirred, and many people living in them were convinced of the truth by the camp meeting held in Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 10)
A week from last Sunday I spoke in the hall at Wallsend. Here there is a little stone church which can be purchased for sixty pounds. The brethren thought best to open the work there at once, and therefore made appointment for me to speak in the larger hall, and thus test the interest. About sixty came out to hear. They were much interested, and said if we would come again, they would give the appointment more thoroughly, and there would be a larger number out. We see new places that must be entered without delay, and churches must be built in every place where a company is converted to the truth, because the different denominations will not permit us to enter their churches. They see that there is a power in the message we bear and are afraid to have us enter their cities and towns. But the truth is bound to go. We must move with the opening providence of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 11)
May the Lord teach you your duty, my dear brother. We would give you a hearty invitation to come to Australia. There are schools to be established, and the word from the Lord is, “Go forward.” [Exodus 14:15.] This we are doing. We must advance from city to city, not stopping to build up great interests, but only to create centers when it is essential, and then from these centers work out into the suburbs. The Lord is coming, and we have a great work to do. Under Jesus Christ our hands must build for time and for eternity.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 12)
I leave this with you, asking you again to visit this place with your family, if you can do so. We see a great vineyard to cultivate, and we would have you catch the spirit of the Samaritan woman, who heard the words of Christ and then went into the city to do missionary work, saying to all her Samaritan friends, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” The Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” [John 4:29, 35, 36.]
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 13)
I am too weary to write more. We welcome any who desire to enter the harvest field. May the Lord direct you, is our prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 78, 1899, 14)
Lt 79, 1899
Hyatt, Brother “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 426-427; 3MR 293-294; 4MR 395. Dear Brother Hyatt:
There are many things I would be pleased to write to you, but I have not the strength I desire. We have been most earnestly engaged in aggressive work. We are now holding meetings in the open air. I have spoken twice recently to ninety people at Dora Creek, a place three miles from Cooranbong, and two weeks ago last Sunday at Martinsville, in a grassy paddock to sixty souls. Planks had been arranged in a half circle for seats. Some were seated on rugs on the grass; others were in carriages just outside the fence.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 1)
There is no other way to reach these people but by holding open air meetings. There seemed to be a deep interest manifested by some. Two or three are now on the point of deciding, and the ripening fields are all ready for the harvest. Unless we make decided efforts to go outside our own immediate circle to meet the people where they are, we shall miss the saving of many souls. There is not the least chance of getting into the little rough churches in the bush. We have been refused all chance to speak to the people in this way. But in the Lord’s great temple, the open air, the heavens our dome and the earth our floor, we can obtain hearers who otherwise would not hear.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 2)
We feel intensely over the matter of lifting the standard of truth in these places. The people have no shepherd. The State church in Cooranbong stands locked week after week, and the people hear no preaching. We see that there is a great work to be done in out-of-way places in the open air. I have an appointment for such a meeting next Sunday afternoon at Dora Creek. We have now two places where these meetings are held.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 3)
The meetings at Hamilton, Newcastle, are to be continued. One week ago last Sunday the work was opened at Wallsend, ten miles from Hamilton. This is a thickly settled suburb. About sixty people met in the large hall, and the blessing of the Lord seemed to be in our midst. The people seemed deeply interested. Elder Haskell has just come from Brisbane, Queensland, to help in the work in Newcastle and the surrounding places. We know the providence of God is opening our way, and now we need men and women and means to advance the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 4)
Maitland is only twenty miles from Newcastle, and many people come from this place to the meetings. The whole community is interested. I cannot tell you how anxious we are to see the work advance. I pray the Lord to imbue His people with the Holy Spirit. You need it in Capetown, Africa, and other places. Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets. We need to do this in all the highways and byways.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 5)
It is not for us to stay in a place with the people who know the truth. Do not rest until you can see souls convicted and enlightened. Go where the people know nothing of the truth, and lift the standard, proclaim the message. We have felt an earnest interest that the Wessels family shall be differently situated. They will do far better if they go away from Capetown with its godless influence, and commence work with different surroundings. A spell like a death stupor is upon many members of this family. A malarious atmosphere is putting them in a dangerous position spiritually. John Wessels might better, far better, have left for Australia at our first call. You may bind men and women up in that place, but unless there is an individual, personal humiliation before God, unless God is sought most earnestly, souls will sleep the sleep of spiritual indolence and death.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 6)
Those extra buildings in Capetown might far better have been plants in other localities. The erection of building after building in Battle Creek has not been after the order of God. Plants should have been made in regions beyond. The same mistake has been made in Africa as in Battle Creek. We ask you to keep your eyes open, and see if there are not ways to reach the souls who are not of our faith. Do something in this line.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 7)
Again I say, Do not hedge up the way of Brother John Wessels coming straight from Africa. After he has worked in aggressive warfare here for a while, he can return, if he feels that God would have him there. If Brother Harmon Lindsay would come also, it would be well, for in the work here he may recover from his present state of inaction. There are offices he can fill to good advantage if he will work in Christ’s lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 79, 1899, 8)
Lt 80, 1899
Eldridge, Br. Refiled as Lt 25a, 1889.
Lt 81, 1899
Belden, Frank “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 8, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 10MR 135-137. Dear nephew Frank Belden:
I have received your letter. Thank you. Your father also received his letter, and if he decides to remain with us, we shall take care of them. They are both quite feeble in health. During the last year they spent on Norfolk Island accidents happened to them both, and we feared to have them stay there longer. For two years we opposed their going there, but still they were inclined to go. The year 1898 was a hard year for them, and I urged their coming away, but they had to wait some months before Sister Belden could be moved to the boat.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 1)
When they came to me we had a house prepared for them, plastered and made comfortable. They had their own stove, which they purchased in Sydney on their way here. We have been preparing a piece of land, and getting lumber to build a house for them, but your father can now do no taxing work. He has plenty of ambition, but he is a sick man. He has little strength. Not long ago he was taken sick, and we thought his recovery doubtful. But he is now up, and does a little, all he ought to do, and this, I believe, is too much for his worn-out frame. He has some cough.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 2)
Today for the first time I have asked him what he would do with your invitation. We talked over his real situation. I tell him that if he wishes to go back to America, he may go, and I will pay his fare. I do not require this from you. But I am disinclined to the idea of his going. The money it would take to pay the fare might better be used to make them comfortable here. They are, if they do not improve, like two children. The long journey by water is something I should dislike to subject them to if they were my parents.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 3)
We shall not discourage your father attempting to work to pay his way if he stays with us. We shall provide their food and clothing, and do for them all that any one could do, except giving personal care. If this becomes necessary, I shall hire a nurse to take care of them. At present Sister Belden is able to care for her husband. They have been supplied from our stock with eggs, milk, fruit, and anything that we raise. I give you these particulars, that you may know how they are situated.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 4)
I feel very sad when I think of your father. He has so much natural independence that it is a hard struggle for him to give up. He is not as old as I am, but he feels his last sickness, and has come to the conclusion that he will be compelled to give up the idea of earning his living. I am not one of the kind to make him feel his dependence. With complete rest, giving up the wrestling, and feeling that he cannot work, he may possibly rally.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 5)
We have here now in midwinter the most beautiful sunshiny days with cold mornings and evenings. We think your father is better off here with us, and we shall do our best with him, and for him and her. Sister Belden is not strong, but she is much better healthwise than her husband. If they can take care of themselves, we shall be thankful. They are children of the heavenly King, and I will do by them as I would wish to be done by were I in their place.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 6)
I believe that I have now told the story in regard to your father. As I write, I am more convinced that it is best for them to remain where they are.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 7)
My dear brother, I am very thankful that you are in the Review & Herald office. If you walk humbly with God, be assured that the Lord will give you favor with all with whom you associate. Let Frank Belden die. Let the life which you now live in the flesh be wholly consecrated to God. He gave His life for you. Give your life for Him. My soul yearns for you, that you may be perfecting a Christian character. The Lord loves you, and has given you an opportunity of again passing over the ground you passed over before. My brother, you can do a good work if you will be taught by the greatest Teacher the world has ever known.
(14LtMs, Lt 81, 1899, 8)
Lt 82, 1899
Brethren NP May 8, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 6T 326-328. Dear Brethren:
The canvassing work should never languish. The agencies set in operation to do this work need always to be under the control of the Holy Spirit of God. There must be perfect harmony and unity of spirit among the workers who handle the books which are to flood the world with light. Wherever the canvassing work is presented among our people, let both the health works and the religious works be presented together as parts of a united work. The relation of the religious and health books is presented to me as illustrated by the union of the warp and the woof blending together to form a beautiful pattern and a perfect piece of work.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 1)
In the past, the health books have not been handled interestedly by many. It has not been regarded as essential that they should go to the world. But what can be a better preparation for the coming of the Lord, and for the reception of other truths essential to prepare a people for His coming than to arouse the people to see the evils of this age, and to stir them to reformation from self-indulgence and unhealthful living? Is not the world in need of being aroused on the subject of health reform? Are not the people in need of the truths presented in the health books? An altogether different sentiment regarding the health works should be entertained by our canvassers in the field than has prevailed heretofore.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 2)
Divisions and distinct parties are not to be seen among our canvassers and general agents. All should be interested in the sale of the books treating upon the health question, as well as the religious works. The line is not to be drawn that certain works only are to occupy the attention of the canvassers. Perfect unity must be manifested in all the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 3)
Just as much education is necessary for the successful handling of the religious books as for the handling of those treating upon the questions of temperance and health. Just as much should be said regarding the work of canvassing for books containing spiritual food, just as much effort to encourage and educate workers to circulate books containing the third angel’s message, as is said and done to develop workers for the health works.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 4)
Let each publisher and general agent work as enthusiastically as he can to encourage the agents now in the work, and to hunt up and train new workers. Let each build up and strengthen the work as much as he can without weakening the work of others. Let all be done in brotherly love, and without selfishness.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 5)
The indifference with which the health books have been treated by many is an offense to God. To separate the health work from the great body of the work is not in His order. Present truth lies in the work of health reform just as verily as in other features of gospel work. Neither branch of the work can be a perfect whole when separated from the other.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 6)
The gospel of health has able advocates, but their work has been made very hard because many ministers, presidents of conferences, and others in influential positions have not given the question of health reform its proper attention. They have not recognized it in its relation to the work of the message, as the right arm of the body. While very little respect has been shown to this department of the work by many of the people and by some of the ministers, the Lord has shown His regard for it by sending to it abundant prosperity. When properly conducted, the health work is an entering wedge which will make an opening for other truths to find entrance to the heart. When the third angel’s message is received in all its fulness, health reform will be given its place in the counsels in the conference, in the work of the church, in the home, at the table, and in all the household arrangements. Then the right arm will work to serve and protect the body.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 7)
“I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:1, 2.] This solemn exhortation, found in the [twelfth] chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, should be carefully studied by us. Only those who practice self-denial and self-sacrifice, living simple, healthful lives, will understand what constitutes the acceptable and perfect will of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 8)
The twelfth chapter of Romans was presented to me as written in golden characters, containing wonderful truths which are not practiced. In this chapter the voice of God is speaking to us in clearer stronger words that I could express. The fourteenth chapter also is the voice of God to those who are engaged in the work of health reform. Study these chapters, brethren and sisters, and make them your guide in future labors.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 9)
The Lord desires His church to be a perfect body, not all arms, not all body without arms, but body and arms together, every member working as one great whole. As the right arm is connected with the body, so the health reform and medical missionary work is connected with the third angel’s message, and is to work efficiently as the right arm for the defense of the body of truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 82, 1899, 10)
Lt 83, 1899
Norman, Captain “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 4, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in DG 106-110. My Brother in Christ Jesus:
I feel very grateful to my heavenly Father, who has answered our prayers in His own time and His own way. Often in our experience we have been brought into very strait places, but the Lord has answered our petitions and has greatly blessed us. Again and again we have presented our cases before the Lord, wrestling as did Jacob before he met his brother Esau. Some months ago the assurance was given me to call upon our brethren in America for help. The Lord said, “Continue to pray, continue to ask. I will move upon hearts, and means will come in the way I have appointed.” Since receiving this communication from the Lord, I have felt no distrust. I have awakened in the night season with these words upon my lips: The gold and silver is the Lord’s, and He will not fail us in our emergency.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 1)
How wonderful is the way of our Lord! It is His glory to impart to us the things we most need. In the night season I have seen the arm of Omnipotence outstretched to guide us, and lead us onward and still onward. “Go forward,” the Lord said, “I understand the whole case, and I will send you help. Continue to pray. Have faith in Me: it is for My name’s glory that you ask, and you shall receive. I will be honored before those who are watching critically for your financial failure. They shall see the truth triumph gloriously. And whatsoever ye ask in My name believing, ye shall receive.”
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 2)
I have often been instructed in cases of perplexity as to the path of duty. Where there is a sincere desire to do the will of God apart from all selfish, personal consideration, the Lord will hear and answer prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 3)
If we rely upon the promises God has given in His Word, we may with assurance go forward in spite of discouraging appearances. The Lord will raise us up helpers in men whom He will move upon by His Spirit to impart to us in our necessity. Every lawful scheme for advancing the work of saving perishing souls will be a success. We are to see and acknowledge the working of God’s special providence. The Lord authorizes us to pray, declaring that He will hear the prayers of those who trust, not in their finite wisdom, but in His infinite power. He will be honored by those who draw nigh to Him, who faithfully do His service. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusted in thee.” [Isaiah 26:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 4)
The Lord has made you a steward of means. I thank my heavenly Father for impressing you to identify your interests with the work of advancing His kingdom in our world. The safest rule of action is to abide closely by God’s Word. The Christian is given the invitation to carry his burdens to God in prayer, and to fasten himself closely to Christ by the cords of living faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 5)
I have a request to make of you, my brother in Christ Jesus. Will you appropriate a certain sum to create a fund for the education of workers to give Bible readings in families after camp meetings have closed? During this time we can also hold meetings for the children on Sabbath and Sunday afternoons. This rule we have followed in our camp meetings here. There was not one Sabbathkeeper among the citizens of Newcastle when the tent was pitched there. Since then thousands have had an opportunity to hear the truth, and we know that many of them heard it gladly. They seemed to be hungry for the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 6)
During the Newcastle camp meeting children’s meetings were appointed. The best teachers were appointed, and during the week from one hundred to one hundred and twenty children came to the meetings each day. These were given precious lessons on the love of Christ and His willingness to save all who would come to Him. Between three and four hundred children came out to the meetings held on Sabbath and Sunday afternoons. The children behaved well, and when they returned to their homes they told their parents about the lessons they had learned. Some of these parents have received the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 7)
Tent-meetings have been continued in Newcastle since the camp meeting closed, and thirty-five have been converted and baptized. Many more are interested. Wonderful conversions have been witnessed among men who had not attended a religious meeting for years before coming to the tent. Smokers and liquor-drinkers have seen themselves in the gospel mirror as transgressors of the law, and have in repentance received Christ as their personal Saviour. The ministers are astonished, for they see those who were smokers and beer drinkers no longer smoking and drinking, but changed and converted. This to them seems like a miracle.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 8)
A house has been hired for the ministers and their wives and those whom they are educating to give Bible readings from house to house. The people are invited to ask their friends and neighbors to these meetings, and opportunity is given for them to ask questions on the lessons given. These are occasions of deep interest. I have great confidence in this method of labor. The workers who are hunting and fishing for the souls of men and women labor hard from morning till night. Often their appointments are not over till ten o’clock.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 9)
Work has now been begun in Wallsend, a suburb of Newcastle, ten miles from Newcastle, and in Maitland, a town twenty miles from Newcastle. This is a large field, and we shall employ workers who will give their whole time to the work. Elder Haskell and his wife are now laboring in Newcastle. They have tact and skill, and teach the truth both in public, and from house to house. There will be no other ministers there besides Elder Haskell and the Bible readers. No less than twelve workers are needed in this place, for it is a large field.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 10)
In the past I have appropriated means to sustain this kind of work, but my fund is now exhausted, for in this field the calls have been continual. Missionary work has been done in many cities.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 11)
The ministers’ wives join their husbands in this work, and accomplish that which their husbands could not possibly do. In order to do the work, these sisters have to hire someone to do their housekeeping. It takes the very best talent to do this class of missionary work, and the women who do it should receive a suitable amount for their work. But because of the dearth of means, our sisters have received very little pay, yet they have faithfully worked on, without any definite provision being made for them. Less qualified workers, who are receiving instruction by precept and example, are paid one pound a week, out of which they pay their board. But as yet the minister’s wives have been paid nothing.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 12)
I wish to create a fund for the payment of these devoted women who are the most useful workers in giving Bible readings. I am also led to say that we must educate more workers to give Bible readings, and I come right to the point. Will you consent to make me your steward, entrusting me with certain amount to be invested in educating and sustaining workers, and also in helping to erect the humble meetinghouses we have to build? I have invested means in every house of worship save one which has been built by our people in Australia.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 13)
I think I have made the case plain. If you desire, I will send you a half-yearly statement of how your money has been invested.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 14)
I have been determined to advance the work here, and to do this, I borrowed one thousand pounds from Africa. A few months ago this loan fell due, but is has been extended for one year at four and a half percent. I have also borrowed money from America at five and six percent. I am not pressed to pay this money, but when it is called for, it must be paid. Those who lent it to me felt that it would be safer in my possession than in the bank; but now some of them are in straitened circumstances. One or two are widows, and they must have their money sooner or later. I tell you this that you may know why I ask you to help me to raise this fund to keep workers in the field.
(14LtMs, Lt 83, 1899, 15)
Lt 84, 1899
Jones, A. T. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 28, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3BC 1164; 7MR 149. + Dear Brother:
I have written several letters to my brethren in America. I hope the one in regard to the royalty on books will receive candid attention and respect, for I know that the Lord gave me true wisdom in this matter, showing me the only true way to do. If we will pursue the right course of action, we shall perplex the enemy and defeat his deep laid plots to bring distress upon our publishing institutions. The letters I have written you in the interests of the publishing work will let in light and close the door to a selfish, grasping spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 1)
I am very anxious to learn how this letter on royalties was received. The matter of royalties will affect me more than any other person. The only thing I can say is: The word of the Lord is good. I receive it, and all the light and blessing it brings to my heart, for it is a sure indication that the Lord has turned His face toward His people. My heart rejoices. I praise His holy name that the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon His people and institutions in Battle Creek. This is worth more to me than any amount of gold and silver and precious stones. Let the clouds be dispersed, and our churches and institutions will have increased light from the Sun of Righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 2)
My brother, you need to guard A. T. Jones. You need to dip your pen into the holy oil of grace and love. You need to taste of this holy oil, that you may bring forth words that are full of gentleness, and that no coarse, harsh words may come from your pen or lips to bruise the souls of your fellow men. The Lord will help every one of us where we need help the most in the grand work of overcoming and conquering self. Let the law of kindness be upon your lips and the oil of grace in your heart. This will produce wonderful results. You will be tender, sympathetic, courteous. You need all these graces.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 3)
The Holy Spirit must be received and brought into your character; then it will be as holy fire, giving forth incense which will rise up to God, not from lips that condemn, but as a healer of the souls of men. No sharp, critical, blunt, or severe words should be spoken. This is common fire, and must be left out of all our councils and intercourse with our brethren. God requires every soul in His service to kindle their censers from the coals of sacred fire. The common, severe, harsh words must be withheld, and the Spirit of God speak through the human agent.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 4)
God calls upon us to be like Him—pure, holy, and undefiled. We are to bear the divine image. “Love your enemies,” He said; “bless them which curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to shine upon the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”“Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father which is in heaven is merciful.” [Matthew 5:44, 45; Luke 6:36.]
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 5)
We may talk of the blessings of the Holy Spirit, and pray in regard to receiving them; but unless the human agent is worked by the Spirit of God, he reveals that he has Him not. When the Spirit molds and fashions the character after the divine similitude, He will be unmistakably revealed in every word we speak and in everything we do, showing to the world that there is a marked difference between the children of light and the children of darkness. The Lord wants us to stand stiffly for the faith once delivered to the saints. We are to speak the truth in love. Our great Teacher says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29, 30.] Selfishness and sharpness will creep into the character if we are not faithful sentinels over ourselves. This is where so many fail, because they neglect to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 6)
The mighty power of the Holy Spirit works an entire transformation in the character of the human agent, making him a new creature in Christ Jesus. Every true child of God “may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:2.] You need that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. You need to humble yourself under the hand of God. You must be molded and fashioned after the divine similitude. Your entire being needs the divine touch. God declares, “I will be honored of all them that come nigh unto me.” [See Leviticus 10:3.] If you will honor God by a reception of His Spirit, then the truth you advocate will be exalted. The exceeding grace and mercy and love of Christ will be the fruit you bear. The pardoning love of God will be revealed in all you do and say. The Holy Spirit by the mouth of Zechariah beautifully presents this truth as “salvation through the tender mercy of God.” [Luke 1:77, 78.]
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 7)
We make a great mistake in contenting ourselves with speaking of the Holy Spirit and our need of it, while we continue to work without its immediate influence to mold and fashion our characters. Evil spirits are all around us, making every unguarded house their abode, that inherited and cultivated tendencies to evil may be developed. Impressions are made that are detrimental to the work of God. This greatly dishonors God, and may result in the loss of souls. Let every minister of God be that man that Christ at infinite cost has made it possible for him to become, that in his work for God he may not give vent to hard, passionate words which hurt the souls of others. The man who speaks unadvisedly and unthinkingly needs to have that repentance that needeth not to be repented of.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 8)
My brother, press toward the light. If you would work to bring souls under the moving of the Spirit of God, you must die to self and be renewed in the divine image. Then you can impart that which you receive. You have had great light. The Scriptures have been opened to you, and you have feasted upon them. But there are still greater blessings for you. You are to more fully reveal the work of grace in your character. The Lord would have every teacher of truth behold Him, until he is changed into the same image. Then he will delight in the law after the inward man.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 9)
It is not enough that those who know the truth merely have a knowledge of it. They are to walk and work in love, conforming themselves to the law of God. The Lord declares, I will put my laws in their minds, and write them in their hearts. God is the mighty all-powerful agency in this work of transformation. The writing of the law of God in the heart is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Divine relationship is to be renewed between God and man. “I will be their God,” He says, “and they shall be my people.” [2 Corinthians 6:16.] Sin will not be harbored. In the refining furnace all dross will be consumed. Saith God, “There is no attribute of My nature that I will not freely give in order that man may reflect My image.” When we place ourselves in this relation to God, we can represent Christ. Only a spiritual people can shine as lights in the world. God’s people are to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works. “This people have I formed for myself,” God says; “thou shalt show forth my praise.” [Isaiah 43:21.] We may have the Lord as our sun and shield, and our exceeding great reward.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 10)
My brother, you have had great light. God has made you as a lamp that burneth, but your light needs to be more free and clear. Humble yourself under the hand of God, and He will lift you up. I leave these words with you. God will make you the repository of sacred, eternal truth, but that truth must sanctify you, soul, body, and spirit. If you have an abiding Christ, He will be seen at all times and in all places. I will send a copy of this letter to you, and a revised copy to all the ministers, for they need it every word. We need to place ourselves individually in His hands. God’s messengers should take themselves in hand and purge from their souls the leaven of corruption, that they may be holy and without blame in the great day of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 84, 1899, 11)
Lt 85, 1899
Editors of The Christian Educator, and The Youth’s Instructor “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 14, 1899 See also Lt 85a, 1899. Portions of this letter are published in CW 115-122.
To the editors of The Christian Educator, and The Youth’s Instructor:
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 1)
Dear Brethren:
The editors of The Christian Educator should carefully consider the character of the subjects which they place before their readers. Why has The Christian Educator presented to its large list of readers the pictures and the works of men? The exaltation of these supposedly learned men in the Educator and the Instructor does not reflect glory to God. Is it the purpose of your papers to recommend the men, the methods, and the books to which you refer? If so, what has this to do with Christian education? The subject which should be kept before the people is not the lives and the achievements of men engaged in educational work, but it is the education which comes from the greatest Teacher that the world ever knew, which is found in the Word of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 2)
With this instruction before us, so unlike the teaching of the popular schools of today, we have no need to hold up before the people the names of educators who are not conversant with, and obedient to, the Word of the living God. These men may suppose that they are teaching the principles of Christianity, but have we not unquestionable evidence that they are teaching for doctrine the commandments of men? Are they not far behind in the education most important for this time? Has the Lord given to us the work of presenting in our periodicals the pictures of these men, and their history?
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 3)
The true higher education is but dimly understood by those who have charge of The Christian Educator. I see no light in calling for money to sustain this paper. We have higher authorities to study. There is One who has written excellent things in regard to the principles underlying education.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 4)
The apostle Peter says: “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye witnesses of his majesty; for he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” [2 Peter 1:16-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 5)
The Lord has called out a people from among men, and has given them great light and knowledge in regard to His Word. In Exodus 31:12-18 He declares the relation which they are to sustain to Him. God has not authorized us to exalt men and keep the minds of students directed toward those who evidently do not bear the signature which He has placed upon His chosen people. “Verily, my sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” [Verses 12, 13.] Those who refuse to stand as God’s chosen people, sanctified and made holy through doing His Word, are as guideposts pointing in the wrong direction. So also are they who would encourage the youth to study as a pattern the so-called wise men, who have not been wise enough to know God and do His commandments.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 6)
Let not the editors of the Educator and the Instructor divert minds from God to man, and encourage the study of books written by men who have been disloyal to the God of heaven. The Lord will not be pleased by any turning aside of those whom He has made depositaries of sacred truth, to inquire of the gods of Ekron. Let us seek that God shall be honored, and His name glorified in all that appears in our periodicals. Let them not be devoted to the publication of the ideas of education held by the wise men of the world. Our work is to educate whose those shall carry the light of truth to men, seeking to prepare a people for the second appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 7)
Instead of the constant reference to authors in our papers, instead of the publication of the lives of men, and what they have done or are doing, let a decided message to the world come from the pens of men whose writings reveal that they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who understand and heed the admonition of Paul to Timothy, “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” [2 Timothy 3:14.] Those who work under the direction of the Holy Spirit will keep the educational forces turned towards Him who is too wise to err, too good to be unjust.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 8)
Man’s ideas of education are not to be exalted. Greater heights than these are to be kept before God’s people. The Lord is waiting to bestow His Holy Spirit upon all who will hunger and thirst after righteousness. The inclination that is manifested by those who claim to be educators, to exalt and extol learned men, is foolishness in the sight of God. Paul declares, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 9)
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.” [1 Corinthians 1:18-29.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 10)
Again the Lord says, “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight ... Behold, the days come ... that I will punish all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised.” [Jeremiah 9:23-25.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 11)
Why does the Lord speak so plainly on this matter? It is because so many of the men who are exalted before the people are disloyal to Him, and therefore those who are exalting them are dishonoring their Creator. The men who use their time and talents in this work, while they claim to be working for the Word and cause of God, show that they need to learn of the great Teacher, for as educators, they must have the spirit of the Master of education. They are making no difference between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, but are placing all upon the same level. If their perceptive faculties are not sanctified and quickened, that they may distinguish between the sacred and the common, they will go on placing man where God should be. Failing to distinguish between obedience and disobedience, they will give the trumpet an uncertain sound, and men will be unprepared for the battle of the great day of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 12)
The Lord makes every difference between the obedient and the disobedient. “Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel, I am the Lord God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadest thee by the way which thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” [Isaiah 48:17, 18.] “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:30, 31.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 13)
How important it is that the men to whom students look for instruction shall diligently search the Scriptures, that they may know the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In the sixth chapter of John there is instruction of great importance to those who would be teachers. Let it be carefully studied by our teachers, that they may be able to give their students meat in due season. “It is written in the prophets,” said Christ, “And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” [Verses 45-51.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 14)
“Verily, verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread that came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever ... It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” [Verses 53-58, 63.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 15)
If these words were studied and clearly understood, they would bring joy and light, but there are some who will never see their beauty or importance. “The words that I speak unto you,” said Jesus, “they are spirit, and they are life.” [Verse 63.] Perfect excellence is found only in the Word of the living God. Educators of the youth may freely feed upon this with safety, but they should know that there is danger in feeding upon other books, though there may be many excellent things in them.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 16)
Let the editors of all our papers seek to attract the attention of their readers to the Book of books, and to those books and periodicals which present the Word of God in its true bearings. As the Holy Spirit controls the writers for our papers, more of God’s Word, and less of man’s ideas will be presented. As our editors sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn from Him who is infinite in wisdom, they will understand by living, spiritual experience what it is to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. All who teach the Word must have this experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 17)
To those who make the Word of God their study book, some will say, You are too narrow in your ideas. You would have us separate so completely from the world that we can do it no good. This is a mistake. The evil feared will not be realized. God would have His people distinguished from the world in all things, or they will become confused, as were the disciples who turned back and walked no more with Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 18)
Christ does not ask from men the glorification of their fellow men. He does not ask of men that they shall praise His beauty of countenance. He did not plan that the attention of men should be centered upon His beauty of form or feature. His design was to draw the attention of men to His virtue of character, His perfect obedience, that by beholding, His people may become changed into the same glorious image, and represent His goodness, His mercy, and His love to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 85, 1899, 19)
Lt 85a, 1899
Editors of The Christian Educator, The Youth’s Instructor, and other periodicals “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 14, 1899 See Lt 85, 1899. Previously unpublished. +
To the editors of The Christian Educator, The Youth’s Instructor, and our other periodicals:
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 1)
The editors of The Christian Educator should consider the subjects they are placing before the people. I look at The Training School Advocate with more peace of mind than I can possibly have when I see in The Christian Educator the pictures of the men you are presenting before such large numbers of people. The presentation of these supposedly learned men in the Instructor and the Educator does not reflect glory to God. If the purpose of your paper is to recommend the books to which you refer, what has it to do with Christian education? Professors and others who are engaged in educational work are not the subjects which are to be kept before the people. The higher education is but dimly understood by the men who have charge of The Christian Educator. What is higher education? It is the education which comes from the greatest Teacher this world ever knew, and is found only in the Word of God. With His instruction before us, so unlike the teaching of the schools of today, we have no need to bring before the world the names of educators who are not conversant with the Word of God; these men are far behind in the education most important for this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 2)
We cannot see any light in calling for money to sustain The Christian Educator. We have another Author to study than those which this paper presents—One who has written excellent things in regard to the principles underlying education. The apostle Peter says, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye witnesses of his majesty; for he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” [2 Peter 1:16-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 3)
The Lord has called out a people from among men, and has given them great light and knowledge in regard to His Word; and in Exodus 31:12-18 He declares the relation they are to sustain to Him. God has not authorized us to exalt men and keep the minds of students directed toward those who do not bear the signature which He has placed upon His chosen people, “that they may know that I am the Lord which doth sanctify them.” [Verse 13.] Those who refuse to stand as God’s chosen people, sanctified and made holy, are as guide posts pointing in the wrong direction, educating the youth to study so-called wise men, who have not been wise to know God and do His commandments. The editors of The Instructor and The Christian Educator are diverting minds from God to man, and advising the study of books written by men who have been disloyal to the God of heaven. Is the Lord pleased by this turning aside of those whom He has made the repositories of sacred truth to inquire of the gods of Ekron? Is He honored, is His name glorified, by the selections which appear in these papers? These periodicals should be devoted to directing and educating those who are carrying the light to men, seeking to prepare a people for the second appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 4)
The constant reference to authors in our papers is not the work God has marked out for His people. Our papers are not to publish the lives of men, what they have done, or are doing. We have a decided message to bear to the world, and it is to come from the pens of men whose writings reveal that they are under the influence of the Holy Spirit’s teaching, men who understand and heed the admonition of Paul to Timothy, “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:14-17.] Those who work under the direction of the Holy Spirit will keep the educational forces turned toward Him who is too wise to err, too good to be unjust.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 5)
The Lord has higher aims for His people than the study of man. Man’s ideas of education are not to be exalted as supreme. There are greater heights than these to be kept before God’s people. The Lord is waiting to bestow His Holy Spirit upon all who will hunger and thirst after righteousness. The inclination to extol men that is manifested by those who claim to educate, God calls foolishness. Paul declares, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence.” [1 Corinthians 1:18-29.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 6)
Again the Lord says, “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight.... Behold, the days come ... that I will punish all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised.” [Jeremiah 9:23-25.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 7)
Why does the Lord have so much to say on this subject? It is because these men who are presented before the people are disloyal to Him, and those who are exalting them are dishonoring their Creator.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 8)
The men who are using their talents in the work and cause of God show that they have not His Spirit, which as educators for this time, they should possess. They are making no difference between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, but are placing all upon the same level. And if their perceptive faculties are not sanctified and sharpened, that they distinguish between the sacred and common, they will place man where God should be. Failing to distinguish between obedience and disobedience, they will teach in such a way that the trumpet will not give a certain sound, and men will be unprepared for the battle of the great day of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 9)
“Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadest thee by the way which thou shouldest go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” [Isaiah 48:17, 18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 10)
The Lord makes every difference between the obedient and the disobedient. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,” he says, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” [1 Corinthians 1:30, 31.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 11)
The men to whom students look for their instruction might better search the scriptures for themselves. When they are controlled by the Holy Spirit, they will have a clearer perception of what true education means. The sixth chapter of John is of great importance to those who claim to be teachers. These need to give it careful study, that they may be able to give students meat in due season. “It is written in the prophets,” Christ said, “and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread that came down from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.... It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” [Verses 45-51, 53-58, 63.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 12)
These words are not understood as they should be, and there are some who will never see their importance. Educators of the youth are here forbidden to feed upon the productions of other authors, though there may be many things that are excellent in them. Perfect excellence is only found in the Word of the living God. Those who would make a right use of Scripture must understand by spiritual experience what it means to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 13)
In many things connected with our papers God is not leading. What the editor of every paper needs to do is to attract the attention of every reader to the book of books. When the Holy Spirit controls the men who write the articles for our papers, more of God’s Word and less of man’s ideas will be recommended. When our editors sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him who is infinite in wisdom, and whose they are by creation and by redemption, they will understand by living experience what it means to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. They will bring the word of God into the practical life. “It is the Spirit that quickeneth,” Christ said, “the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life.” [Verse 63.]
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 14)
To those who make the Word of God their study book some will say, You are too narrow in your ideas. You would have us separate so completely from the world that we can do it no good. This is a mistake; but God would have His people distinguished from the world in all things, or they will become confused, as were the disciples, who turned back and walked no more with Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 15)
Christ does not ask from any man the glorification that some are now giving to men in our periodicals. He does not ask you to praise even His beauty of countenance. He does not want your mind to be concentrated upon His beauty of form or feature, but upon His virtue of character, His perfect obedience, that, by beholding, His people may become changed into the same image, and thus represent His goodness, mercy, and love to the world. It is by obedience to the laws of God that we are brought into fellowship with Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 85a, 1899, 16)
Lt 86, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 5, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in CG 75; 1MR 235-236. + Dear Brother:
I must caution you to restrain the influence you may exert in a wrong direction, under the name of the medical missionary work. Be careful lest this work become the body, rather than the arm of the body. Your conclusions must be guarded. Your plans in any one line must not become all-absorbing. Your large plans for rescuing the unfortunate will gather to you responsibilities which you will be unable to carry. You make desperate efforts to push forward a line of work which will make—which is already making, I may say—the medical missionary work the all of the gospel. The men in the ministry are demerited, while medical missionary enterprises are extolled.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 1)
The Lord has instructed me to tell you that we must consider the work in all its bearings, that it may be proportionate, and not one-sided. Many men are being drawn into the medical missionary work who should be engaged in the ministry. They could learn much by practice, and as they imparted to others the light they received, they would receive more light to impart. It is of the highest importance that now, without delay, we lift the standard of truth in places where it has not yet been planted, and this you will some day realize.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 2)
Among your associate workers are men who have considered this matter, but they leave their thoughts unexpressed and pursue a course to make your mind their mind. When they might counsel you, they remain silent. In this they prove unfaithful to their duty. These men cannot honor God unless they seek Him for their individual selves.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 3)
My brother you do not realize that your mind has a controlling power over other minds and that the ability and talents God has given you are in danger of being misdirected. If you are not guarded, the continued thought and labor you give to the many lines of work you have devised will result in unbalancing your mind and disqualifying you for your legitimate work. God does not design that you shall treat the men whom He has commissioned to give the last message of warning to the world as you have treated those engaged in the medical profession who have not received their education in the same school as yourself, calling them quacks and unreliable men.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 4)
In enlarging the interests of the so-called medical missionary work, you are in danger of cherishing the same ideas in regard to your brethren in the ministry and looking upon them in the same light in which you have regarded all medical practitioners except those who have learned in the same school as yourself. But your expressed opinion has not made quack doctors of those men whom you have denounced, neither does it make your ministering brethren any less reliable.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 5)
My brother, you need to call a halt. God has given you a work to do. He has honored you by placing you in the position which you now hold, and uniting with you men who will co-operate with you in the interests of that line of work for which the sanitarium was brought into existence. This institution has a work to perform as the Lord’s appointed agency, and God work with and through you, He designs that this work shall be an entering wedge, to prepare the way for the saving truth for this time, the proclamation of the third angel’s message; but it is not to eclipse that message, or hinder its designed success, This message is the last warning to be given to a fallen world.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 6)
The medical missionary work is to occupy its rightful place, as it ever should have done, in every church in our land. Now selfishness and covetousness and pride prevail, and the attention of the people must be called to the part they have to perform. The church is to act her part in fulfilling the gospel ministry The Christian world needs to be aroused to take up the work it has dropped. We must have an interest in every soul, for Christ died for all. To every truly converted person God has committed the well-being of souls, and He expects His people to work for them.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 7)
The sanitarium was brought into existence to call men to a knowledge of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, to educate as Christ Himself has directed, teaching them the laws of the kingdom of God. This is, and always will be, the only true Higher Education. In the days of ancient Israel the law of God was considered of such importance that directions were given to the children of Israel to compose that law into song; and as they travelled through the wilderness, they were to sing these songs accompanied with the music of instruments. Thus the requirements of God were indelibly written in their minds and hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 8)
The well-being of souls is largely dependent upon the course pursued by fathers and mothers. The defects in the characters of parents are not only felt by themselves; they reach to their children, and their children’s children, even to the third and fourth generation. This fact should have weight with human beings of today. Then the “Thou shalt not,” of God, which often seems a hardship, would, through the working of the Spirit of God, come to be regarded as a blessing. Converted fathers and mothers would arouse to give instruction to their children. Parents must not neglect to arm their own minds against sin, to guard against that which will not only ruin themselves, but transmit pain and every kind of misery and evil to their offspring. By correctly educating themselves, parents are to teach their children that the Heavens do rule. This established truth is to be taught line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 9)
Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the lesson that the Lord, and not man, is ruler, that His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion endureth to all generations. By severe discipline the king of Babylon had to learn the lessons he had ignored and forgotten, that it was not his scepter, but the scepter of Him whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, that was supreme in its control of the nations. So men through whom God works will have to learn that the living, ever-present ever-acting God is supreme. True medical missionary work will exalt every agency that God has set in the church to preach the gospel, for this was the work of Him who made man, and lent him talents to use, an intellect to originate, a heart to be the seat of his throne, affections, to flow out in blessing all with whom he shall come in contact, a conscience to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, because he is worked by the Holy Spirit of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 10)
Man knows the right, he is intelligent in regard to the wrong, and God has placed him under law. If there were no law, there could be no Lawgiver, no subject, no governor to rule. This is the education that is to be constantly given. The truth for the time in which we live is to be patiently unfolded. We are to proclaim the third angel’s message, the last great testing truth for this time. Men and women are to be sanctified through the truth. The number of workers in the ministry is to be increased rather than diminished. The Word of the living God, which is present truth for this time, is to be proclaimed.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 11)
The disciple John writes: “After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power: and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” [Revelation 18:1, 2.] Read the whole of this chapter, and judge if the minds of God’s people should be diverted into any lines that would hinder the message from being given with all its power and efficiency. The human agencies whom God has chosen are to proclaim this message with a loud voice. The world is not to be left in darkness. Revelation means revelation. This is the last work to be done for the world, and those who take part in it are to understand that the message they give is to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God which is fast coming upon us with stealthy, awful dread.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 12)
My brother, I tell you in the name of the Lord that the medical missionary work is to be the arm, and not the body. The idolatrous world must have the message. I have been shown that many who are now being educated in medical lines should be giving the last warning to the world. God will be the instructor of His workers. He has given light, great light, through His own appointed agencies, and He calls upon you, my brother, to fall into line. You have been misapprehending the work to be done for this time. You have often spoken disparagingly of the ministry, making work for the outcasts the all-absorbing theme.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 13)
Some of the men who have been rescued from the slums have been given a work to do to which the Lord has not called them. They have been pressed to the front to speak to others, when they knew comparatively nothing of the truth. They have been led to suppose they were doing the work most essential, but these men need to hear the Message for this time that they may work in the right way. They need converting to the truth. If you lower the banner on which is inscribed, the Commandment of God and the faith of Jesus, you will become an uncertain guide. These poor degraded souls, who have just come out of the darkest places of the earth, are not to be set up and preferred. They have had no experience in the way in which the Lord has led His people, and they have everything to learn before they can become teachers. They need Christianity in the heart, that truth may take the helm.
(14LtMs, Lt 86, 1899, 14)
Lt 87, 1899
Hickox, Brother and Sister [A. S.] Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia May 18, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Hickox:
I have been impressed to write for you to come and labor in the work that is needing to be done in New South Wales. Brother Haskell has just come to Newcastle. He will work in that vicinity, and he needs help. He can help you greatly, and by connecting yourself with him, you can be a help to him in this great work. I am desirous that you shall attend the conference of ministers which will be held here in Cooranbong. I wish you to realize that it is the will of the Lord that you should prepare yourself for labor. There is a great dearth of workers. We know you have a family to support. We understand this, but you can support them as well in New South Wales as in any other part of the country. You can have a little home in Cooranbong or in Newcastle, or wherever it is most favorable for you; but it is best that you should come to this part of the field, where you can be a help, and where the need for those who can bear a part in the gospel work is great.
(14LtMs, Lt 87, 1899, 1)
I have talked with Brother Haskell about this matter, and he thinks it is the right thing for you to do. There is work to be done at every station from Cooranbong to Queensland. Our next camp meeting must be held at Maitland. The work has only begun in Newcastle, and you can be a help in that city.
(14LtMs, Lt 87, 1899, 2)
We think it will be best for you and your family to be present at the conference we are to hold in Cooranbong. Borrow the money, if you do not have it, and I will be responsible for it. I want you to come, for this is the will of God concerning you. You may say, “I do not wish to engage in the ministry,” but if the Lord wishes you to do this, will not He give directions? “We have not an high priest which cannot be troubled with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need.” [Hebrews 4:15, 16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 87, 1899, 3)
I write you this because it is my duty. I have been awakened at one o’clock to do this. There is a great work to be done in opening the truth to those who are in the darkness of error, and I shall expect you to come to Cooranbong with your family and take up work here in connection with Elder Haskell. I want to see you and Carrie, and talk with you. If you do not feel prepared to continue in the ministry, the Lord can make you a vessel unto honor. You can go in the strength of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 87, 1899, 4)
I leave this morning for our home in Cooranbong. I came up here last Friday. On Sabbath morning Elder Haskell spoke in the tent. In the afternoon I spoke to a goodly number who seemed to appreciate the Word. Again on Sunday afternoon I addressed a good congregation. Sabbath and Sunday evenings Elder Haskell spoke. He is much worn. The climate of Queensland did not agree with him. He needs help.
(14LtMs, Lt 87, 1899, 5)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 87, 1899, 6)
Lt 88, 1899
Haynes, Brother Summer Hill, New South Wales, Australia May [June] 1, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Haynes:
We received your donation of two pounds. We thank you for it, for we stand very much in need of means. The Captain Norman, who it was stated in our papers donated such large sums, has proved a fraud. Not one dollar has been realized. He has disappeared, no one can tell where. It is a strange affair, and a great disappointment to us. We did hope for the financial help we so much needed; but this is one thing among the “all things” that work together for good to those that love God. [Romans 8:28.]
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 1)
During the Week of Prayer, I visited Newcastle, accompanied by Miss Sara McEnterfer. We made our home with Elder Haskell and his wife. They have just hired a large brick house at Wallsend, on which is painted in large letters, “Empire Clothing House.” It is a two-story building with [a] good stable. It has no spare grounds; the house, barn, and outdoor kitchen occupy all the space. The owners promised that if Elder Haskell would take the place for one year, they would put it in good order. It has quite a number of rooms, and can be secured for ten shillings per week, two dollars and a half American currency. One room, the sales room, can be used for a meeting place.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 2)
If our people hired a hall there for only one meeting a week, they would have to pay ten shillings. We are all well pleased with the place, for we need our means to pay the workers who go out to give Bible readings. When we visited Brother and Sister Haskell, they had only just moved into their new house, and were not yet settled. There is repairing to be done, while they occupy the rooms that are in a tolerably good condition.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 3)
In the same suburb, Wallsend, there is a stone church which has been closed. This place will seat about two hundred and fifty people. The church has been misused; mischievous boys have felt at liberty to break up the flooring and the windows, and pull down the pulpit. It will take about one hundred pounds to repair it and put in the seats. Then it will be a valuable little church. If we had the money, we would purchase and repair it at once, but we dare not invest.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 4)
In Hamilton, where the camp meeting was held, we contemplated building a meetinghouse. The ground is purchased, but there must be no debt on the place. Therefore we wait for the Lord to open the way. He will do this. His promise is as good as a deed. A portion of the money is already raised. I gave fifty pounds to the Brisbane church, and another fifty to the church in Hamilton. When we receive money, we will commence to build a humble house of worship. Just now, in midwinter, the people have to meet under a tent that has no flooring. They have no other place in which to assemble.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 5)
During the Week of Prayer, we had good meetings in Newcastle. I spoke twice under the tent. Sabbath and Sunday afternoons, the Lord blessed me with freedom. I looked upon that people so interested in the Word of God and called to mind how, a few months before, there was not a Sabbathkeeper in Newcastle. Now about thirty have been baptized and ten more will soon go forward. We thank the Lord, and praise His holy name, for His wonderful works to the children of men.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 6)
On Monday we returned to Cooranbong. Twice I spoke to the students in the school. I also attended the morning meeting, and bore my testimony. The Lord is moving by His Holy Spirit. I must see of the salvation of God. I long for it to come fully to all who are God’s chosen people, that they may give to others that which God has given them, choosing a life of self-sacrifice and full surrender to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 7)
On Friday, Sara and Willie accompanied me to Sydney. We went directly to Sister Tuxford’s home and found a room all prepared for me. That evening I was invited to speak to the workers in the sanitarium, and the Lord gave me liberty in prayer and speech. I spoke to them plainly on the necessity of faithfulness in the discharge of every duty. All seemed to be interested and pleased, and all save one bore their testimony. On Sabbath I attended the afternoon meeting in Stanmore, and spoke to a well-filled church. The blessing of the Lord was in the meeting. I longed to see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and I entreated the people to choose God as their portion. Many excellent testimonies were borne, and the Spirit of the Lord was with us.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 8)
Sabbath evening I again spoke to the workers in the sanitarium, and the Lord blessed us. I remained seated while speaking, and this rested me. It was a great satisfaction to them all to hear the testimony I bore. I spoke to them once again before returning home.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 9)
We feel so distressed over the situation of our sanitarium. We cannot see where the means is coming from to erect the building. The building now being used casts discredit upon us as a people. It was a dwelling house, and the bathrooms, which should be large and convenient, are composed of a sleeping room partitioned of, one part of which is used for the ladies, and the other for the gentlemen. The persons on one side of the partition can hear all that is going on in the next apartment. This cannot leave a favorable impression on the minds of the patients. We are praying that the Lord will send us means and we believe that means will come. The Lord will help us in this work. The medical missionary work is to bring the truth before many others, and the Lord will open the way before us. The building they now occupy is full to overflowing, and rooms have to be secured in another building.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 10)
The work must go forward in this new world. We are lifting the standard of truth in new places, and the work is advancing. We shall be grateful for any assistance you can give us, and if you can interest others to help us, we shall thank the Lord and thank the donors.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 11)
Your sister in Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 88, 1899, 12)
Lt 89, 1899
Jones, C. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 4, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in CW 112-114. C. H. Jones
Oakland, California Dear Brother:
Permit me to express my mind, and yet not my mind, but the word of the Lord. I am troubled in regard to The Signs of the Times. There are plenty of newspapers and magazines that publish many of the things which are put into the Signs. The name of this paper was selected in its pages. You should not have so much matter in long articles that have no reference to the signs of the near coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. I think if the editor of this paper could discern the necessity of being a faithful householder, he would give meat in due season to the flock of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 1)
There is too much common matter and not enough of the sacred; there is too much dependence upon pictures and other things that do not relate to the vital issues for this time. There is danger of following in the track of Nadab and Abihu, using common in the place of sacred fire. Concerning many of the matters that are so fluently presented, many other papers can give all the information essential for any of us. But the name, Signs of the Times, means that in this paper a class of literature will be found that will give the trumpet a certain sound. Let there be fewer pictures, and more real, solid, spiritual food.
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 2)
I am afraid that the editor does not drink deep from the fountain of living waters. It is now that we need to be worked by the Holy Spirit. The editors of our periodicals, the teachers in our Sabbath schools, the presidents of our conferences, all need to drink of the pure streams of living water. They need to understand more clearly the words spoken by our Lord to the Samaritan woman; “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given you living water.” [John 4:10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 3)
The woman tried to enter into a controversy. She said, “Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou that living water. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.” [Verses 11-14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 4)
Many have not felt the necessity of drinking of this water of life. You may think that you understand the matter, and do drink of the living water; but there is a pain in my heart day and night because there is so little evidence that our householders understand the wants of the people at this time. They do not discern their own necessities. It can be truly said, “Thy silver is become dross; thy wine mixed with water.” [Isaiah 1:22.] These words represent the food that is acceptable, but that gives no real strength to the churches. The Lord’s work needs to be distinguished from the common affairs of life. He says, “I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin, and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning, afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, The faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness.” [Verses 25-27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 5)
These words are full of importance. They are applicable to all those who sit in the editorial chair. Sacred things are mingled with the common. The words of Moses possess a deep meaning: “Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” [Leviticus 10:1-3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 6)
This means something to all who are handling the matter that goes forth from our institutions to the world. The papers that have so wide a circulation, and that have been so highly exalted, should contain more precious instruction than appears in the common publications of the day. The true higher education is not to be gained by dealing with the lives and sentiments of the men who know not the Word of the Lord. “What is the chaff to the wheat?” [Jeremiah 23:28.] We want more pure wheat thoroughly winnowed from all chaff.
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 7)
I call your attention to the sixth chapter of Isaiah. This chapter reveals much that is impressive. Chapter eight also contains lessons that are of value to every soul who is of understanding: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” [Verse 16.] Read also Exodus 31:12-18.
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 8)
My brethren in responsible positions, you are a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men. Brother Wilcox, when you see the necessity of being a faithful householder, you will give meat in due season. Present truth. Guard the paper, lest there shall be introduced into it articles that are not suitable for this time. God help you, my dear fellow laborers, to work as if you were in full view of the whole universe of heaven. Important issues must soon be met, and we wish to be hid in the cleft of the rock, that we may see Jesus, and be quickened by His Holy Spirit. We have no time to lose, not a moment.
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 9)
“Hear, ye that are far off, at what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” [Isaiah 33:13-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 10)
In constantly dealing with matters for the papers, many seem to lose their discrimination. May the Lord not only anoint your eyes that they may see, but pour into your heart the holy oil that from the two olive trees flows through the two golden pipes into the golden bowl, which feeds the lamp for the sanctuary. “And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my Lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” [Zechariah 4:13, 14.] Unless we are wide awake, we are not able to discern spiritual things. We lose the sense of the power of the truth, and handle sacred things as we handle the common things. The result is weakness and uncertainty, and we are not safe counsellors or guides. Wake up, brethren; for Christ’s sake, wake up. You are not being sanctified through the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 11)
“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” [Ephesians 6:11-18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 89, 1899, 12)
Lt 90, 1899
Ballenger, A. F. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 5, 1899 See variant Lt 90a, 1899. Portions of this letter are published in SWk 83-87; 11MR 48. Dear Brother:
I remember your distinctly, and I have rejoiced to see you growing in grace and working in the Lord’s vineyard. I would say, my brother, you would best stand at your post of duty, laboring in the ministry of the Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 1)
As you say, there is no more fruitful field than the South. It is the prejudice of the whites against the black race that makes this field hard, very hard. The whites who have oppressed the colored people still have the same spirit. They did not lose it, although they were conquered in war. They are determined to make it appear that the blacks were better off in slavery than since they were set free. Any provocation from the blacks is met with the greatest cruelty. The field is one that needs to be worked with the greatest discretion.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 2)
Any mingling of white people with the colored people, as in sleeping in their houses or showing them friendship as would be shown by the whites to those of their own color, is exasperating to the white people of the South. Yet these same persons employ colored women to nurse their children; and further, not a few white men have had children by colored women. Thus the colored people have received an education from the whites in immorality, and many of them stand ready to treat the whites as the whites have treated them. The relation of the two races has been a matter hard to deal with, and I fear that it will ever remain a most perplexing problem.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 3)
You speak of a way of helping the colored race in a way which does not excite the prejudice of the white Southern-born citizens—that is, the industrial school. As you have presented, the greatest caution needs to be exercised in regard to politics. Some persons are of such a temperament that they would make trouble by want of proper consideration. Words dropped unadvisedly would be like a spark, kindling a flame of intense jealousy and dangerous opposition. Whoever works in the South needs to be sanctified in body, soul, and spirit. Then there will be wise words, not words spoken at random of without duly weighing every expression.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 4)
It is from the whites that the greatest opposition may be expected. This is the quarter that you may need to watch. The white people are prejudiced against the doctrines taught by the Seventh-day Adventists, and a religious opposition is the greatest difficulty. The white people will stir up the blacks by telling them all kinds of stories; and the blacks, who can lie even when it is for their interest to speak the truth, will stir up the whites with falsehoods. And the whites who want an occasion will seize upon any pretext for taking revenge, even upon those of their own color who are presenting the truth. This is the danger. As far as possible, everything that will stir up the race prejudice of the white people should be avoided. There is danger of closing the door, so that our white laborers will not be able to work in some places in the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 5)
All that you have written in regard to the great necessity of the colored people is correct. I have seen that those who know the truth for this time have a special work to take up for this people. Christ came to our world, clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might work with humanity, fallen, degraded, corrupted. He came of poor parentage, and lived the life of a poor man. He was accustomed to privation. As a member of the family, He acted His part in laboring with His hands for the support of His mother and His brothers and sisters. Thus He, the Majesty of heaven, was not to appear as honoring the greatest men because of their wealth. He has forever removed from poverty the disgrace which attaches to it because it is destitute of worldly advantages. He says, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” [Matthew 8:20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 6)
[Two] thousand years ago, a voice of strange and mysterious import was heard in heaven from the throne of God: “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me; in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.” [Hebrews 10:5-7; Psalm 40:6-8.] Christ in counsel with His Father, laid out the plan for His life on earth. It was not a chance, but a design that the world’s Redeemer should lay off His crown, lay aside His kingly robe, and come to our world as a man. He clothes His divinity with the garb of humanity, that He might stand at the head of the human family, His humanity mingled with the humanity of the race fallen because of Adam’s disobedience.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 7)
The poverty and humiliation of the Son of the infinite God teach lessons that few care to learn. There is a link that connects Christ with the poor in a special sense. He, the Life, the Light of the world, makes poverty His own teacher, in order that [He] may be educated by the same stern, practical teacher [as are the poor]. Since the Lord Jesus accepted a life of poverty, no one can justly look with contempt upon the poor. The Saviour of the world was the King of glory, and He stripped Himself of His glorious outward adorning, accepting poverty, that He might understand how the poor are treated in this world. He was afflicted in all the afflictions of the human family, and He pronounces His blessing, not upon the rich, but upon the poor of this world.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 8)
You speak of the Oakwood Industrial School for colored students as not having sufficient buildings to accommodate the students, twelve in number occupying one room. My brother, is it not the duty of someone laboring in this line to labor for the creation of a fund to supply this need? Appeal to our people. Let each give a little, even among the poor. Without delay, plan to erect a humble building large enough to accommodate the students. To have boys and girls thus crowded together must make the teacher’s work very difficult. Ask for help, presenting this matter as though you meant it. Ask the people to heed the words of Christ, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] The example of Christ is for our imitation.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 9)
If you can, get the colored people interested, and show them how to work. If you can secure a man who is fitted to become an intelligent director, such a school as you propose would be a great blessing to the colored race. In putting up these buildings, the workers will form habits of industry, and will learn how to erect dwelling houses for themselves and for others. This will be one of the best lessons that could be taught them. I shall be glad if by your counsel you can set in operation a work that needs to be done. But to take hold of this work yourself would not be wise. You have not the necessary qualification for a businessman. You are not adapted for financiering.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 10)
Every intelligent being may improve in capability, in virtue, and knowledge, by living on the plan of addition as presented in the first chapter of Second Peter. There is work for you in the Master’s vineyard to which you are better adapted than to that of a business manager. To every man is given his work. The varied talents are proportionate to our varied capabilities. God is the Giver of these talents, and He bestows them according to our known powers, hereditary and cultivated, and He expects corresponding returns. Some have been educated and trained so that they are better fitted to use their talents in certain parts of their Lord’s vineyard than in other parts: but God’s family of workers, from the lowliest and most obscure who can work in humble lines, to the highest and most capable, who can do the most responsible work in the church, all have talents to be employed.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 11)
To take an evangelist out of the field in order to bear the responsibilities you speak of would not be wise. You would not be a success. You could not make the little means go the longest way. There would be constant danger of making plans that would not carry. You would see success where aftersight would show failure. It would reveal that you have not the gift of economizing almost to stinginess for the working out of your plans. But this must certainly be done by the workers who shall take up that work in the South. There are men who have been forced into the school of severe economy, and they have learned the art of economizing so closely that there shall be no waste of time, or labor, or of money. This lesson has not yet, under stern necessity, been learned by you.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 12)
There is a day of trust and a day of reckoning. The proceedings during our probationary test must all pass under the scrutiny of the great Judge. We are justified by faith, but judged by works, and we are never to belittle the smallest gift. By diligent trading on the talents entrusted, you have in spiritual service increased your capital of talents. Your work is appointed you by God. Ministry as an evangelist is your calling, and in no case should you trifle with your moral responsibilities. You need to guard carefully every avenue of the soul, lest self shall be woven into your work. Be watchful, pray much, study the Word, and then cut out of your life everything that would shut you from a complete experience in Christ Jesus. He bids you, “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” [Mark 14:38.] This is all I have time to write on this point.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 13)
Let men who are wise calculators be called upon to plan and devise, but this is not your special work. All the advantages you enumerate in the second page of your letter reveal a field of work for some wise manager to enter upon. Let all the advantages possible be secured for the Southern Field. As shown in your letter, there are experienced gardeners who will work for the Lord in giving instruction in their lines. Another brother says he is an experienced stonemason, and will be glad to work for the Lord in building up an industrial school. Another brother, a farmer, has horses and machinery, which he will give to the enterprise, with himself and his faithful wife. Then there are offers of sawmills, a shingle mill, a logging outfit, a lathe mill, turning tools, blacksmith’s tools, carpenter’s tools, etc., and the owners give themselves to use their outfits. We thank the Lord for these talents. Here is certainly a good opening. Who will take up this responsible work?
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 14)
There are things I must now mention that should be guarded. If possible, keep out of such settlement in the South families with young children who would be likely to learn the habits of the Southern people. Staunch, solid men and women are needed, who should go forth as missionaries. If they have children, and it can be so arranged, let them be placed in school [in] the North. This will leave the father and mother free to take hold of the work. Two or three families should unite, and as quietly as possible seek to help in this missionary work of teaching the colored people to help themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 15)
As I read on page 6, you do not intend to work out this enterprise yourself. I am glad you feel thus. The rule you mention of keeping out of debt is the way to make the work a solid one.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 16)
It will not be wise for many families to settle in the South in one place. Let only one or two families from abroad settle in any one location. Beware how you get families with children located in the South. These children have eyes to see and ears to hear and perception to take in what is heard in school. The lessons they learn may prove ruin to them, and their presence may bring danger to the enterprise. If they are left to associate with the colored people, stories will be started that will endanger the mission, the white children themselves will become demoralized, and the jealousy of the white Southern-born citizens will be awakened and will make it hard for those who are trying to help them.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 17)
Those who have had an experience in the South know very well that nothing must be said or done to arouse surmising and prejudice among the white people. If in our missionary work the white families live away from the colored people, it will be the safest plan. I hope that this enterprise will work, but it is the workers that will be found most difficult to manage. I am fully in harmony with doing something, if you can, and doing it without delay. The work has been long neglected, but a great and good work can yet be done in the South. I cannot see but that you have talents already secured, if only a manager will be secured who will be a wise worker and planner.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 18)
But to get many families to break up at once and go south to settle, would not be wise, especially if they have young children. There are those who would not be able to endure the Southern climate, and it would not be best to bring their families and property to the South until they had tested the matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 19)
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” [James 1:5, 6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 90, 1899, 20)
Lt 90a, 1899
Ballenger, A. F. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 5, 1899 Variant of Lt 90, 1899. Dear Brother:
I remember your distinctly, and I have rejoiced to see you growing in grace and working in the Lord’s vineyard. I would say, my brother, you would best stand at your post of duty, laboring in the ministry of the Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 1)
As you say, there is no more fruitful field than the South. It is the prejudice of the whites against the black race that makes this field hard, very hard. The whites who have oppressed the colored people still have the same spirit. They did not lose it, although they were conquered in war. They are determined to make it appear that the blacks were better off in slavery than since they were set free. Any provocation from the blacks is met with the greatest cruelty. The field is one that needs to be worked with the greatest discretion.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 2)
Any mingling of white people with the colored people, as in sleeping in their houses or showing them friendship as would be shown by the whites to those of their own color, is exasperating to the white people of the South. Yet these same persons employ colored women to nurse their children; and further, not a few white men have had children by colored women. Thus the colored people have received an education from the whites in immorality, and many of them stand ready to treat the whites as the whites have treated them. The relation of the two races has been a matter hard to deal with, and I fear that it will ever remain a most perplexing problem.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 3)
You speak of a way of helping the colored race in a way which does not excite the prejudice of the white Southern-born citizens—that is, the industrial school. As you have presented, the greatest caution needs to be exercised in regard to politics. Some persons are of such a temperament that they would make trouble by want of proper consideration. Words dropped unadvisedly would be like a spark, kindling a flame of intense jealousy and dangerous opposition. Whoever works in the South needs to be sanctified in body, soul, and spirit. Then there will be wise words, not words spoken at random of without duly weighing every expression.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 4)
It is from the whites that the greatest opposition may be expected. This is the quarter that we shall need to watch. The white people are prejudiced against the doctrines taught by the Seventh-day Adventists, and a religious opposition is the greatest difficulty. The white people will stir up the blacks by telling them all kinds of stories; and the blacks, who can lie even when it is for their interest to speak the truth, will stir up the whites with falsehoods. And the whites who want an occasion will seize upon any pretext for taking revenge, even upon those of their own color who are presenting the truth. This is the danger. As far as possible, everything that will stir up the race prejudice of the white people should be avoided. There is danger of closing the door, so that our white laborers will not be able to work in some places in the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 5)
All that you have written in regard to the great necessity of the colored people is correct. I have seen that those who know the truth for this time have a special work to take up for this people. Christ came to our world, clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might work with humanity, fallen, degraded, corrupted. He came of poor parentage, and lived the life of a poor man. He was accustomed to privation. As a member of the family, He acted His part in laboring with His hands for the support of His mother and His brothers and sisters. Thus He, the Majesty of heaven, was not to appear as honoring the greatest men because of their wealth. He has forever removed from poverty the disgrace which attaches to it because it is destitute of worldly advantages. He says, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” [Matthew 8:20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 6)
[Two] thousand years ago, a voice of strange and mysterious import was heard in heaven from the throne of God: “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body thou hast prepared me; in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.” [Hebrews 10:5-7; Psalm 40:6-8.] Christ in counsel with His Father, laid out the plan for His life on earth. It was not a chance, but a design that the world’s Redeemer should lay off His crown, lay aside His kingly robe, and come to our world as a man. He clothes His divinity with the garb of humanity, that He might stand at the head of the human family, His humanity mingled with the humanity of the race fallen because of Adam’s disobedience.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 7)
The poverty and humiliation of the Son of the infinite God teach lessons that few care to learn. There is a link that connects Christ with the poor in a special sense. He, the Life, the Light of the world, makes poverty His own teacher, in order that He may be educated by the same stern, practical teacher [as are the poor]. Since the Lord Jesus accepted a life of poverty, no one can justly look with contempt upon the poor. The Saviour of the world was the King of glory, and He stripped Himself of His glorious outward adorning, accepting poverty, that He might understand how the poor are treated in this world. He was afflicted in all the afflictions of the human family, and He pronounces His blessing, not upon the rich, but upon the poor of this world.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 8)
You speak of the Oakwood Industrial School for colored students as not having sufficient buildings to accommodate the students, twelve in number occupying one room. My brother, is it not the duty of someone laboring in this line to labor for the creation of a fund to supply this need? Let appeals be made to our people. Let each give a little, even among the poor. Without delay, encourage the brethren to erect a humble building large enough to accommodate the students. Ask the people to heed the words of Christ, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] The example of Christ is for our imitation.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 9)
Those who undertake the work in the South must not enter into any plan for colonizing, for this would place them in perilous circumstances. Some families should be found who for Christ’s sake will volunteer to enter the Southern field. At Huntsville there is a building, and something has been done there. Let the proper ones try to make that place different by bringing into it new, live elements. This plant must not become useless. Elements must be brought in which make the institutions self-sustaining. Then, if it is necessary, cheap additions can be made.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 10)
I would not encourage your plan. It means much, very much more than you think, to obtain and improve hundreds of acres of land. Your aftersight in this matter would be very different from your foresight. This work for the Southern people will require the tact of the most ingenious Christian. In the past you have seen families settled in localities where they could work successfully for the spread of the truth, and you have thought that this same plan could be adopted for the work in the South. But your expectation will not be realized.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 11)
The expenses of such a company in food and clothing must be considered. The results would not be such as you suppose. This plan will bring disappointment. Let each family who shall commit itself to the work go as the Lord’s missionaries, to work their own way. Workers are not to pledge themselves to five years’ labor, for many will not bear the test. Some would find fault and complain, and thus sow the seed of evil surmising. Those persons might work interestedly for a while, and then become dissatisfied, and want a change. The Lord looks upon every heart. There are some souls you cannot trust. They are unreliable. In the company you would form, you would find tares among the wheat. It would be better to begin work in Huntsville and make the work there a success.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 12)
I would say to you, my brother, that in the future nothing can be relied on in the Southern states. You cannot make settlements with the purpose of carrying on a large business, cultivating lands, and teaching the colored people how to work. At the least provocation the poison of prejudice is ready to show its true character, and provocations will be found. It is very hard to make the work run smoothly. Outbreaks will come at any moment, and all unexpectedly, and there will be destruction of property and even of life itself. Hot-headed people, professing the faith, but without judgment, will think they can do as they please, but they will find themselves in a tight place. I speak that which I know. Everyone takes his life in his hands by following such a course.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 13)
There are some localities less perilous than others, but never can there be large settlements build up in the South. Every act is to be oiled with the grace of God, every word spoken carefully studied. Parties are already formed, and they are waiting, burning with the desire to serve their master the devil, and do abominable work. Professed Christians are more determined in these things than out and out sinners.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 14)
I am writing to Edson White, asking him to come to Australia. This mail carries my request. I am sorry to have him leave, but I am sure that it is the right thing to do. Satan’s agencies have been represented to me as standing ready to do the work in some localities.
(14LtMs, Lt 90a, 1899, 15)
Lt 91, 1899
Jones, A. T. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 1, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 19MR 195-201. + Dear Brother:
As I have read the little pamphlet in regard to the investigation of the Review & Herald Publishing work, I have determined not to demand or to receive any compensation for losses sustained through a wrong course of action in regard to royalties. I wish to bear a living testimony that I forgive everything. I may have to refer to the past in order to present the things shown me to be correct principles; but I would not bring self into this work of restitution. If there is restitution to be made, let it be devoted wholly to God in building up that which Satan has thought to tear down.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 1)
My brother, I beg you not to let A. T. Jones manifest himself in coming forward to receive that which you suppose to be your right and your due. Nothing has been revealed to me showing that you have in any way suffered wrong in regard to the royalty on books. I have seen that some others have not been dealt with justly, but I have no recollection of seeing your case in this connection. There is need of constant watchfulness on your part, by brother. Be careful lest in dealing with the mistakes of others that have been reproved, you make a mistake, yourself, in being sharp and hard, critical and exacting.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 2)
Letters have come to me making inquiry in reference to the change of the Sentinel from New York to Chicago. I have had no special light on this subject. Whoever edits the Sentinel needs to have his pen dipped in holy oil, that the words traced shall not reveal a sharp, thrusting spirit. The Lord would have you, my brother, mellow up, and not be harsh and over-bearing. You hurt yourself when you are rash and impetuous. Reproof has been given to those who have been managers in the Review & Herald office. All through the institution, in every room, the workers have been in need of thorough sanctification of soul, body and spirit; but be careful, my brother, that you judge not. Do not press your brethren into hard places. Everything is gained and nothing lost by courtesy. Be kind. Speak patiently and gracefully.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 3)
Last night, after I retired to rest, I could not sleep. I was in trouble of mind. There was presented before me a number of writers who were zealous to press this matter of royalty. I saw confusion. Claims were urged by those who had not been in the least wronged, but has received just payment according to the value of their writings. And books have been boomed in the papers when they did not possess the excellence attributed to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 4)
One book was published when another, just preceding it on the same subject, had not had sufficient time to be brought before the people. The second book was drawing the attention from the sale of the first. The rules of right and righteousness are disregarded for selfish, ambitious purposes. The rights of brethren are to be respected; there should not be a multiplication of books, when it must be well understood that one will interfere with the sale of the one just preceding it.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 5)
This was the way with The Great Controversy. This book was not even left to have a fair chance in being handled with Bible Readings.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 6)
The Bible Readings was brought in before the books of great importance, Great Controversy, and Daniel and Revelation, which relate to the vital interests before us. Through the special instruction to the canvassing agents, The Great Controversy had little opportunity to be circulated; and the very light which the people needed for that time was nearly eclipsed. There is danger that the same course will again be followed; therefore it may be necessary for me to refer to the light given on this subject. It was presented to me that one book was crossing the track of another. This is not righteous judgment. I have now to say, Let selfishness be uprooted. Let the precious plants of God’s own garden of the heart live and flourish.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 7)
Brother Jones, if it had not been checked, this matter of pressing claims for back royalties would have led to a most disastrous state of things. I saw hands reached out to make claims when they had no claim but that which is born of selfishness. I have seen the root of selfishness springing up and flourishing, and I was so grieved in spirit that Elder Corliss and yourself should have any part in this work. I beg of you both to consider carefully the effect of your demands. Let not self wax to great proportions, lest the whole man be defiled. One leak will sink a ship, and one flaw break a chain; so there may be some hereditary and cultivated traits of character that will work in the heart and develop into words that will make an impression for evil which will never be effaced. We are all building for eternity.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 8)
Let the character have the impress of the divine in pure, noble utterances, in upright deeds. Then the whole universe of heaven will behold and say, Well done, good and faithful servant. Let selfishness with its poisonous roots strike into the heart, and what a change is made. The building grows, but it is not symmetrical. The great, grand structure may be going up for time and for eternity. That building must stand the final inspection. Is the foundation sure? Is it built upon the doing of the Word of God? The Word of God warns every one, Take heed how ye build. Make sure that the foundation is laid on the solid rock. The mental powers need cultivation. Our minds are either the workshop of God or of Satan. We are making history, and we want in every respect to practice that which we teach others to do. We need to cultivate every God-given faculty, that the character may grow into a beautiful building for the Lord. The mind God gives; the character man forms, after the similitude of God or of Satan.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 9)
We whom the Lord has blessed with great light and great truth need to be circumspect in all things. We are doing a work that day by day is inscribed on the record books of heaven. Therefore let us who are of the day be sober, and watch unto prayer. We must have order, harmony, and consistency, that we may reveal a working power for time and for eternity. If we are not constantly climbing upward, heavenward, we are descending the rounds of the ladder earthward.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 10)
My Brother Jones, you need the subduing influence of the Spirit of God. You have hereditary traits of character that are constantly striving for the supremacy. Character is power. It is an influence which makes friends. Worked by the Holy Spirit’s power, self will die; but all the preaching a man may do will not make character. It is essential that the foundation corner stone be laid aright. All your phases of character are to be guarded.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 11)
Brother Jones, be careful in your words. You know the truth, and I urge you for Christ’s sake to practice the truth. You need the converting power of God every day. May the Lord help you, my brother, or He has greatly blessed you. You need the spirit of meekness and gentleness, of patience and forbearance, and of love for your brethren. Take heed how you build, for the structure will be tested.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 12)
The influence of your teaching would be tenfold greater if you were careful of your words. The precious talent of speech must never be misused. It is a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Life and character stand upon great, solid, permanent principles. Do not, when referring to the Testimonies, feel it your duty to drive them home. In reading the Testimonies, be sure not to mix in your filling of words, for it is impossible for the hearers to tell what is the word of the Lord to them and what are your words. Be careful that you do not make the words of the Lord offensive. There are methods that are always right when worked by the Holy Spirit. There are wrong methods; quick, severe speech, words not the best adapted to win and to heal the wounded soul are of self. The natural habits need to be cleansed away; the precious must be separated from the vile.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 13)
As Christians we must speak as Christ would have us speak. We may long to see reforms, but because we do not see that which we desire, an evil spirit casts drops of gall into our cup, and then others are poisoned. By our ill-advised words their spirit is chafed, they are stirred up to rebellion. Eternal principles of truth, when advocated by pen or voice, need the Holy oil emptied from the two olive branches into our hearts. This will flow forth in words that will reform but not exasperate. God will work with your spirit if you will co-operate with Him. It should be the purpose of our lives to render unto God the highest service.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 14)
Every article you write may be all truth, but one drop of gall in it will be poison to the reader. One reader will discard all your good and acceptable words because of that drop of poison. Another will feed on the poison, for he loves such harsh words; he follows your example, and talks just as A. T. Jones talks. Thus the evil is multiplied. Make it your aim to speak the truth in love. Then the Lord Jesus by His Spirit will supply the force and the power. That is the Lord’s work. Beware lest with the sacred you mingle the common fire—A. T. Jones—in your service. Your common utterances are as common fire in the service of God. We must not mingle self with anything we do for God.
(14LtMs, Lt 91, 1899, 15)
Lt 92, 1899
Brethren [Sisley, W. C.; Jones, C. H.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 16, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3MR 41. + Dear Brethren:
I see no light in the Publishing Association or the General Conference, in their present situation, taking upon them the indebtedness of the school in Battle Creek. I think I have already laid out this matter so that you can understand it. But you have a neglected work to do. As far as lies in your power, you are to make restitution to the Southern Field of the means of which it has been deprived by the financiering of men who have not walked in the counsel of the Lord. Those who have been foremost in this work of robbery are to delay no longer but commence the work of restoration.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 1)
I have received a letter from Brother Sutherland in reference to the work in the Southern Field. He confesses that he went to the South somewhat prejudiced against the work of J. E. White, but now he speaks highly of his work. It might be well for others in responsible positions to investigate the work which has been done in that field, and either condemn the work Edson White has done, or so far put away their prejudice as to commend it.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 2)
I have not said much in regard to this matter, because Edson is my son. I have not done all I should to encourage him in his work in that hard field, because of the liability of temptation to my brethren. I feared the impression would prevail that Sister White was sustaining J. E. White because he was her son. But recently I have had light in reference to this matter. The Lord is not pleased with the thoughts and feelings of the men who might have made a fair investigation of the work done in the Southern Field, but who have neglected to do this and have failed to give the encouragement and sustenance which every man in such a position is entitled to receive.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 3)
You have considered ten dollars a week a sufficient sum to give Edson White, while to men who have not accomplished one-half the work he has accomplished, you have paid fifteen dollars a week. And even this small salary has not been given with a full, free heart. I have been shown that J. E. White has invested far more in the work than he has received. His health is now being sacrificed. It is not a small thing to undertake the work in such a field, especially when the conference is so backward in giving its word of approval, and lending assistance. When I see these things, I pray the Lord that my brethren may have hearts of flesh and not of steel.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 4)
Man’s ways are not always equal and just, but the Lord’s ways are equal. It is the duty of those who have known all the Lord has revealed in regard to the Southern Field to take some heed of the light given. Without delay those who have given so little encouragement to this work should take time to investigate and plan as to what shall be done. You are in danger, my brethren, of accepting the testimonies of men whose minds are filled with prejudice. You are not to remain in favorable fields and be content with so limited a knowledge of the Southern Field.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 5)
One cannot always stand in the position in which Edson White has stood, and still have health, and strength, and courage. The efforts which should have been made to give success to the work in the South have been strangely neglected. For years the Lord has spoken in these lines, but His words have fallen on deaf ears, on minds that were not controlled by the Holy Spirit. Now the best and only thing Edson can do, as soon as he can make a disposal of his goods, is to change his field of labor and lay the responsibility of the Southern work upon the conference. Edson and Emma can render valuable service here.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 6)
The work in this country is far more essential in the eyes of the Lord than many of the enterprises which have been carried on in America. Edson and Emma White better change their field of labor. I feel free now to encourage them to do this. I know of no one better adapted to the work in the South than J. E. White and his wife. They have labored in the South under the encouragement of the Lord, and their work has been accepted by Him. True, at times they have made mistakes, but the Lord has shown them these mistakes, and encouraged them to make them right. Their brethren in America have also made many grave mistakes. Would you wish to be treated as you have treated Edson White?
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 7)
When God in His great love rescued His wandering sheep, the work was not accomplished through the instrumentality of those who were appointed to seek and save that which was lost. It was Christ Himself who found the lost sheep, and since that time He has loved him as His own. He has guarded him and counselled him. God has a work for him to do, and it is his privilege now to know that the Master will give him a place in His vineyard where his life will not be sacrificed. Brethren Sutherland and Magan, who have been to the Southern Field, can appreciate the work that has been done. I pray now that the Lord will give Edson a willingness to take up the work in some other portion of the great harvest field.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 8)
Light has been given me by the Lord concerning several of our ministering brethren who are in feeble health. The health of the Lord’s messengers should be carefully considered. They should not be appointed to labor in fields where the climate will draw largely on their strength. Some time ago I was given light for Brother Pallant, who was laboring very hard in Queensland. I was shown that the health and courage of every man of experience should be carefully guarded, lest in his zeal for the work he places himself where he will be exposed to a malarious atmosphere.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 9)
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” [Psalm 116:15], but the life of His servants is also precious, and they are not to imperil their health. In every place there is work needing to be done, and the life and health of God’s messengers are not to be sacrificed to any climate if it can be avoided. They are to move from one country to another. For the last thirty years I have borne this testimony. The Lord would not have any one of His workers remain in a climate that is deleterious to health, when there are other workers who can labor in the same place and not suffer harm.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 10)
The Lord is testing you, my brethren, to see if you will heed his counsel and take up your long-neglected work. I have not urged this matter, for reasons which I have already stated, but now a change has come, and I am urged to set this matter in its true bearing before you. The Spirit of God is upon me, and I dare not hold my peace. Time is passing. How long do you calculate to wait before you heed the word of the Lord? If the utmost caution is not used, there is danger that the Southern Field will be closed.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 11)
God has warned His people not to become absorbed in politics. We cannot bear the sign of God, as His commandment-keeping people, if we mingle with the strife of the world. We are not to give our minds to political issues. God’s people are walking contrary to His will when they mix up with politics, and those who commence this work in the Southern states reveal that they are not taught and led by God, but by that spirit which creates contention and strife and every evil work. We are subjects of the Lord’s kingdom, and we are to work to establish that kingdom in righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 92, 1899, 12)
Lt 93, 1899
Brethren in America “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 19, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 6MR 319-320. + To My Brethren in America:
The question has been asked me by letter, Have you any light for us in regard to the Boulder Sanitarium? Those who write state that they have been doing their best, practicing economy in every line, but that there is not the least hope of the sanitarium becoming self-sustaining. They say that because of the published notices that this is a sanitarium for consumptives, only this class patronize this institution, and that only the poorer class come, who must be treated free, or for only a limited sum.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 1)
The light which the Lord has been pleased to give me is that it was not right to build this sanitarium upon funds supplied by the General Conference. The money used for this purpose was not the property of the General Conference. The conference was carrying on its business with borrowed capital. It has no moral right to use means which was not its own. One thing after another has sapped the resources of the great center, until it is nearly bankrupt, and has been working on hired money.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 2)
This has been brought about by the mismanagement of men who were not controlled by the Holy Spirit. Unfaithful stewardship blinded the minds of these men to the real situation. Things would never have been thus if the presidents of the state conferences and the president of the General Conference had walked humbly and cautiously before the Lord, if all had come to the rescue of the General Conference. Years ago a close thorough investigation of the true inwardness of the work should have been made.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 3)
The president of the General Conference is never, never to be left to follow the advice of men who are considered as financial successes, unless the Lord God of Israel is leading these men. If the presidents of state conferences are worthy of being entrusted with the work of faithfully managing a conference, the president of the General Conference should make them his counsellors. He should not trust to his own human wisdom, neither should he devise and plan with men whose hearts do not bear the stamp of the divine.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 4)
The presidents of state conferences should be picked men, appointed after much prayer, and after they have given evidence that they will be trustworthy stewards of the grace of God. The president of the General Conference should counsel with these men, and with men who realize how the work started at the beginning, who follow the principles of self-sacrifice revealed in the life of Christ, who practice economy in every line, remembering that the whole world must receive the warning.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 5)
The work at College View demanded more than the judgment of human minds. The outlay was not as God would have had it. Men who had divorced themselves from God were left to be the most influential counsellors; and in many lines their judgment was not according to divine wisdom. God desires that the humble, meek, and lowly spirit of the Master, who was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, be ever expressed. No means are to be invested for unnecessary display, with the plea that it will give character to the work. Character is not given to the work by investing means in large buildings, but by maintaining the true standard of righteous principles, with noble Christlikeness of character.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 6)
It was the Lord’s purpose that the General Conference should be His agency, connected in true relation with the institutions in Battle Creek. The president of the General Conference was never to receive the idea that he was himself the great whole, that everything for the state conferences must be prepared according to his will. The Lord would not have him think that position makes the man. And the men appointed as presidents of state conferences are to carry themselves circumspectly before God, as men who realize that they are wholly dependent upon Him. They must be instructed and guided by the Lord Jesus in all their undertakings, strictly heeding His words, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 7)
The frailest human being, if he implicitly obeys Christ’s word, not learning from men who have no living connection with God, but wearing Christ’s yoke and learning of Him, will find rest. This promise is full and complete. Men who give counsel are themselves to receive counsel from One who is infinite in wisdom. Those whose consciences are seared and whose hearts are hard, are not inspired by God to direct the General Conference president. Their perceptions, their judgments, their tastes, their words, the spirit they reveal, are in complete harmony with their non-religious, unsanctified condition. Eternity will tell their history.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 8)
The guiding hand held out from the God of love and mercy to rescue them from ruin they would not receive. They would betray the cause of God into the hands of the unbelieving world, just as Satan prompted them to do. These men feel the reproaches of conscience, but they are not willing to let Christ take away their sin. How could the work of God be carried forward in straight lines of uprightness and integrity under the management of men whose spirit is not subordinate to God and the truth, who follow the law of blind impulse?
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 9)
Those at the head of the work, at the great center, need something stronger than human sympathy. God’s servants need the motive of action which the living oracles reveal. Why? Because from every human being goes forth an influence which either gathers with Christ or scatters from Him. This influence affects the eternal destiny of men, women, and youth.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 10)
I have not time to dwell upon these matters which have been opened before me. Alienation from God is the only cause of the burdened condition of our institutions. These institutions were brought into existence by a Christlike spirit of self-sacrifice, that the light of truth might shine to all parts of the world. It was God’s purpose to honor those connected with these institutions, not as they honored and glorified themselves, but as they honored Him by their humility, and by revealing the meekness and lowliness of heart learned from Christ. The goodly fabric in building up of character wrought out by God was to receive light and glory from Him, and stand before the world, pointing to the throne of the living God.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 11)
It is the planning and devising of men who has placed increased burdens upon our institutions. The Lord did not approve many of the plans which have been carried out. How much better it would have been if men had walked and worked humbly, as servants of Jesus Christ, not exalting themselves and placing great value upon labor which the Lord does not approve because it does not represent His character. It is not wealth, parentage, position, or high accomplishments which God regards as of value. The imposing display of large buildings is valueless for the accomplishment of His purpose. The Lord values each human being just in accordance as He can put His Spirit into the soul-temple.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 12)
The work that bears God’s image is the work that He will accept. The ineffaceable characteristics of His immortal principles are the credentials which Christ would have His people bear to the world. This will rivet the soul to God. It testifies of His fostering care, His patient forbearance, His honor, His glory, revealing that He has a people that He can honor because they are loyal and true to His Sabbath and bear the last message of warning to a doomed world.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 13)
Men and women are fixing their own destiny. They are candidates either for heaven or for hell. There is a world to be warned. With every true, self-sacrificing, faithful worker God sends forth His angels. But those who will not work without the wages they themselves stipulate are represented by those first called in the parable, who at the close of the day found themselves last. Christ says, “He who will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.] Those who obey will enter into the design of the divine Planner, and they will be instructed and guided.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 14)
The Lord has made human agents trustees of His goods. They are stewards in trust. The Lord is the owner of all they possess, and His stewards will one day have to render strict account as to how they have administered the entrusted capital. No one can with safety waste his Lord’s goods merely to gratify a desire for expensive dress or furniture. The spiritual lamps of the Lord are to be filled with oil and kept trimmed and burning. Every precaution must be taken that they go not out. Men must watch and pray and wait for the Master. Never are we to sleep at our post of responsibility. Our lamps must never grow dim.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 15)
Christ declares, “Ye are the light of the world.”“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:14, 16.] This is our work. Doers of the Word—this is the most comprehensive definition that can be given of the practical life of a Christian. We are to be always on guard, ever being good and doing good. The affections of the heart must be wholly the Lord’s. The exhortation comes to us, “Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine.” [1 Timothy 4:16.] The inner lamp of the soul must be fed with holy oil. Then its light will shine forth amid moral darkness.
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 16)
“Then opened he their understanding,” we read of Christ, “that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of the Father unto you, but tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be imbued with power from on high.” [Luke 24:45-49.]
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 17)
“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.] “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” [Mark 16:16-18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 18)
“And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them, and it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” [Luke 24:50-52.] “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” [Mark 16:20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 93, 1899, 19)
Lt 94, 1899
Brethren in Responsible Positions “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 16, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3BC 1132; 1MR 277. + To My Brethren in Responsible Positions:
Some things have been presented to me during the past night which I must write out. May the Lord help me, is my earnest prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 1)
A company was assembled, and all in it were earnestly proposing methods by which the General Conference might be freed from its indebtedness. But there seemed to be a failure to arrive at right conclusions. Words to this effect were spoken by several: “We might discuss the reason of this great debt, but that is not the subject before us now.”
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 2)
One came into our midst, and with great dignity, as one having authority, said many things. He said that a course had been pursued in the General Conference and the Review & Herald office which had increased the wages of the workers. For years the principles of self-denial and self-sacrifice have not been maintained. Those in positions of responsibility can act their part in reducing the debt. Ministers, editors, presidents of conferences, should now make sacrifices and take smaller wages instead of higher. None will be compelled to do this, but thus they could set a right example before the people. The large sum paid out for wages could be greatly lessened, and will be if all hearts are enlisted in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 3)
Some have received wages disproportionate to the wages received by others who were doing hard and trying work. They say that they have received these wages because of their talents. Who gave them their talents, their supposed ability?
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 4)
A terrible debt is hanging over the Office and the Conference, and God is testing the men connected with His institutions. Let each reduce the wages he has been receiving. This, however, does not apply to the common workers who receive much less than others and cannot be expected to detract from their wages. They have little enough.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 5)
Since the increase of wages, there has been a steady increase of the spirit of covetousness, which is idolatry. Some have coveted higher and still higher wages. The Lord desires that the souls of those who have indulged this spirit be purified from this plague. Look at the world’s Redeemer, the King of glory. He did in this earth a work so large and so broad that it embraced the world. His was the ministry of love, yet He said, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” [Luke 9:58.]
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 6)
God’s servants have great need of being baptized with the ministry of love. The reward of whole-souled liberality is the leading of mind and heart to a closer fellowship with the Spirit. There is then a willingness to ask smaller wages from the conference, which has been drawn upon too heavily, so that it has not been able to plant the standard of truth in new places as it should have done. Those connected with the work of God who have been receiving high wages should now come forward with a liberal spirit and say, We will do as much work for smaller wages. We will practice economy in all lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 7)
Covetousness is idolatry, and the sooner this is purged from those who claim to be God’s chosen people, the sooner will they clearly discern the great grace and amazing love of God. Every root and branch of covetousness must be cut away. Not only must the tops be cut off, but the roots must be dug out.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 8)
Since those in connection with our institutions and the ministry have been receiving large wages, the central power has been looked upon as a common thing. The people say, “We pay our tithe to support the ministers. It is difficult for us to obtain money. But those at the heart of the work receive large wages. They talk to us of self-denial and self-sacrifice, but what sacrifice do they make? Those who audit the accounts know something in regard to this matter.”
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 9)
Thus unbelief has leavened the minds of the people. The ministry of the men who are connected with the heart of the work must reveal the saving, transforming change which has taken place in their own hearts. Self-sacrifice and self-denial must begin where the evil began. The reform must begin at the heart of the cause, and work outwardly. All true religious reform will leaven the people. The Week of Prayer, instead of being shortened, should be added to. God requires those who occupy positions of trust as religious educators, to teach the people by precept and example lessons from the living oracles of God, that the best fruit may appear of the precious trees of the Lord’s planting.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 10)
The word of the Lord came to David, to be repeated to his son Solomon. David was about to die, and God declared that he would be Solomon’s father. “He shall build my house and my courts,” God said, “for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever.” Now follows the condition: “If he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 11)
“And now, Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong and do it.” [1 Chronicles 28:6-10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 12)
Those whom the Lord has chosen as teachers or leaders in any lines of His work are to be wholly consecrated to Him. They must open the Word of the Lord to the people, and diligently practice it in their lives. But the leaders of our conferences, the ministers, those who teach the people, do not feel the solemn weight of this as they should. Read the history of Solomon.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 13)
Those connected with the Word of God are to study the history of Bible characters, that appetite may not take the helm and control the mind. It is a sin to reject the light God has given upon the denial of appetite, to eat and drink as one pleases. The result of this is that the perception is perverted. The sacred fire is not appreciated above the common. The character is cheapened by common thoughts and lustful practices. Such men and women work evil in the sight of a holy God. They use common fire, thinking it makes no difference.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 14)
Individual influence is a power when the sacred fire of God’s own kindling is brought into the service. The responsibility of a man’s influence is proportionate to the trust given him. The influence of mind upon mind is in accordance with the position occupied. A holy influence should exert its power in the family, in the school, and in the church. The practical benevolence, the self-denial and self-sacrifice, which marks the life of any person, has an influence upon those who associate with him. Those who feel the responsibility of giving themselves without reserve to God will not in connection with His cause put common fire upon their censors, as did Nadab and Abihu. God would have every one in His service honor Him. Those who desire to appropriate the money that should flow into His treasury commit an offense against God, and this offense is measured by the position of trust which they occupy.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 15)
The Lord would have His chosen workers like their Pattern who came to reveal God by living His law. Those who follow Christ in self-denial will bear the fruit the Saviour bore, and even when their life shall close, the seed scattered by the trees of the Lord’s planting will be multiplied to the praise and glory of His name. Men and women who will live the faith in its purity, and consecrate their powers for the development of Christian character, will be a power for good, for the true goodness of unselfish deeds will be reflected in their lives.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 16)
God calls upon those who have talents to act their part in preparing a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. His workers are to stand clad in all the armor of God. Those who bear the vessels of the Lord are to be clean, their characters untainted, their influence uncorrupted, their names registered in the book of life as men and women who are recognized in the heavenly courts as laborers together with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 17)
In the case of Manasseh the Lord gives us an instance of the way in which He works. We read, “Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the kings of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and he learned his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.” [2 Chronicles 33:9-13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 18)
The Lord has often spoken to His people in warning and reproof. He has revealed Himself in mercy, love, and kindness. He has not left His backsliding people to the will of the enemy, but has borne long with them, even during obdurate apostasy. But after appeals have been made in vain, He prepares the rod for punishment. What compassionate love has been exercised toward the people of God! The Lord might have cut down in their sins those who were working at cross purposes with Him, but He has not done this. His hand is stretched out still. We have reason to offer thanksgiving to God that He has not taken His Spirit from those who have refused to walk in His way.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 19)
If men had retained the simplicity of true godliness, if they had put their confidence in God instead of man, their wages would not [have] been placed as high as they have been, and the covetousness which has resulted would not now exist. At this time, when the whole world should be aroused to renounce the sins which brought upon the inhabitants of the antediluvian world the denunciation of God, the work is being hindered for lack of means and consecrated men who will not grasp at the highest wages in order to gratify their own desires.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 20)
Some things which I have already written I wish to repeat. The General Conference is the heart and soul of the work. If the heart is sick, the whole body will be enfeebled. How then should this great center be regarded?
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 21)
I read in the Bulletin of the appeals made to the General Conference and the Review & Herald, asking that the debt which has been accumulating on the college for sometime be forgiven—a debt which need never have existed had the men at the head of this enterprise heeded the word of the Lord. From the light which the Lord has given me I now say that the General Conference has no moral power to forgive any debt until its own obligations are cancelled. No person or institution has the right to make such an appeal to the General Conference, and it must not take on another load of indebtedness to detract from its influence as the heart of the body of believers.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 22)
The draughts which have been made upon the General Conference for schools, sanitariums, and other buildings in America have not been made under the direction of God. The means which the General Conference has in hand is not its own, and if men would be faithful in their stewardship, they cannot take this step. We need at the heart of the work men who will be as true as steel, men who commune with the Lord God of Israel. God has no use for men who like Manasseh hear His Word and do not heed it. Let this not be said of those who are now connected with the work. Principles of righteousness and integrity must be maintained at any cost, for we are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 23)
The General Conference has been presented to me as weighed down beneath heavy debt, and I have been shown that were this institution freed from this encumbrance, it would not lose its moral health and power of action by repeating the experience of the past. The General Conference should not be called upon to limit its resources by placing itself in the bondage of still greater indebtedness. The center of the work has been presented to me as a fountain which is to supply the great dearth of gospel teachers in places where the standard of truth has never been lifted. Then let no voice be heard appealing for means to establish expensive buildings.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 24)
And let none think that such a large outlay of means will bring in a proportionate revenue. This has been done again and again, and it has resulted in the loss of means to sustain the work of God; the grace of God, which should flow to all the parched places of earth, has been hindered. When once these large investments are made, there must be a continual outlay of means to maintain these institutions. These heavy draughts are sapping our supplies, and when God’s voice has spoken saying, “Go forward, and lift the standard in new fields,” there has not been sufficient facilities with which to commence the work. Thus the enemy has worked to weaken the heart and head of the cause.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 25)
The Lord now calls upon His people to work on different principles. When the publishing house and the General Conference proposed a confederacy, and took over the sanitarium in St. Helena and the school in Healdsburg, they had no right to do this. And by the mismanagement of those who were in high places pressing burdens were laid upon the General Conference. Those who stood in responsible positions inaugurated new principles, and high wages were paid to the leading men connected with the institutions. No investigation was made as to why the wages should reach such large proportions. What right had any such principles to see the light of day? Did those men make themselves responsible to keep the work free from embarrassment, that the cause of God might not be crippled in doing the work assigned it?
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 26)
Were these institutions under the leadership of these men gaining facilities for the accomplishment of the work? No; Satan was managing matters, and he sought to cut off the strength of the General Conference, and leave it a crippled wreck, that it might not do its appointed work. Under the management of men who have grasped every advantage they could obtain to benefit themselves, the very heart-life of the work has gone, and the conference has become almost bankrupt. Shall still further draughts be made upon this institution? Shall it be called upon to maintain other enterprises which cannot be self-sustaining. The Lord would have the General Conference and the publishing institution make an altogether different showing.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 27)
We had enough buildings for the school in Battle Creek. It was not necessary that another be added. Let those who are so anxious to have buildings create the funds. But never again lay upon the conference the burden of debt. Let those who wish to make improvements call upon students and parents to help provide them. But do not divert the Lord’s means to a work for which the Lord does not purpose it. Our work now is to face right about and consider this matter. The great heart of the work is to be preserved, and every soul is to act his part to keep the treasury of the Lord supplied by giving a faithful tithe and presenting gifts and offerings. But the General Conference must stand in moral and financial independence. Never repeat the past by bringing the General Conference into bondage and disrepute.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 28)
Testimonies have been given that there should be more ministers in the field, and the question has been asked, How can this be done? I will answer: Present a faithful message to every church, calling upon each to bring their tithe into the storehouse, that there may be meat in the Lord’s house. Let those ministers who have taken all the wages appointed them give to the churches an example of self-denial and self-sacrifice. Take less from the Lord’s treasury. Then some other soul who feels a burden to minister can share your wages. The Lord is moving upon the hearts of young men to go to the waste places of the earth, telling men the old, old story of the love of Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 29)
My brethren, do not bury your means in houses and lands, that you may enrich yourselves, but study the self-denial of Christ. With the conference now under a load of debt, what better thing can ministers and churches do than to heed the words of Christ, “Sell that ye have, and give alms, provide yourself bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens, that faileth not.” [Luke 12:33.] Do not talk about your meager wages. Do not cultivate a taste for expensive articles of dress. Let the work advance as it began, in simple self-denial and faith. Let a different order of things come in.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 30)
No true minister can be a rich man. Christ says, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.] The man who will commence at the lowest round of the ladder, and ascend, keeping heaven always in view, will become rich in heaven’s treasure. God’s Word is to him a mine of wealth. All who will bring earnestness and self-denial into their ministry are making provision for an eternal reward.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 31)
When a school is seen to be running into debt, the tuition fee should be raised, and the institution run on more economical lines. Let the school managers try for one year to see what can be done to lessen this debt. Let everything be done with regard to the strictest economy. Each student should deny himself in the expenditure of means and help to lessen the debt on the school. At every step money should be saved, that the school may pay its indebtedness. If this plan is followed, the principles of self-denial can be brought back into the work. The world’s Redeemer understood what poverty meant, and He wants to see His followers working together in sympathy and love to wipe out this debt, that He may say to them, “Ye are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] May the Lord help those who have departed from the principles of sacrifice to come back to the simplicity of the gospel of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 32)
The people in Battle Creek have a great work to do. Parents have not brought up their children according to the Word of the Lord, and therefore Satan has been educating them instead. These children and youth will prove a great trial in the school at Battle Creek, leading others into sin. Parents in the place of acknowledging their neglect will charge their children’s perversity to the teachers in the school. The Lord now calls upon parents and teachers to make a covenant with God by sacrifice, and come to Him with full purpose of heart. This is the only way by which they can clear their souls from the mist and clouds of darkness and open the door of the heart to Jesus, that He may come in and sanctify it by His presence.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 33)
I address those in responsible positions: What will you do to counteract the work you have done in lowering the standard of righteousness? Strange principles have been brought into the work of God. Covetousness, which is idolatry, has been cherished by His people. Very many have lost their knowledge of God and are in need of the saving grace of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 34)
If these souls do not gain a knowledge of the true God, they will soon know Him by experience as a God of judgment. Those who now in the pride of their hearts think that they are right, will then have no other revelation of God than that of a condemning conscience. May the Lord help all to seek Him with the whole heart, while yet there is time for the wrong to be righted. May the Holy Spirit search every heart and convict every soul, until soul, body, and spirit are cleansed and the work of God revived.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 35)
The people of God have strayed into false paths. They have not studied how they could prevent humiliation from coming to the cause of God. Instead of doing thorough work, they have sought to cover up the evil, and this has brought degradation upon the cause. Were the business of Seventh-day Adventists opened up to view, it would be seen that God has been dishonored, for the advice of worldly men has been followed rather than the Word of the living God. God’s professed people have discarded the Christian standard, and have placed in its stead human laws and wisdom. Leaving the counsel of God for that of men, they have placed themselves under the leadership of the enemy. The Lord cannot heal the wound of His people until they seek Him in humility of heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 36)
The apostle Paul exhorts us, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.” [Philippians 2:14-16.] Unless those who claim to believe the truth in our institutions realize their obligations as followers of Christ, unless they understand the high principles which should be brought into the work, they will have no light to shine amid the moral darkness of the world. The true Christian will realize his obligations to rise to the highest achievements. He will live in unity with his fellow men, and will be a convincing argument to the world in favor of the grace of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 37)
Wake up, my brethren and sisters. Arouse your energies to act their part. Deny self and take upon you Christ’s yoke, and then the Lord will greatly bless you. The judgments of God are in the land. He is visiting His judgments upon men by land and by sea. While time still lasts, cease from cherishing pride and self-indulgence. Seek the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near. Humble the heart before God, and pray that He will reveal Himself to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 94, 1899, 38)
Lt 95, 1899
Teachers and Managers of Our Schools “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 16, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in FE 475-484. + To the Teachers and Managers of our Schools:
Those who have charge of our institutions and our schools should guard themselves diligently, lest by their words and sentiments they lead the students into false paths. Those who teach the Bible in our churches and in our schools are not at liberty to unite in making apparent their prejudices for or against political men or measures, because by so doing they stir up the minds of others, leading each to advocate his favorite theory. There are among those professing to believe present truth some who will thus be stirred up to express their sentiments and political preferences, so that division will be brought into the church.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 1)
The Lord would have His people bury political questions. On these themes silence is eloquence. Christ calls upon His followers to come into unity on the pure gospel principles which are plainly revealed in the Word of God. We cannot with safety vote for political parties, for we do not know who we are voting for. We cannot with safety take part in any political schemes. We cannot labor to please men who will use their influence to repress religious liberty, and to set in operation oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow men to keep Sunday as the Sabbath.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 2)
The first day of the week is not a day to be reverenced. It is a spurious sabbath, and the members of the Lord’s family cannot participate with the men who exalt this day and violate the law of God by trampling upon His Sabbath. The people of God are not to vote to place such men in office, for when they do this, they are partakers with them of the sins which they commit while in office.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 3)
We are not to compromise principle by yielding to the opinions and prejudices which we may have encouraged before we united with God’s commandment-keeping people. We have enlisted in the army of the Lord, and we are not to fight on the enemy’s side, but on the side of Christ, where we can be a united whole in sentiment, in action, in spirit, in fellowship. Those who are Christians indeed will be branches of the true vine and will bear the same fruit as the vine. They will act in harmony, in Christian fellowship. They will not wear political badges, but the badge of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 4)
What are we to do then? Let political questions alone. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” [2 Corinthians 6:14, 15.] What can there be in common between these parties? There can be no fellowship, no communion. The word fellowship means participation, partnership.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 5)
God employs the strongest figures to show that there should be no union between worldly parties and those who are seeking the righteousness of Christ. What communion can there be between light and darkness, truth and righteousness? None whatever. Light represents righteousness; darkness, error, sin, unrighteousness. Christians have come out of darkness into the light. They have put on Christ, and they wear the badge of truth and obedience. They are governed by the elevated and holy principles which Christ expressed in His life. But the world is governed by principles of dishonesty and injustice.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 6)
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” [2 Corinthians 4:1-6.] Two parties are here brought to view, and it is shown that there can be no union between them.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 7)
Those teachers in the church or in the school, who distinguish themselves by their zeal in politics, should be relieved of their work and responsibilities without delay, for the Lord will not co-operate with them. The tithe should not be used to pay any one for speechifying on political questions. Every teacher, minister, or leader in our ranks who is stirred with a desire to ventilate his opinions on political questions should be converted by a belief in the truth or give up his work. His influence must tell as a laborer together with God in winning souls to Christ, or his credentials must be taken from him. If he does not change, he will do harm, and only harm.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 8)
In the name of the Lord I would say to the teachers in our schools, Attend to your appointed work. You are not called upon by God to engage in politics. “All ye are brethren,” Christ declares, “and as one you are to stand under the banner of Prince Emmanuel.” [See Matthew 23:8.] “What doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” [Deuteronomy 10:12, 13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 9)
“For the Lord thy God is a God of gods and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons nor taketh reward; he doth execute the judgments of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God.” [Verses 17-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 10)
The Lord has given great light and privileges to His people. “Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments,” He says, “keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 11)
“For what nation is there so great, who hath the Lord so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before thee this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest thy depart from thine eyes all the days of thy life; but teach them to thy sons and thy sons’ sons.” [Deuteronomy 4:5-9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 12)
As a people we are to stand under the banner of Jesus Christ. We are to consecrate ourselves to God as a distinct, separate, and peculiar people. He speaks to us, saying, “Incline your ear, and come unto me, hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.”“In righteousness shalt thou be established, thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear; and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me; whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” [Isaiah 55:3; 54:14, 15, 17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 13)
I call upon my brethren who are appointed to educate to change their course of action. It is a mistake for you to link your interests with any political party, to cast your vote with them or for them. Those who stand as educators, as ministers, as laborers together with God in any line, have no battles to fight in the political world. Their citizenship is in heaven. The Lord calls upon them to stand as a separate and peculiar people. He would have no schisms in the body of believers. His people are to possess the elements of reconciliation. Is it their work to make enemies in the political world? No, no. They are to stand as subjects of Christ’s kingdom, bearing the banner on which is inscribed, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” [Revelation 14:12.] They are to carry the burden of a special work, a special message. We have a personal responsibility, and this is to be revealed before the heavenly universe, before angels, and before men. God does not call upon us to enlarge our influence by mingling with society, by linking up with men on political questions, but by standing as individual parts of His great whole, with Christ as our head. Christ is our Prince, and as His subjects, we are to do the work appointed us by God.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 14)
It is of the highest importance that the youth understand that Christ’s people are to be united in one, for this unity binds man to God by the golden cords of love and lays each one under obligation to work for his fellow men. The Captain of our salvation died for the human race, that men might be made one with Him and with each other. As members of the human family we are individual parts of the mighty whole. No soul can be made independent of the rest. There is to be no party strife in the family of God, for the well-being of each is the happiness of the whole. No partition walls are to be built up between man and man. Christ as the great Center must unite all in one.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 15)
Christ is our Teacher, our Ruler, our strength, our righteousness; and in Him we are pledged to shun any course of action that will cause schism. The questions at issue in the world are not to be the theme of our conversation. We are to call upon the world to behold an uplifted Saviour, through whom we are made necessary to one another and to God. Christ trains His subjects to imitate His virtues, His meekness and lowliness, His goodness, patience, and love. Thus He consecrates heart and hand to His service, making man a channel through which the love of God can flow in rich currents to bless others. Then let there be no shade of strife among Seventh-day Adventists.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 16)
The Saviour invites every soul, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] He who approaches nearest to the perfection of Christ’s divine benevolence causes joy among the heavenly angels. The Father rejoices over him with singing, for is he not working in the spirit of the Master, one with Christ as He is one with the Father?
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 17)
In our periodicals we are not to exalt the work and characters of men in positions of influence, constantly keeping human beings before the people. But as much as you please you may uplift Christ our Saviour. “We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory”—from character to character—“even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18.] Those who love and serve God are to be the light of the world, shining amid moral darkness. But in the places which have been given the greatest light, where the gospel has been preached the most, the people, fathers, mothers, and children, have been moved by a power from beneath to unite their interests with worldly projects and enterprises.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 18)
Great blindness is upon the churches, and the Lord says to His people, “What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God: as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6:16-18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 19)
The condition of being received into the Lord’s family is coming out from the world, separating from all its contaminating influences. The people of God are to have no connection with idolatry in any of its forms. They are to reach a higher standard. We are to be distinguished from the world, and then God says, “I will receive you as members of my royal family, children of the heavenly King.” As believers in the truth we are to be distinct in practice from sin and sinners. Our citizenship is in heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 20)
We should realize more clearly the value of the promises God has made to us and appreciate more deeply the honor He has given us. God can bestow no higher honor upon mortals than to adopt them into His family, giving them the privilege of calling Him Father. There is no degradation in becoming children of God. My people shall know My name, the Lord declares, “Therefore shall they know in that day that I am he that doth speak; behold, it is I.” The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” [Isaiah 52:6-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 21)
Why is so much attention given to human agencies, while there is so little reaching up of the mind to the eternal God? Why are those who claim to be children of the heavenly King so absorbed in the things of this world? Let the Lord be exalted. Let the Word of the Lord be magnified. Let human beings be placed low, and let the Lord be exalted. Remember that earthly kingdoms, nations, monarchs, statesmen, counsellors, great armies, and all worldly magnificence and glory are as the dust of the balance. God has a reckoning to make with all nations. Every kingdom is to be brought low. Human authority is to be made as naught. Christ is the King of the world, and His kingdom is to be exalted.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 22)
The Lord desires all who bear the message for these last days to understand that there is a great difference between professors of religion who are not doers of the Word, and the children of God, who are sanctified through the truth, who have that faith that works by love and purifies the soul. The Lord speaks of those who claim to believe the truth for this time, yet see nothing inconsistent in their taking part in politics, mingling with the contending elements of these last days, as the circumcised who mingle with the uncircumcised, and He declares that He will destroy both classes together without distinction. They are doing a work that God has not set them to do. They dishonor God by their party spirit and contention, and He will condemn both alike.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 23)
The question may be asked, Are we to have no union whatever with the world? The Word of the Lord is to be our guide. Any connection with infidels and unbelievers which would identify us with them is forbidden by the Word. We are to come out from them and be separate. In no case are we to link ourselves with them in their plans or work. But we are not to live reclusive lives. We are to do worldlings all the good we possibly can. Christ has given us an example of this. When invited to eat with publicans and sinners, He did not refuse, for in no other way than by mingling with them could He reach this class. But on every occasion He gave them talents of words and influence. He opened up themes of conversation which brought things of eternal interest to their minds.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 24)
And this Teacher enjoins us, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16.] On the temperance question take your position without wavering. Be as firm as a rock. Be not partakers of other men’s sins. Acts of dishonesty in business deal, with believers or unbelievers, should be reproved; and if they give no evidence of reformation, come out from among them and be separate.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 25)
There is a large vineyard to be cultivated, but while Christians are to work among unbelievers, they are not to appear like worldlings. They are not to spend their time talking politics or acting as politicians, for by so doing they give the enemy opportunity to come in and cause variance and discord. Those in the ministry who desire to stand as politicians should have their credentials taken from them, for this work God has not given to high or low among His people. God calls upon all who minister in doctrine to give the trumpet a certain sound.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 26)
All who have received Christ, ministers, and lay members, are to arise and shine, for great peril is right upon us. Satan is stirring the powers of earth. Everything in the world is in confusion. God calls upon His people to hold aloft the banner bearing the message of the third angel. We are not to go to Christ through any human being, but through Christ we are to understand the work He has given us to do for others.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 27)
God calls to His people saying, “Come out from among them and be ye separate.” [2 Corinthians 6:17.] He asks that the love which He has shown for them may be reciprocated and revealed by willing obedience to His commandments. His children are to separate themselves from politics, from any alliance with unbelievers. They are not to link their interests with the interests of the world. “Give proof of your allegiance of me,” He says, “by standing as my chosen heritage, as a people zealous of good works. Do not take part in political strife. Separate from the world, and refrain from bringing into the church or school ideas that will lead to contention or disorder.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 28)
Dissension is the moral poison taken into the system by human beings who are selfish. God wants His servants to have clear perceptions, true and noble dignity, that their influence may demonstrate the power of truth. The Christian life is not to be a haphazard, emotional life. True Christian influence, exerted for the accomplishment of the work God has appointed, is a precious agency, and it must not be united with politics, or bound up on a confederacy with unbelievers. God is to be the center of attraction. Every mind that is worked by the Holy Spirit will be satisfied with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 29)
God calls upon the teachers in our schools not to become interested in the study of political questions. Take the knowledge of God into our schools. Your attention may be called to worldly-wise men, who are not wise enough to understand what the Scriptures say in regard to the laws of God’s kingdom, but turn from these to Him who is the source of all wisdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Make this first and last. Seek most earnestly to know Him whom to know aright is life eternal. Christ and His righteousness is the salvation of the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 30)
Teach the little children what obedience and submission mean. In our schools science, literature, painting, and music, and all that the world’s learning can teach are not to be made first. Let the knowledge of Him in whom our eternal life is centered come first. Plant in the hearts of the students that which will adorn the character and fit the soul, through sanctification of the Spirit, to learn lessons from the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. Thus students will be fitted to be heirs of the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 95, 1899, 31)
Lt 96, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 21, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3SM 51, 79-80; 7MR 159-161. Dear Sister Henry:
I rise in the early hours, half past two a.m., to write you a few lines. Elder Irwin has been with us now for about two weeks. He has with him a little note book in which he has noted down perplexing questions which he brings before me, and if I have any light upon these points, I write it out for the benefit of our people, not only in America but in this country. I cannot prepare all these letters to go now. They will go in the next mail. This mail goes to Sydney this morning to reach the boat which leaves today.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 1)
I receive your letters, which I prize highly, but I have not been able to do them justice in considering and answering them. When I see that I am not understood by my brethren who know me best, I am convinced that I must take more time to express my thoughts. The Lord gives me light which I dare not do otherwise than communicate, and a great burden is upon me. I fear and tremble for the safety of souls in responsible positions. I am constantly at work, sometimes rising at twelve, one, and two o’clock.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 2)
When I am misunderstood, and my words misinterpreted, I am afraid. I fear that I have been premature, or have not expressed myself as I ought. But when the same dangers to those I respect and love are repeated, while I am so far away, I feel an earnestness to save these souls from making mistakes, and I write most earnest things to explain the situation. Then afterward, when I find that I have caused sorrow to hearts, but not reform, my soul is sick and sad and depressed. I am not able to close my eyes in sleep, and a heavy weight is upon me that I cannot throw off. I can only wait and pray, asking the Lord what this all means. I will write fewer personal letters and go to my Bible subjects. Although I am acquainted with many things I might unfold, I should bear in mind the words of Christ to His disciples “I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” [John 16:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 3)
I feel like keeping many things to myself, but Brother Irwin has conversed with me and asked me for light, which I have been instructed to give him. I would much prefer to meet the people in America face to face than to send to them written communications. There are many who interpret that which I write in the light of their own preconceived opinions. You know what this means. A division in understanding, and diverse opinions is the sure result. How to write in a way to be understood by those to whom I address important matter is a problem I cannot solve. But I will endeavor to write much less. Owing to the influence of mind upon mind, those who misunderstand can lead others to misunderstand by the interpretation they place upon the subjects from my pen. One understands them as he thinks they should be, in accordance with his ideas. Another puts his construction upon the written matter, and confusion is the sure result. I am afraid. I tremble as I consider that unless the minds of our brethren are under the control of the Holy Spirit, they will certainly read these things in a perverted light. But enough of this.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 4)
My sister, I love Jesus. I love the principles He taught, and I shall ever present them just as He has expressed them. If the opinions of those I love are crossed by them, so it must be, for I dare not turn to the right or to the left to express the mind of God. My life-work is too solemn a matter to be trifled with. I have learned that reproof and correction of erroneous ideas is a most serious business. The demand on any mind or soul is not that he is required to have skill or genius to create, but to have that humility that will be taught, to appreciate the care of God expressed in his behalf, and to step out of a wrong path into a right and safe path, for his own soul’s interest and for the safety of other souls who will follow him in bringing in wrong principles.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 5)
My sister, it is our safety to keep Christ uplifted as the Author and Finisher of our faith, and then follow His example to do His will, irrespective of consequences. If there is first a willing mind, there will be no lack of light and help from the Source of all power. The Lord will lead every one who will place his hand in His. He never lets go the hand of any one, unless it is withdrawn.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 6)
My sister, let your heart ever repose in confidence in God. The Lord will be to you a present help in every time of need. He does not need to work through other minds to lead His chosen ones. He is desirous of communicating through those who seek Him with all their heart. While we put our entire trust in our Redeemer we are perfectly safe. We have a large work to do, and we are to have respect unto the recompense of reward. And more than this, we are to use every God-given faculty that others through our influence and Christlike example may have the same respect that we have.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 7)
I hope, my sister, that you will have an influence in the Women’s Christian Temperance Association to draw many precious souls to the standard of truth. The Lord is drawing many to an examination of the truth, and you need not fail nor be discouraged. Sow beside all waters. There are good waters in which you can sow the seeds of truth, even if you do not dwell publicly upon the prominent features of our faith. It would not be wise to be too definite. The oil of grace revealed in your conscious and unconscious influence will make known that you have the light of life. This will shine forth to others in your direct, positive testimony upon subjects on which you can all agree, and this will have a telling influence.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 8)
My heart is with you in this work of temperance. I speak most decidedly on this subject and it has a telling influence upon other minds. Often the testimony is borne, “I have not used any tobacco, wine, or any stimulant or narcotic since that discourse you gave upon temperance.” Now, they say, “I must furnish myself with enlightened principles for action; for I want others to know the benefits I have received. This reformation involves great consequences to me and all with whom I come in contact. I will choose the better part, to work with Christ with settled principles and aims, to win a crown of life as an overcomer.”
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 9)
Be of good courage, my sister. The Lord is your helper. You ask me in reference to the publications of books on certain subjects of moral purity. I cannot now take time to write you as I would be pleased to, for the mail must leave this morning. I have had an experience in these lines that I would be pleased to write to you of, but I cannot do this today. In the talks you may have with women on this subject, give them all the light and help you can. But I would not advise the publication of pamphlets, for they would not be appreciated. The Lord will surely lead you to feel the intense interest in these matters that I do; but your words will just as surely be misconstrued, and this will cut off your influence to a certain degree and create a state of things for which you are not prepared. If I could see you, I would communicate to you things which I cannot place upon paper. I now say, The Lord bless you, Sister Henry.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 10)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 96, 1899, 11)
Lt 96a, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 19, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 21MR 154-156. Dear Sister Henry:
I have been very sick for one week during our conference. I am now improving. I was able Monday to sit in a carriage and ride very slowly to the school grounds, and meet with a large company in the school chapel. I commenced to talk in great weakness, but my voice became stronger. I was unable to stand, and was accommodated with an easy chair on the platform. My address was, “The Sanitarium, Our Great Necessity,” and presenting the features of what should be in the building to be erected. I will send the talk to you. The speaking did me no harm. We are all interested, and all can do something, but we cannot anyone create large donations. All must do their best.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 1)
The Lord blesses Dr. Caro in a large measure. If we could have had the building erected one year ago, it was the Lord’s time, but we are behind one year. If I could visit America I would be able to visit the churches, and they would donate. The three thousand dollars raised in the General Conference assembled at South Lancaster is all that came from that wonderful donation. The fifteen thousand dollars appropriated by Mr. Norman, where is it? If he had kept out of the way, then the work begun there would have gone through the churches, and we could have had sufficient to erect a sanitarium. But the spirit of sacrifice stopped there and then. We are congratulated by several letters received from America that are congratulating us in regard to the means donated. This may be the reason everything is so silent now. But we have a meetinghouse to build in Newcastle, and a sanitarium to build. We shall do all that we possibly can and trust the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 2)
Brother John Wessels is here. His money he could not bring, for it is tied up in Africa.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 3)
Tomorrow we have another meeting in behalf of the sanitarium to see or test what the people will do to raise means. The Lord has money among His people. The three thousand dollars raised, I understand, is to be apportioned to the most needy objects in the sanitarium interests. Were the building now up and in running order, there would be no dearth of patronage. But the Lord will devise and plan some way for us to get the money. We do have faith, notwithstanding the prospect is so apparently without encouragement.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 4)
We have been having excellent meetings, although I have been unable to attend but a few. Our people will have the information concerning the meetings. I have not much writing for this mail which leaves today.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 5)
Our faith and trust is in the Lord. The work is the Lord’s. We are His servants to do His will. All seem to be of excellent courage. All seem to feel that all the attributes God has given them must become vocal, to communicate the precious things of truth. The Lord would have His entrusted talents multiplied and returned back to Him to awaken the rejoicing of angels round about the throne of God. Oh, if all only understood their accountability before God, what a revenue of thanksgiving and praise would go forth from human lips, proceeding from the heart of thanksgiving and praise.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 6)
When the third angel’s message shall go forth with a loud voice [and] the whole earth shall be lightened with His glory, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon His people. The revenue of glory has been accumulating for this closing work of the third angel’s message. Of the prayers that have been ascending for the fulfillment of the promise—the descent of the Holy Spirit—not one has been lost. Each prayer has been accumulating, ready to overflow and pour forth a healing flood of heavenly influence and accumulated light all over the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 7)
We need greater faith. We need now to be worked by the Holy Spirit. Believers themselves need to be reconverted and understand what is comprehended in the third angel’s message. If we individually understand our privileges and opportunities when we assemble together, each heart would have a living experience, and the Lord Jesus would be in our midst. Thick currents of His love would flow from the heart to heart, and the petty, and also larger, difficulties would disappear. Brotherly love would tell its precious story, and there would be no discussion. Heart would blend with heart in a oneness with Christ Jesus, and bound up with Christ in God they [would] see His face by faith. Then the standard of truth is uplifted, the light from heaven is poured over the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 8)
All who will may come to the securing of the sanctified gift. New victories, are under the love and grace of Jesus Christ, are to be added to the domains of the church. The barren places of the earth will become as the garden of the Lord. For the church becomes the region of light and of utility. We want now to be wide awake to catch every ray of light.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 9)
The meek shall be as David, and David as an angel of the Lord. Every Christian will see in the face of every other the face of God in benevolence and brotherly love. We need, my sister, greater benevolence, greater humility first, then the simplicity of Christ will appear; contention will cease, because it is an offensive thing and grieves the Holy Spirit of God. No one who truly enjoys the Spirit of Jesus Christ will be fractious, suspicious, criticizing, accusing. Why? Because Christ is abiding in the soul temple.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 10)
Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the whole multitude of them that believed were of “one heart and of one mind.” [Acts 4:32.] The Spirit of Christ animated the whole and became the whole heart of the whole community. Every pulse beat in concert. One subject of emulation swallowed up every other. Who should approach nearest the likeness of Christ? Which should do most to glorify God? The Spirit of life and light and sanctification and holiness pervaded every mind. Heart beat in unison with heart. Praise and thanksgiving were ascending upward to God. This is the fruit borne on the Christian tree. May the Lord help His people now at this present time to be the light of the world. The world needs the light of Christian example. The church is too much, altogether too much, like the world; therefore the light is not reflected from them to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 11)
Sister, work on in faith. Jesus loves you, and He would have you trustful, strong in His love, and you can be a blessing in many ways, at the right and left. Whatever you shall see inconsistent in practical godliness in those who claim to be children of God, be not discouraged at all. Stand, looking unto Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of your faith. The Holy One has given us rules for the guidance of all. These rules form the standard from which there can be no sinless swerving. By the combined influence of authority and affection we are to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 12)
We need not be weak and inefficient. In order to represent Christ we must be strong in His strength, pure as He is pure; truth as it is in Jesus is planted in the heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 13)
Jesus loves His people. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory. Let us open mind and heart to receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and then we can but impart that which we have received. May the Lord bless and strengthen you to labor, for women workers are needed so much. There is a large field for women workers whose hearts are imbued with the Spirit of God. May the Lord bless you is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 96a, 1899, 14)
Lt 97, 1899
Chick, Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 26, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 162. + Dear Sister:
I am compelled to write to you by this morning’s mail in regard to your son. I think it would be well for you to come to Cooranbong and take him away with you; if not, some one must go to the expense of taking him to Sydney. That the boy is converted is all a mistake. He has not submitted his will to the will of the Lord. He will not be advised or counselled. Perhaps he would be brought to his senses by the rod, which I fear has not been used in his case. The Word of the Lord says, “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” [Proverbs 19:18; 13:24.]
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 1)
I am confident that the only way by which this lad can be brought to his senses is for him to feel that he has a master. Words are wasted on him, for he has not the slightest respect for principal or teacher. He acts as though he were a man, with judgment superior to any other being. What does this all mean? He is a spoilt child, and his determined disobedience and rebellion will be his eternal ruin unless this spirit can be subdued.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 2)
The work that has been going on in this school is an offense to God. The only thing that can be done is to observe the strictest discipline. Now is the time when children and youth should lay a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold upon eternal life. Now, just now, the youth, young men and young women, are to take their stand. Their character-building cannot be reared in strength and beauty unless it rests upon the sure foundation, Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 3)
Our school is not what is usually termed a reformatory school, yet it is so in fact, and every child and youth is to be brought under strict discipline, for many parents have failed in understanding their accountability as parents. They have been blind, and have not taken straightforward methods in the training of their children. They have indulged them, and passed over and excused the evils in their characters. They do not suppose it possible that the minds of their children could be corrupted by evil thoughts.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 4)
Your lad has not yet felt his need of a Saviour. He is under the control of an evil, insubordinate will, and he needs to be placed in a reformatory school, where the strictest discipline is maintained, until he understands that he cannot manage himself and do as he pleases. I have talked with him, but he is woefully lacking in good, sound sense. Had he been taught to obey when he was a baby in his mother’s arms, had he been instructed in his youth to do the will of his mother, who stands in the place of God to her children, he might have developed a different character. But as he now stands, he is an offense to God and those who would do him good. He is the saddest specimen of a child that I have seen in all my experience. He speaks with the utmost contempt of everything here.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 5)
On Sabbath he managed by some cunning to run away. He had hid his trunk somewhere in the bush, and his preparations were all made. Then he prevailed on another lad to go with him. When the time came for the students to fall into line and walk two and two to the church, these two boys were missing. A search was instituted, but they could not be found. Then it was discovered that his trunk was gone. The greatest anxiety was felt by the teachers, and the manager, Mr. Reekie, took his wheel and went as rapidly as possible to the station in search of him.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 6)
When almost there he met the boys coming back. They were carrying the trunk between them, and you may be sure they were hungry, tired boys. The cars had passed before they reached the station, and therefore your son did not go. All this performance was carried on upon the Sabbath. Your son stated that he would get away, he would not stay. All talk and reasoning is thrown away on him. He said that he had received a letter from his mother saying that he could come home. He was asked for the letter, but he said that he had burned it. “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord; but they that deal truly are his delight.” [Proverbs 12:22.]
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 7)
It is of no use to keep your son here. As for the grace of Christ, he is a stranger to it, and what deception he will yet practice we know not. What does it mean? He seems to be a boy who at thirteen years of age supposes he is to form attachments with the idea of marriage. In this respect he acts like a lad who has not common sense. Sister Goldthorpe’s daughter came up here, and what for? Why come to Cooranbong unless she was to attend school? It is this child that your son in enamored with. Who has permitted this attachment to take place between these children? What does it all mean? In regard to this boy and girl love, we permit it not in the school. The writing notes or letters between boys and girls is checked at once.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 8)
In this matter as in all others, your son thinks that he is to do as he likes. He says that he has always done just as he likes, and always will, that he has never worked, and never will. This school is highly appreciated by old and young who have a desire to obtain an education in right lines, but it is no school for your son. He cannot learn anything. This one boy has made more trouble than any ten boys who are submissive.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 9)
We cannot see any other way for you to do than to take your boy home with you and do with him the best you can. As you have allowed him to discipline you in the place of your disciplining him, the outlook is most discouraging. He is a rare specimen Satan’s working on the human mind. And all talk with him is of no value. Words are wasted on him. He said to me, “You had better spend your money on some one else besides me. It will not be of the least use for you to waste your money.” He has not the least idea of doing what is told him, only as he is compelled to do it. What will be the future of such a lad, it is impossible to conjecture. He can frame falsehoods and utter them as easily as he can breathe. He says, “I have always done just as I please, and I always will do as I please. I have always had my own way, and I always mean to have it.”
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 10)
The report goes from Sister Goldthorpe’s daughters that he is converted, but we see not in him the slightest sign of conversion. The hard spirit of the boy seems strange for one so young. He seems to have no power to distinguish between right and wrong. He acts as though he had no conscience, but only a set, determined will of his own. He talks big things, as if he were a man, to act as a man. What this all means in a boy thirteen years old is a mystery. Let me tell you that Sister Goldthorpe and yourself should never give the slightest license or the least encouragement to the fancies of children in the lovesick, sentimental line, unless you would reap a most bitter harvest. These things are often treated as funny, something to [be] amused over. But the very first indications should be repressed.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 11)
Do not think I have no sympathy for you, for I have. But you must understand these things, and know for yourself that an altogether different course of action is needed in the training of your boy. If he is to be left to his own will—wise, yes, very wise in an evil way full of self-importance and self-conceit—ruin is the sure result. The Lord can save him; but he, I think, would try to instruct the Lord, rather than be instructed.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 12)
I advise you, my sister, to come to Cooranbong yourself, and then decisions can be made, and you can take your son back with you. His heart is closed against all good impressions and all good advise. He has no respect for counsel or advice, and we fear that his influence over the youth of his own age will cause constant trouble. Gladly would we see some change in him, but there has not been a break yet.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 13)
Last Friday and Sabbath were important days in the school. The Spirit of the Lord came in and wrought upon the hearts of the students. There had been some young men and young women who had not kept the rules of the school, and they confessed of their own accord. They did not wait to be found out. There was great humiliation and confession. A good work was going on; but at this time your boy was planning how he could run away, and I suppose is planning still how he can make that perverse will of his master everything on the school ground. This will not be suffered.
(14LtMs, Lt 97, 1899, 14)
Lt 98, 1899
Jones, C. H.; Pacific Press “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia February 20, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 21MR 143-146.
C. H. Jones and all who are standing in responsible positions in the Pacific Press:
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 1)
Dear Brethren:
The Lord has been opening some matters before me. I have been instructed to say that some of the actions of men in important positions of trust are not approved by God.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 2)
The Lord stirred my heart to make an appeal in behalf of the Southern Field. He said that He would move upon His people to give of their means to help in this field, and He did impress the people to give for this purpose. And the word went out that ten thousand dollars had been raised for the Southern Field. This was at a time when the men at the head of the work were carrying out their unjust, fraudulent transactions in regard to The Gospel Primer and other books. Pressure was brought to bear, first to hinder, and then to get control of The Gospel Primer, and in the place of the work in the South being aided by the sale of this book, as it might have been, the income was reduced and diverted to other uses. What a blind selfishness.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 3)
The terribly neglected condition of the colored people in the South is charged by God upon those in America who have been given light by God regarding the great necessities of that field, and yet have done so little to relieve that situation. No people have suffered such great oppression as the colored people in the South. None have through the treatment received been brought into such degradation. And for no people has so little been done to uplift. They have not been taught to read that they might know the Word of God. This field stands forth to witness against those who have had the light of truth, who have had their duty plainly presented to them, but who have neglected to do what should have been done.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 4)
In several letters which I have received, the question has been asked, “Sister White, can you tell what has become of the money donated to the Southern Field?” I could not tell; therefore I did not answer. Dishonesty has been shown in turning aside the means which should have gone to the work in the Southern Field. And one night I was instructed that the manager of the Pacific Press had something to do with the turning aside of the funds raised for the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 5)
Those who made donations to the work in the South have a right to know that their money never reached the destitute field for which it was intended. It is such things as these that destroy the confidence of the people and those who have the management of the work of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 6)
What is the reason of this condition of things? Unfaithful stewardship. Those connected with the institutions under the supervision of God, who received donations for the Southern Field, should at once have sent forward this money to the field for which it was donated. But this was not done, and the Lord regards those, whose judgment was so perverted that they did not handle aright the money sent as a consecrated offering to God, as untrustworthy servants.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 7)
Our individual influence is proportionate to the position we occupy and the work we are doing. Those who acted a part in robbing the Southern Field had every facility, buildings, machinery, and workers yet they could take “the one ewe lamb,” and let consequences and results take care of themselves. [2 Samuel 12:3.] What does it mean? Were these men controlled by the Holy Spirit? God holds responsible those who by pen or voice acted a part in diverting his means from the field for which it was raised. In heart, mind, and soul they were controlled by covetousness. Covetousness is idolatry, and no idolater will enter the kingdom of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 8)
Such a state of things will bring a terrible reaction. The dearth of means and facilities that has been felt in the Southern Field is a severe witness against the men who have proved themselves untrustworthy. The money raised for the work in the South was not donated to the General Conference, neither was it donated to the Pacific Press Publishing House. It was no more the property of the General Conference or the Pacific Press than it was my property. The diverting of this means from its proper channel was a fraudulent transaction, which stands recorded against the actors. Every dollar of this money, the principal, and the interest up to the present time, should be placed where God designed it should be. I accuse no one; but God knows every action.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 9)
The God of heaven will not prosper those who cannot distinguish between righteousness and fraud. He has seen and heard the prayers and tears and want of the Southern Field, and those who by selfishness, by withholding the means so much needed in that field, will be held responsible for the work that should have been done and is not done. For permitting men to divert the means raised for the South the General Conference will have to render an account to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 10)
Will the men who should have a sharp sense of justice and equity continue to work upon a worldly, fraudulent policy? When the Lord moves upon His people to give of their means for a certain purpose, will the men at the head of the work be partakers in an unholy, selfish, covetous course of action? Where is the strength of righteous principle that should be brought into the work? Shall those who have the privilege of handling the sacred fire turn from it to the common fire? To the father of Nadab and Abihu God declares through Moses, “I will be sanctified in all them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” [Leviticus 10:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 11)
Who are keeping the commandments of God? There are those who know the truth, but who walk not in its light. A lawyer came to Christ with the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ left him to answer his own question. “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” He asked. The lawyer answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.”“Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” Willing to justify himself, the lawyer asked, “Who then is my neighbor?” [Luke 10:25-29.] And by the parable of the good Samaritan, Christ showed who he was to regard as his neighbor.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 12)
Those who have been waiting for the means which they knew was raised for the Southern Field have been anxious and troubled. They have had to work in a field destitute of means, and they have been tempted, because they knew the money they should have had was in somebody’s grasp, kept away from the Southern Field. They have made every effort to earn a little money by combining business and work, but these efforts have brought disappointment, yet much good has been done through the self-sacrificing efforts made.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 13)
And at the same time those men who should have helped stood off and criticized most unjustly. God will not hold them guiltless. “Shall I not judge for these things?” He asks. [Jeremiah 5:9.] How many trials would have been saved the workers in the Southern Field if men had not interposed themselves to counterwork the purposes of God. The work there would have been years in advance of what it now is. Let those who have appropriated the means raised for the Southern Field remember that they have misappropriated money that did not in any way belong either to the conference or to the Pacific Press.
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 14)
May the Lord open the eyes of His people that they may see, and give them understanding that they may perceive. I cannot describe to you, as I have been shown, God’s displeasure at the robbery of a field of its own donated treasure. This money should never have been used to cancel debts. If the institutions in Battle Creek owed the Pacific Press, should the Pacific Press have laid hands on the money sacredly dedicated to the Lord, donated by His people to the Southern Field? Is it thus that the work of God is to be mingled with the wood, hay, and stubble of man’s inventions? Is it not time that in every one of the Lord’s institutions faithful, trustworthy men be appointed by the people to examine every business transaction?
(14LtMs, Lt 98, 1899, 15)
Lt 99, 1899
Kellogg, H. W. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 10, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I write to ask you, Will you sell me the right to The Gospel Primer, that I may as far as possible, remedy the grievous work that has been done in handling it? Unfair means were used; a complication of schemes which were not devised by the Holy Spirit was put in operation to obtain possession of this work, and as far as possible the publishing house should redeem their evil schemes and work. The men who took a part in this business will not meet their record with joy in the day of final account.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 1)
I wish to send means to Edson to help him in his work in the Southern Field, for he cannot obtain facilities. Had the responsible men in the Review and Herald Office been influenced by the Spirit of God, they would have done the right thing in this matter, and the Lord would have blessed them. But they failed to do justly and to love mercy. They manifested little interest in the work in the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 2)
If you will sell me the right to this book, I will use the proceeds from its sale for the work in this field, and try at this late date to do what should have been done years ago. If this plan meets your mind, let me hear from you. I greatly desire that the work shall be made straight, and the wrong righted if possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 3)
W. C. White carries the other half of this interest, and he will pass the profits into Edson’s hands, as soon as he receives certain money which he has invested. He has not received the high wages which many in the Review and Herald Office have had.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 4)
In the night season I was presenting the needs of the Southern Field before our brethren in America. I said to them, The Lord calls upon you to make decided efforts to help your neighbors in the South, but how little you have done. You erected a sanitarium in Colorado, with the money that should have been given to the Southern Field. Every year barriers are being formed which make the work of presenting the truth more difficult. The high wages which are being paid to workers in our institutions are binding up the means and bringing in a train of evils which make it very hard to enter new fields. When those in high positions shall see the evil of these large salaries, and repent of the covetousness which they have manifested and the bitterness which has resulted from their covetous spirit, the Lord will turn His face toward His people.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 5)
In the month of April a scene in the Southern Field was presented before me. O what destitution there was! What need of help! In March there had been some confusion in the South which I could not explain. Our people were in trouble with the Southerners, who were making efforts to hinder the work from being established. Thousands of the colored people cannot read, and therefore cannot study the Word of God for themselves. And there are very many among the white people who do not want us to give assistance to this poor, ignorant, half-clad, half-fed people. They do not want them to be taught how to work, how to become self-sustaining, and they are seeking to revive the spirit of slavery in the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 6)
Thus it is becoming dangerous to teach the truth to the colored race. I heard mutterings and threats against the work Edson White is doing. I heard secret plottings to destroy both work and workers if they did not desist. Then I said to the company I was addressing, “For years the Lord has been pointing out that the Southern Field should be worked in a careful, judicious way. No words should be spoken in reference to the ill-treatment of the blacks.”
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 7)
While I was speaking, some voices were raised, saying, “We have been told that these great precautions are not necessary, and that altogether too much has been said in regard to the dangers existing in the South.” I turned to the speakers, and said, “You do not understand the elements to be dealt with in the Southern Field. As soon as an effort is made to educate and uplift this people, who have so long been held in ignorance and slavery, the jealousy of the whites is aroused. It will not do to work that field with the same freedom that you would bring into your work in the Northern states. On many subjects a discreet silence must be maintained, or a state of things will be brought about which will close the field against us. Those who apprehend no danger, and think they can work on the same lines in the South as in the North, have no real wisdom. In the South the spirit of slavery is not eradicated; it has only been smothered for a short time.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 8)
“The desire to show their masterly authority over the blacks is still burning in the hearts of many who claim to be Christians, but whose lives declare that they are standing under the black banner of the great apostate. When the whites commit crimes, they are often allowed to go uncondemned, while for the same transgressions the blacks, ignorant, debased, knowing nothing of the Word of God, and scarcely knowing their right hand from their left, are treated worse than the brutes. The demon of passion is let loose, and all the suffering that can be devised is instituted against them. Will not God judge for these things? As surely as the whites have brought their inhuman cruelty to bear upon the negroes, so surely will God’s vengeance fall upon them.”
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 9)
God is cognizant of the means of which mission fields have been robbed, and He has written it all in His book. Years that might have been spent in educating the colored people have been lost, and this neglect testifies against all Christendom, and especially against those who have been entrusted with the last message of warning to be given to the world. May the Lord help His people to see where they have been unfaithful stewards. My heart is painted when I am made to understand the treachery of the human heart. So many unworthy motives prompt to action; so much double-dealing is manifested; so many crooked methods are resorted to accomplish the ends desired. Under a garb of piety these evils work until the deceived ones discover that they have been robbed, and that the practices of God’s professed people are the same as those of the world. But the tares and the wheat must grow together until the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 10)
Brother Ballenger’s idea of forming a settlement in the South will not succeed. The most quiet methods of work must be adopted. Time and experience will show you that permanent settlements cannot be made there. When one portion of the field is closed against them, the Lord would have His messengers take up their work in another part. They are not to form communities, for nothing can be permanent in this field.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 11)
There is only one power that can make man steadfast and keep him so, and that power is the grace of Christ. If the truth of God is rooted in the heart, it will be the mainspring of every action. He who trusts in aught else leans for support on a tottering wall.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 12)
We have had trying times in this field. God’s voice has called us to go forward, when apparently there was no path but the Red Sea. But we moved forward in faith, and planted the standard in places where the truth had never been preached. And now we see no limit to the work. The warning message must go to every town between Cooranbong to Queensland, and from Queensland to the regions beyond. We are obeying the command, “Go forward” [Exodus 14:15], and the Lord will open the way by sending means and facilities to carry on the warfare.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 13)
Brother Kellogg, you have felt the truth of God in your heart. You have loved the truth, and I would say to you, Be steadfast. The truth as it is in Jesus will keep you from every snare, and will refine and purify and ennoble you. We have no time now to relax our efforts. Each minute we are to look to Jesus, and by beholding Him be changed into the same image. Be determined that you will be true to principle. You understand how the work in our institutions was established—by self-denial and self-sacrifice. You are to co-operate with One who knows no failure. I greatly desire that you may stand among the number who overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.
(14LtMs, Lt 99, 1899, 14)
Lt 100, 1899
Ballenger, A. F. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 2, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in SWk 88-90. Dear Brother Ballenger:
In the South there are some places where work can be done. But the neglect of our people to respond to the light God has given has closed some openings which it will now be very difficult for them to enter. I inquire, What do our people mean by this neglect to work the Southern Field? True, it is not a desirable field, and unless the Lord shall inspire with His love the hearts of His people, they will not succeed. They are not to begin by publishing the great and wonderful things they are going to do. Cannot they see that if they do this, the gate will be closed against them? That which might have been done years ago in the South can now be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 1)
When the children of Israel were encamped on the other side of the Jordan, “the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children the children of Israel.” [Numbers 13:1, 2.] Read this history, contained in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Numbers. When the evil report brought back by the spies was received, God was displeased, and declared His determination concerning the people. For forty years they were to wander in the wilderness. After He had said this, the people decided to go up. But the favorable time had passed. The news of their coming had been circulated, and their enemies were prepared to resist them. And Moses said, “Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies.” [Numbers 14:42.] But they presumptuously went to the hilltop to be defeated by their enemies.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 2)
Thus it is now with some places in the South. The doors are closed. Yet there are others places where prejudice has not been excited, and where work may be done. I write this to our people that they may see that it is not knowledge that they need but new hearts, cleansed from all selfishness and covetousness. Those who have had every facility and convenience have shown their neglect for fields which have had so little. In some parts of the Lord’s vineyard nothing has been done.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 3)
Money has been raised and appropriated, although not for personal advantage, yet in distinct disobedience to the Lord’s requirements. Those parts of His great vineyard where the least has been done were to be worked; but methods were used to divert the means for this purpose into other channels. Through misrepresentation and misinterpretation the Southern Field has been robbed. That field has not received from the Lord’s treasury its meat in due season.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 4)
The men whose influence cut off every advantage in the publication of books, the profits of which were to be used in the Southern Field, might better examine themselves and see what they have done in working out false theories and principles, which have brought upon the workers in our institutions the frown of God. O, I beg of every soul who has connived in these matters to repent and confess and be converted, sending their sins beforehand to judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 5)
My brother, I will send you that which I have in regard to the Southern Field. The plans and efforts that could have been made years ago will not now succeed in some places. It is best to move when the Lord sends word to move, and not study human minds, human methods, human plans, human convenience. The Lord is wearied with the unbelief, selfishness and covetousness of His people. This has stood in the way of the advancement of His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 6)
Eighty thousand dollars, I understand, were invested in the sanitarium in Boulder, pressing upon the heart of the work a heavier load of debt than was already there. Did the Lord devise that work? No; that amount of money was needed in India, in Australia, in the Southern Field, in foreign fields, that the Lord’s ministers might carry the message of truth to places nigh which have never been worked, and to places afar off.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 7)
The Lord is displeased with His people, because they have worked at cross-purposes with Him. Money has been invested in various conveniences and facilities which the Lord never directed. There is earnest work to be done, but the money is consumed so that the will of God is not done. My heart is sick and sore and distressed beyond measure. May the Lord awaken His people, who are not yet half awake.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 8)
I have thought of Paul, the great minister who was sent to preach Christ and Him crucified to the Gentiles. On one occasion he was in a strait betwixt two. He was so weighed down with responsibilities that he knew not whether he would rather die or live, whether he would choose for the good of others to abide in the flesh, or give up the conflict. “Brethren,” he writes, “I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 3:13, 14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 9)
My brother, walk humbly with God. I wish that the work could have been done in the Southern field which God designed should be done; but men have proved untrustworthy stewards. May the Lord give His people hearts of flesh, and not hearts of steel, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 100, 1899, 10)
Lt 101, 1899
Responsible Men in Our Institutions NP July 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 6MR 270-271. To the Responsible Men in Our Institutions:
I call upon those who stand as presidents and overseers in our institutions to change. Altogether too much of the natural tendency of the human heart is revealed, which has nothing to do with Christ, but everything to do with self. Hear the words of the Lord to you: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you.” [Colossians 3:12, 13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 1)
I testify to you that this has not been done as God requires. My fellow laborers in a high and holy calling, you have a work to do. Clear the King’s highway, make His paths straight, that holy angels may come into our institutions. Remember that whatever your position, you are only men and not God. The Lord says to you, “Above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” [Verse 14.] What is charity? It is love for God and for your fellow laborers. “All ye are brethren,” Christ declares. [Matthew 23:8.] He includes every soul from the highest to the least.
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 2)
Kindness and courtesy, gentleness and grace, must be revealed in the men who bear high responsibilities. Then there will be unity, and love will be exercised toward all, for they will have “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”“There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free; but Christ is all and in all.” [Colossians 3:10, 11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 3)
The Holy Spirit stands ready to work man if he will submit to the working. But you feel fully capable of working yourselves. You are too apt to criticize others. You may criticize yourself as much as you please, but refrain from criticizing your fellow workers, for if you do this, you will be left to your own ways.
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 4)
The apostle exhorts us, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” [Verse 15.] When you empty the soul-temple of self, there will be room for the peace of God to rule. With some, self has occupied the throne of your hearts ever since you professed to be converted. This self is a selfish, bigoted creature who needs to die daily. “Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” [Verse 16.] If there were less scolding, and more singing with grace in the heart to the Lord, think you not that the atmosphere of every room in the office would be changed? The workers would be easily entreated to show mercy and tenderness for every soul in need of help and strength and grace.
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 5)
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” [Verse 17.] I am charged to say to you, Will you do whole-souled, thorough work, and let Christ abide in you? To be converted one day under the Holy Spirit’s working is not enough. Let the Spirit of God cleanse the soul-temple. Let Jesus in. He invites you to receive Him. Covetousness and the other evils that dominate in your lives are not such precious traits that you should be unwilling to part with them. I tell you that you have not attained to the height of your possibilities. You have only reached a low level, for self is cherished as if it were pure, untarnished gold. However high in the scale of piety you have risen, there are heights you have never yet reached—heights which if you do not reach, you will be “found wanting.” [Daniel 5:27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 6)
The Lord says to you, You may govern yourselves. He has provided the aid of the Holy Spirit, that you may put on Christ and build up a pure, beautiful building which God can delight in. Sit in serious, earnest judgment on your own defects. Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. He gave His life a sacrifice for your sins, that He might present you pure and spotless before the heavenly universe.
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 7)
You have knowledge, plenty of it. Have you used it as sacred fire of the Lord’s kindling? If you have cultivated your knowledge, you know that it is possible for you to lay hold of wisdom. But God never elevates a man above his fellow men because of his much learning. The question the Lord asks is, Has he wisdom to appropriate that knowledge? The gathering together of so many books for study has interposed between God and man a mass of knowledge which dwarfs the mind and makes it unable to organize that which it has already taken in. The mind becomes dyspeptic. Wisdom is needed, that man may choose aright between these many authors and the Word of life, that he may eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 8)
My brethren, discard the streams of the lowlands and come to the pure waters of Lebanon. Never can you walk in the light of God while you crowd your brains with a mass of matter which they cannot handle. It is time we resolved to have heaven’s help and allow the mind to be impressed with the Word of God. Let us close the door to so much reading. Let us pray more, and eat the words of life. Unless there is a deeper work of grace in mind and heart, unless we reveal true Christian charity, we can never see the face of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 101, 1899, 9)
Lt 102, 1899
White, J. E. NP July 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in TMK 117; OHC 174. + Dear Son Edson:
If you and Emma come to us, we shall do all in our power to make you happy. I have no urging to do, my dear children. Ask the Lord in regard to the matter, then do what you know is your duty. We must take life’s controversies and troubles to His feet, for He loves us. His every word and look invites our confidence. We want Jesus to come into our home and abide with us. He will shape and mold our characters according to His own will, and every day we shall be found asking, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 1)
We need not feel undue anxiety. We must learn the lesson of faith and trust. Let us commit the spiritual needs of our soul to Him who has loved us and given His precious life that He might make it possible for us to learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart. While lifting the cross He says to us, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] Christ alone can make us capable of responding when He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] This means that every day self must be denied. Christ can give us the noble resolve, the will, to suffer and to fight the battles of the Lord with persevering energy. The weakest, aided by divine grace, may have strength to be more than conquerors.
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 2)
We need an abiding Christ. We must render God more than a fitful service. Learning of Jesus, we shall copy His character, His meekness and lowliness of heart. When we find ourselves in trouble we are apt to censure someone. It is not right to do this. We need to hide ourselves in God. We need confidence in God. Then we all “with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,” from character to character, “even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18.] The Lord does not expect impossibilities of you or of me, but beholding Him we may be changed into the same image.
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 3)
“Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” [1 Corinthians 13:4-7.] Through His inspired apostle, Christ has presented to us the measure of the character that is imbued with the love of Christ. We are to bear the marks of Christ; we are to have His likeness. This example is given us that we may know the possibilities, the heights we may reach in and through Christ. The standard He presents is perfection in Him, and through His merits we may attain to it. We come short because we are content to look at earthly things rather than at heavenly. It is by beholding Christ that we are changed from glory to glory. The eye that views common things needs to be elevated. “Now we see through a glass darkly,” the apostle says, “but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, and charity; these three, but the greatest of these is charity.” [Verses 12, 13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 4)
No man has yet measured the nature of God or the character of His Son. We must have a knowledge of God by living experience. If we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know His goings forth are prepared as the morning. We are to appreciate the talents of the words faith, hope, and charity. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory (the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” [John 1:12-16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 5)
Will you, my children, daily receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? What others may do, what others may say, what others may think of you, will not change God’s thoughts toward you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, and the opinion of man will not change his character. You have a heaven to win. Christ gave His own life that you might obtain the peace and rest and love of God. Keep looking to Jesus who loves you and whom you are to love, the One whom you are to talk about, He who is the Author and Finisher of your faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 6)
Edson, Jesus loves you. Emma, Jesus loves you; and He takes no man’s measurement of your character. You are to behold Jesus and reflect His image. Keep His love in your thoughts. Invite the heavenly Guest to abide with you. “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the (experimental) knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” [2 Peter 1:2-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 7)
The Word is plain. We have no excuse for remaining in weakness and spiritual poverty. Every provision has been made, and it rests wholly with us whether we will believe the words of God. The Lord Jesus calls you to be filled with all the fullness of God. Then you can truly represent the words of Christ, “Whoso drinketh of the waters that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the waters that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:14.] Christ wants us to be co-laborers with Him. When we are emptied of self, He will give to us that we may impart. The two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves, will supply the cleansed vessels with light and comfort and hope and love for those who are in need.
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 8)
My children, my words seem very tame, but try to take them in. Let your spirit be cleansed from all earthliness, all unholy, uncharitable thoughts. Let your words be clean, sanctified, vivifying and refreshing all with whom you associate. Be not easily provoked. Let the praise of God be in your hearts and upon your lips, that no evil thing may truthfully be said of you.
(14LtMs, Lt 102, 1899, 9)
Lt 102a, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma NP June 21, 1899 From Lt 102b, 1899. This letter is published in entirety in SWk 91-93. Mr. and Mrs. J. E. White:
Brother [Ballenger] has sent me a letter in regard to his plans for the South, but I cannot encourage such plans. He will calculate to have all things move smoothly. A community to settle in the South, in accordance with the plans he has thought would prove a success, would prove a failure. What is the prospect for feeding and clothing this community? Where is the money to be pledged for building homes for families? The outlay would be greater than the income. There would be a gathering of good and bad, there would be the need of men of clear conception, baptized with the Holy Spirit of God, to run such an enterprise. I might present many things that make it objectionable. There cannot be any colonizing without Satan stirring up the Southern element to look with suspicion on the Northern people, and the least provocation would awaken the Southern whites to produce a state of things they do not now imagine.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 1)
There must be laborers in the South who possess caution. They must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. All who engage in this work should be men who have their pens and tongues dipped in the holy oil of Zechariah 4:11-14. An unadvised word will stir the most violent passions of the human heart and set in operation a state of things that will close the way for the truth to find access to the fields now in such great need of workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 2)
It is not ministers who can preach that are needed so much as men and women who understand how to teach the truth to poor, ignorant, needy, and oppressed people. And as to making it appear that there is not need of caution, it is because those who say such things do not know what they are talking about. It needs men and women who will not be sent to the Southern Field by our people, but who will feel the burden to go into this neglected portion of the vineyard of the Lord. Men, while their hearts burn with indignation as they see the attitude of the white people toward the black, will learn of the Master, Jesus Christ, that silence in expression regarding these things is eloquence. They all need the intelligence that will lead them to learn of Jesus Christ and the simplicity of how to work.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 3)
The cultivation of the soil is an excellent arrangement, but it is not by Northern people grouping together in a community that will accomplish the work they imagine will be a success. Hot tempered men better remain in the North. Men and women who possess the true Christlike spirit of ministry may do excellent work among the Southern colored people. Make no masterly efforts to break down the prejudices of the Southern people, but just live and talk the love of Jesus Christ. There cannot be any greater harm done to the Southern colored people than to dilate on the harm and wrong done them by the white Southerners.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 4)
There is need of level-headed men and women who love the Lord Jesus, and who will love the colored people for Christ’s sake, who have the deepest pity for them. But the methods of _____ are not the methods that will be wise to practice. They cannot be petted and treated just as if they were on a level with the whites without ruining them for all missionary work in the Southern Field. There is a difference among the blacks as there is among the whites. Some possess keen and superior talents, that if the possessor is not made too much of, and is treated from a Bible standpoint as humble men to do a Christlike missionary work, not exalting them, but teaching them religious love, and Christlike love for the souls of their own colored race, and keep before them that they are not called into the field to labor for the whites but to learn to labor in the love of God to restore the moral image of God in those of their own race, then a good work can be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 5)
There is a work to be done in opening schools to teach the colored people alone, unmixed with whites, and there will be a successful work done in this way. The Lord will work through the whites to reach the black race—many of them through white teachers—but it needs the man and his wife to stand together in the work. More than one family of white teachers should locate in a place. Two or three families should locate near each other, not huddle together, but at a little distance apart, where they can consult together, and unite in worship of God together, and work to strengthen each other’s hands to raise up colored laborers to work in the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 6)
There is a mistake often made by those who labor in the Southern fields, expecting that their brethren in the Northern fields of labor can advise them what to do. Those who have had no experience in the Southern Field are not prepared to give reliable advice. Those who are engaged in this work must understand that when emergencies arise they must not depend upon men who have had no experience to advise them. They will often obtain advice that, if followed, would be ruinous to the work. Therefore it is not good policy for one family alone to settle in a locality. Men and women who have not children are best qualified for the Southern Field, and if the Southern Field is too taxing or debilitating, one family from the two or three who have settled in a locality can be spared. But let none feel that it is their bounded duty to remain in the Southern Field after their health has testified that they cannot do this safely. Some persons can endure the climate and do well. But let our brethren in the more favorable climate consider all these things and provide every facility possible to make the conditions of workers in these unfavorable locations as pleasant as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 7)
In places where money has been expended on buildings, and a start has been made, it is the duty of men in responsible positions to give attention to that locality, so that the workers shall be sustained in accomplishing the work designed when the plant was made. There is to be a work done in the South, and it needs men and women who will not need to be preachers so much as teachers—humble men who are not afraid to work as farmers to educate the Southerners how to till the soil, for whites and blacks need to be educated in this line. But when perplexities arise in the South, spread out your wants to the Master of the vineyard. And those who know nothing of the Southern Field, let them be sparing and cautious what advice they give. But sympathy, kind words, and encouragement are always in place.
(14LtMs, Lt 102a, 1899, 8)
Lt 102b, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 16, 1899 See also Lt 102a, 1899. This letter is published in entirety in PC 112-116. Dear Children, Edson and Emma White:
I have been writing out some matters in reference to the South. I have read your letters to Brother Irwin and myself. Prior to this I had written in my diary in regard to yourself and Emma. The light that I have is that you should have a change. W. C. White and I have been consulting together, and from the light given me this burden resting upon you cannot be borne with the want of co-operation evidenced. There is a spirit cherished among men at Battle Creek, those not standing in the position where they can be worked by the Holy Spirit, that they will think they see something to criticize in you, and then this is made an excuse why they do not feel a burden to do what they would otherwise do in the work in which you are engaged.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 1)
And when you are straining every nerve and muscle to make the work a success, you are yourself led to be sharp in the use of the pen, and it hurts your influence to do the same work they are doing in criticizing. And as this work has been hurting them, and as the enemy sees he can hurt you, weaken your hands and discourage your heart, he is pleased. You are wearing out too fast, and the Lord does not require that you and Emma should, under the existing state of things, carry the load without the co-operation of those in responsible places. Some would encourage you if there were not such an influence to meet in doing so. Therefore you are sacrificing life and health under a great disadvantage and must have a respite. Your own spirit is becoming soured and you tempted. Now the Lord would have you come apart and rest awhile, and let the Southern Field be worked by men whom they may choose to put into it, and let the responsibility rest upon them, and they carry it.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 2)
There is a great work to be done in this [Australian] field, and there are souls just as precious in the sight of God as those for whom you are laboring. They will never have a more devoted worker, or one better adapted to the work than you have been, or who will, under the same circumstances, show better results. The lord has been your helper.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 3)
How much I have needed you connected with my work no one knows or ever will know. I can support you in this field myself, but this will not be necessary. While you work for me I expect to do this. But there is an extensive field you can take, in the islands of the sea. You can visit these islands and see what can be done to help them to do the very work you are doing in the South. The experience you have had will be of value with our American workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 4)
Willie proposes that you come by the way of England, stopping at different islands and places on the route. He thinks it would be a great help, but in talking with Brother Irwin, he thinks the very best route for you to take is the same as he took, by Vancouver. It is the best and cheapest route for you and Emma to take. You can spend two or three years here and see if you cannot avoid a complete breakdown in health. W. C. White, yourself, and Emma are subject to malaria, and the Southern Field is most taxing on your strength and vitality, and the poison of malaria will obtain a strong hold upon you. This climate where we are located, among the blue gum trees, seems to be a healthful climate. I wish you could see Willie’s children. They are rugged and solid in bone and muscle. All our family are in good health except Marian, who is not strong, but not down sick.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 5)
I will in this letter send you an order on Review and Herald for your passage money. The trying season will have fully opened upon you in the South before this reaches you, and it is important that you should make a change. I therefore invite you to come direct to this place, as we need you. I expect we shall have a printing press shipped from Pacific Press if they will make us a donation of such an article. We must now have a press of our own so that we can issue small books and use these books to help us in carrying forward the work here.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 6)
We are much pleased with your little paper, [Gospel Herald]. The editing of it is excellent.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 7)
I shall not write you a long letter, but I am going to send copies of letters written. You will see I have had important matters to handle. We are doing all we can, and we desire your help to start our press and set it in operation. We do not propose to confine you to the preparation of books, but you can help us in this. If after two years’ trial in this country you recover your health, you can then return, if it is your desire, and take up the work in any line you see fit. If you choose to remain here in this country and it seems to be the will of the Lord, and if your talent can accomplish more good here than in America, then you follow your own convictions.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 8)
I have not been willing to call you from the Southern Field, knowing your unwillingness to leave that field. But the Lord has been giving me special light for different men who have been working in different fields, that their lives would be shortened by continuing to remain, although they themselves were reluctant to leave, but the health must be preserved. If the work is too taxing in one locality, or the atmosphere unfavorable, they must try other localities. As there is no dearth of work to be done and there are places that are in need of workers, no one need, in this country, to be confined to an unhealthful location. We have, therefore, changed the location of the workers with the best results. New Zealand has a bracing climate. Tasmania is excellent, more like Colorado. Adelaide has a mild and healthful climate. I am not disposed to recommend Melbourne. But we have the opportunity to select most any climate easy of access.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 9)
Here we have plenty of fruit in its season. In August will be our crop of oranges. Our own trees are loaded with oranges and lemons. The sight is beautiful. We can begin to use them in July, but I want all who shall come to our conference to behold the show. The little trees bear five or six large oranges in a cluster on little branches. The mandarin trees are loaded with fruit of the largest size, and the frosts are not so severe as to cut them or to do them any damage. Come, children, and see them. If you could only come so as to be here at conference time, how glad I should be; but I have not hope that you will be here then. At this conference you would see the men who have been laboring in the islands of the sea.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 10)
I must now leave the matter with you, for you must consider for yourself; but you could be a great help to me. The Lord would strengthen you in making a change now. I see that W. C. White is fully in harmony with what I have written to you. He thinks that after you have been here two years you will then be settled [as to] what is best for you to do. My health is good when I do not have to stand on my feet to speak so often; but I am getting old. What I have to do I wish to do quickly and solidly. I wish now to take the Old Testament history from Solomon to the last chapter of Malachi, and the New Testament from the ascension of Christ to the Revelation; but how can I do it? Brother Colcord is helping me. W. C. White is necessarily called to advise and to attend frequent councils, for with the buildings being erected we need constant help from the Lord to teach us His way and His will.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 11)
I now leave the matter with you. Write me at once. I have good help in the three lady workers, Maggie Hare, Minnie Hawkins, and Sarah Peck. But there must be those who have been with me from my earliest experience, who understand the workings of the cause and our history from earlier dates. My memory is good. Trusting in the Lord, my writing ability continues; but how long this will be I know not. But I now have to leave this with you and Emma. Certainly if you continue as you have been doing, your health will not endure the strain of the Southern climate, and my need of you is now very great.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 12)
If I can get out my books I can then have something to pay you and keep all my workers. You have no need to fear in that matter. There is to be a holding of the four winds a little longer, and when they are let loose there will be no peace any longer upon the earth. The truth is now our only shield and buckler. It is our front guard and rearward. May the Lord work for His people is my prayer. I am now writing to our people on important subjects. But I must close this letter. I am up at half past two o’clock in the morning.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 13)
June 21, 1899
The mail leaves today. Brother Irwin goes to Sydney today to spend the Sabbath, and from there to Melbourne and Adelaide and will then return to the conference here at Cooranbong. He will then return by direct route to America, spend one Sabbath in California, and then pass on to the center of the work at Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 14)
Brother Ballenger has sent me a letter in regard to his plans for the South, but Edson, I cannot encourage such plans. He will calculate to have all things move smoothly. A community to settle in the South, in accordance with the plans he has thought would prove a success, would prove a failure. What is the prospect for feeding and clothing this community? Where is the money to be pledged for building homes and for families? There would be a gathering of good and bad, there would be the need of men of clear conception, baptized with the Holy Spirit of God, to run such an enterprise. I might present many things to make it objectionable. There cannot be any colonizing without Satan’s stirring up the Southern element to look with suspicion on the Northern people, and the least provocation would awaken the Southern whites to produce a state of things they do not now imagine.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 15)
There must be laborers in the South who possess caution. They must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. All who engage in this work should be men who have their pen and tongues dipped in the holy oil of Zechariah 4:11-14. An unadvised word will stir the most violent passions of the human heart and set in operation a state of things that will close the way for the truth to find access to the fields now in such great need of workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 16)
It is not ministers that can preach that are needed so much as men and women who understand how to teach the truth to poor, ignorant, needy, and oppressed people. And as to making it appear that there is not need of caution, it is because those who say such things do not know what they are talking about. It needs men and women who will not be sent to the Southern Field by our people, but who will feel the burden to go into this neglected portion of the vineyard of the Lord—men who, while their hearts burn with indignation as they see the attitude of the white people toward the black, will learn of the Master, Jesus Christ, that silence in expression regarding these things is eloquence. They all need the intelligence that they may learn of Jesus Christ and the simplicity of how to work.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 17)
The cultivation of the soil is an excellent arrangement, but it is not by Northern people grouping together in a community that will accomplish the work they imagine will be a success. Hot tempered men better remain in the North. Men and women who possess the true Christlike spirit of ministry may do excellent work among the Southern colored people. Make no masterly efforts to break down the prejudices of the Southern people, but just live and talk the love of Jesus Christ. There cannot be any greater harm done to the Southern colored people than to dilate on the harm and wrong done them by the white Southerners. Just keep the lips closed, although there cannot but be the burning indignation that longs to express itself.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 18)
There is need of level-headed men and women who love the Lord Jesus, and who will love the blacks for Christ’s sake, who have the deepest pity for them. But the methods of Sister S. are not the methods that will be wise to practice. They cannot be petted and treated just as if they were on a level with the whites without ruining them for all missionary work in the Southern Field. There is a difference among the blacks as there is among the whites. Some possess keen and superior talents, that if the possessor is not made too much of, and is treated from a Bible standpoint as humble men to do a Christlike missionary work, not exalting them, but teaching them religious love and Christlike love for the souls of their own colored race, and keeping before them that they are not called into the field to labor for the whites but to learn how to labor in the love of God to restore the moral image of God in those of their own race, then a good work can be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 19)
There is a work to be done in opening schools to teach the colored people alone, unmixed with whites, and there will be a successful work done in this way. The Lord will work through the whites to reach the black race—many of them through white teachers—but it needs the man and his wife to stand together in the work. More than one family of white teachers should locate in a place. Two or three families should locate near each other, not huddle together but at a little distance apart, where they can consult together, and unite in worship of God together, and work to strengthen each other’s hands to raise up colored laborers to work in the South.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 20)
There is a mistake often made by those who labor in Southern fields, expecting [that] their brethren in the Northern fields of labor can advise them what to do. Those who have had no experience in the Southern Field are not prepared to give reliable advice. It is those who are engaged in the work that must understand that when emergencies arise they must not depend upon men who have not any experience to advise them. They will often obtain advise that, if followed, would be ruinous to the work. Therefore it is not good policy for one family alone to settle in a locality. Men and women who have not children are best qualified for the Southern Field, and if the Southern Field is too taxing or debilitating, one family from the two or three who have settled in a locality can be spared. But let none feel that it is their bounden duty to remain in the Southern Field after their health has testified that they cannot do this safely. Some persons can endure the climate and do well. But let our brethren in the more favorable climate consider all these things and provide every facility possible to make the conditions of workers in these unfavorable locations as pleasant as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 21)
In places where money has been expended on buildings, and a start has been made, it is the duty of the men in responsible positions to give attention to that locality, so that the workers shall be sustained in accomplishing the work designed when the plant was made. There is to be a work done in the South, and it needs men and women who will not need to be preachers so much as teachers—humble men who are not afraid to work as farmers to educate the Southerners how to till the soil, for whites and blacks need to be educated in this line. But when perplexities arise in the South, spread out your wants to the Master of the vineyard. And those who know nothing of the Southern Field, let them be sparing and cautious what advice they give. But sympathy, kind words, and encouragement are always in place.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 22)
Your Mother.
(14LtMs, Lt 102b, 1899, 23)
Lt 103, 1899
Caro, Dr. [E. R.]; Morse, Mr. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 3, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brethren:
Brother Stephen Belden will be at the Health Home this evening. He is to visit the dentist and have his teeth fixed. He will need good treatment. Do all you possibly can for him. Give him a thorough looking over, and tell me, if you can, how his case stands. How is his heart? How are his lungs? He thinks of going back to Norfolk Island, and the people there are urging him to return. He feels the cold, sharp air here, and it may be best for him to go. We cannot tell.
(14LtMs, Lt 103, 1899, 1)
He is full of ambition, and thinks he can do much, but he is very feeble, and can do very little. If he exerts himself, he is all out of breath. Give him the very best treatment, and see if he will improve; and charge his expenses to me.
(14LtMs, Lt 103, 1899, 2)
Lt 104, 1899
Haskell, S. N. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 1, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 15MR 47-53. + Dear Brother Haskell:
Again last night I was speaking with you in regard to the textbooks in our schools. I was commissioned to give you a warning. Do not, as you shall meet our schools in California and other places, present to them the ideas that look so clear and plain to you in reference to the textbooks in our schools. They are not prepared for this, and already confusion is working and will work with reference to this point. There are many things to be considered in regard to this matter. There must be no introduction of anything which will sanction Brother Sutherland pushing things to extremes.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 1)
The young lady, Miss Ellis, may be hurt, and is already hurt, so that she will not be of the use in the cause of God that she might have been, but will do superficial work if the classwork under her care is carried forward in accordance with the methods which are now advancing. Had this young woman been left to come out without being exalted and made to think that she was some superior being, she would in walking humbly with God, have been willing to be instructed. But she is working superficially. Less harm will be done by using the simple books which have been used in our schools than by taking them away altogether, as is according to her ideas. Reading books will have to be made by selecting portions of Bible history. The Lord of the gospel is satisfied when the great end is achieved.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 2)
What are the attributes most prized in man by a crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour? Meekness, and lowliness of heart, which He declares those whom He calls shall learn of Him. If we would teach, we must be learners. If we would meet the highest standard, we must love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. Everyone who has purity and love is born of God and knoweth God.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 3)
I have had presented before me Brother Sutherland’s danger in hearing the testimonies, and your lessons upon teaching the Bible alone and listening to the voice of nature, which teaches beautiful lessons. If we follow on to know the Lord, we shall see things more clearly than we discern them now. But neither teachers nor students are prepared to make rapid changes. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit, else minds will misinterpret the subjects and handle them in such a way as to bring confusion rather than light.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 4)
As you shall go into the study of opening the Scriptures to the schools, do not introduce the matter of simple books being discarded. It will do harm to the uninformed, who, half catching at things, and supposing they know it all, yet utterly unable as teachers to understand the matter in all its bearings, will advance theories which one and another will grasp at, but will not understand. Brother Sutherland is making a mistake. Please be guarded. The subjects you have long studied will in Brother Sutherland’s hand be carried to extremes, and in the present state of things this will result in matters which we cannot handle or adjust.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 5)
Brother Sutherland has caught up the idea that there must be many church schools built; but this would mean the misappropriation of means that are called for to open new fields for the ministry of the Word. Wherever there is a settled church, a small building should be erected as a church school. In whatever locality a meetinghouse is erected, let a schoolroom be prepared for that locality, and let teachers of good ability work in instructing the students. But there must be no catching up, without discretion, of rays of light, beautiful light, mixing with it erroneous matters and calling it truth, which each supposes he can prove from the testimonies. I am afraid to write out many things which are exceedingly precious. I am afraid to introduce them.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 6)
In the providence of God this Sister Ellis, who I believe is a jewel, may be properly taught. But as the matter stands, she has been praised and petted, and set to do a work which she cannot do. It seems like the representation of the Gospel Wagon scheme. The aftersight reveals a work which, in her case if properly handled, would be a good and beneficial work. Why cannot our people study from cause to effect? Why cannot they understand that the greatest wisdom is needed in establishing church schools on an entirely new plan? This undertaking means more than they can properly comprehend.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 7)
I write you now, my brother, that you may be cautious. Do not state anything I have told you personally in regard to the matter of change in books. I know that Brother Sutherland needs to put on the brake, and move no faster than the Lord has designated. He has obtained ideas from your writings and mine in reference to schools and the changes he is making in what they call textbooks. They will move faster at this time than the people can be carried. Such changes cannot be made intelligently unless those making them have a clearly defined basis on which to construct their building. All the haphazard movements which they will make in the school work will be proved, as they suppose, from that which Sister White has said. But when they mix and mingle their own ideas as to what can be done, and there is no definite plan of work, the workers will weave in a mass of suppositions and call it that which Sister White has been shown of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 8)
Brother Haskell, please let us both be guarded. Do not let us dwell on the changes to be made until we have something definite to work to. I fear that fanaticism will be brought in. The beautiful theories and suppositions that can be dwelt upon might better be left unsaid until there is something clearly defined, until all can see and understand for themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 9)
You could not possibly work out the changes that could safely be made at this period, when there is need of great reformation in many lines, need of the transformation of the Spirit of God upon men’s characters. Move solidly. You may give expression to the thoughts you have in mind, and others will take up these ideas, and attempt to bring in a new order of things, and make an entirely different structure, calling it your plan or mine. They cannot see the aftereffect of the working out of ideas which have been taken into the mind but not clearly discerned. They endeavor to carry them out, mixing with them Sister White’s testimonies, and they make the work that should be kept sacred a common matter. Descending to the little things and definiteness which some have brought in in regard to education, leads away from the things the Lord would have carried out.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 10)
Sister Ellis has been set to work in a way which she supposes is right, but one who has so short an experience should not be entrusted with the work of putting before the minds of students problems they know not themselves how to solve. The present inaccurate phases of supposed reforms will bring into the ranks of Sabbathkeepers a state of things that will make confusion in educational lines. I see no call to take church schools over grounds that are entirely new, according to the methods and plans that the minds of uninformed teachers would inaugurate. If changes are to be made, we must know what counsel to give and what changes to make, and how to present every line of work intelligently. Decided changes are to be made in every one of our churches in America, but everything cannot be introduced now. The working of the Holy Spirit must be seen, and this Spirit is not to be controlled by any human plans or methods. There are plans to be established in every church. God will work Himself, and man must co-operate.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 11)
The primary classes may keep the same books without disturbance until better books are prepared. The Bible lessons should be given in clear, definite simplicity, so that the minds of the students can grasp them. Until the new methods are understood, let not the present methods be all broken up before better ones are prepared with great care. Let not things be presented to the children which they cannot understand. The light given me is, Move cautiously at ever step. Do not bring in the many things that may be said upon nature as a lessonbook until small books are prepared on this subject which may be presented as textbooks. This work has not yet been done, and until it is done, the minds of the children will only be confused by the fragmentary items being brought in, which may be all truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 12)
In regard to state schools, I know not what our brethren mean. If any such thing as state schools has come into my testimonies, I am in darkness as to how it came in. The subject of state schools as they now exist may be mentioned, but to create state schools is the farthest from any movement that should be made.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 13)
Altogether too large sums of money have been invested in the school building at Battle Creek, and too little wisdom and brain power has been brought into the practical methods to stop the increasing indebtedness of each year. It would have been far better to have closed the school until it should become a science how to conduct the schools in different localities on a paying system. When one year after another passes, and there is no sign of diminishing the debt, but it is rather increased, a halt should be called. Let the managers say, I refuse to run the school any longer unless some sure basis is devised.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 14)
The very highest kind of education you could give, is to shun debt as you would shun disease. For Christ’s sake, as the chosen people of God, call yourselves to task, and inaugurate a different system in the school. This is to be your education as churches in every place. As church schools have been established, the best education the people of God can have is to learn how to conduct their school on a basis of financial success. If this cannot be done, close the school until a plan can be devised to carry it on, with the help of God, without the blot of debt upon it.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 15)
This can be done, and should be done. The Lord is not pleased with the kind of management that has been revealed in the past, for it shows a lack of judgment. Let teachers take less wages, and let the students’ fees be raised. Let the strictest economy be practiced in the provisions made for the table. Let the one who has charge of the cooking gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost. In families there is often great waste in throwing into the waste pail a large amount of food that could be worked into palatable dishes. There is enough wasted here and there in different places to support one or two families. These are lessons that need to be studied carefully, and practiced diligently and conscientiously.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 16)
The students should have plenty of good wholesome food. The fruit should be fresh and palatable, and free from decay. But as to the many dishes for dessert for which we have recipes, I have no light in regard to them except that they should not be made. We want decided reforms among reformers. We feel the necessity of this matter most deeply. But I am not as well as usual, and will write more fully at another time, if the Lord will give me strength and freedom.
(14LtMs, Lt 104, 1899, 17)
Lt 105, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 30, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 390. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
You have left us, and we shall miss you very much. I awake at eleven o’clock, unable to sleep.
(14LtMs, Lt 105, 1899, 1)
We were assembled in a meeting, it seemed in Stanmore, and we were listening to one of authority who seemed to be counselling one and another of the ministers. He said to you, “The Lord has a work for you to do in America. You and your wife must link together in the work, strengthening one another. Give no occasion for any one to think that your imagination is at fault. In America, and in other places, you have often viewed in an untrue light your brethren’s ideas and feelings in regard to you, and this has led you to draw apart from them. This hurts you. It has hurt your influence wherever you have been. Your thoughts and suppositions, acted upon, have brought about the very state of things which you supposed existed. Give no place to the devil. Stand forth before the people as a servant having a commission from God.
(14LtMs, Lt 105, 1899, 2)
“Satan will seek to uproot your influence by misrepresentation of your brethren’s feelings. Come close to your brethren. You have been greatly blessed by the Lord. Do not impose upon your strength by doing too much. Your message God will give you. It is your privilege to stand under the power of the Holy Spirit’s influence. Your words, your course of action as a messenger from God, weighted with the burden of the most solemn truth for this time, will, with God’s help, help the souls who need help to set things in order.”
(14LtMs, Lt 105, 1899, 3)
The Lord has a message for you to bear. You are under His guidance and protection. Be of good cheer, and show that you have God to support you. Do not show the least weakness, and thus hurt your valuable influence. Be careful not to give one word to any that will lead them to think that your mind is weakened, for it is in reality only as you make it thus by imagining things that lead you away from yoking up with your brethren.
(14LtMs, Lt 105, 1899, 4)
Show a firm, undeviating trust in God. Be ever true to principle. Waver not; speak decidedly that which you know to be truth, and leave the consequences with God. Bear in mind that God tests the genuineness of your desire. Believe in the Word of God, and never cease to press your petitions to the throne of grace with sanctified, holy boldness. “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” [Luke 18:1.] Keep the standard by precept and example. Your testimony, in its genuineness and reality, God will make powerful in the power of the life to come. The Word of the Lord will be in thy mouth in truth and righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 105, 1899, 5)
You have not the least need to demerit yourself, even if you feel that others demerit you. These ideas have brought about consequences which need not have existed. You are to meet with people of perverted judgment. Long have they been without clear discernment, and some will manifest this lack in themselves; but this need not create any deficiency in you. None are rewarded according to their experience, but according to their humble, trustful faith in God. I know that the Lord will lead and guide you if you will have a faith and trust in Him. Be of good courage. Show yourself a man sustained in your work by the Lord God of heaven. Make no complaint that you cannot work with this one and that one, but yoke up with Christ, and as a true, bold soldier do the work He has given you.
(14LtMs, Lt 105, 1899, 6)
Lt 106, 1899
Managers of the Pacific Press Publishing House “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 1, 1899 Previously unpublished. To the Managers of the Pacific Press Publishing House:
Will you please to publish and handle the small cook book by Sister Colcord? Brother and Sister Colcord seem to think that if I were to write and advise you to publish this book, you would do it. I think it would be as profitable as many other books which have been published and highly exalted, but which mean simply nothingness. I therefore, in behalf of Brother Colcord, who is seeking to send his children to school, and to aid the work of God as a preacher of the Word and by gifts to the various enterprises that are constantly being created through the advancement of the work in this new country, ask that you will publish this book. I see no objection in your taking this book, as you have many other books, and handling it in behalf of the interests of your brother, as you have done for others. It is a cheap book, costing the purchaser only one shilling.
(14LtMs, Lt 106, 1899, 1)
In haste.
(14LtMs, Lt 106, 1899, 2)
Lt 107, 1899
Managers of the Colorado Sanitarium “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 1, 1899 Previously unpublished. To Those Who are Managers of the Sanitarium in Colorado Dear Brethren:
I have seen your call for twenty thousand dollars to erect a building in Colorado for consumptives. But why do you make me your authority? I have had light upon these things, but without obtaining that light direct from me, you make a call for twenty thousand dollars. This is the way many are doing in various localities. Can you not stop and consider that you already have a building which in its erection laid an immense debt upon the conference? Have you thought where that money is coming from? Will you study the lesson that Christ gave His disciples, that in building a tower, it is advisable first to sit down and count the cost, lest when they begin building they find they have not means to finish, and hence are a derision to their neighbors? Brethren, just wait and consider.
(14LtMs, Lt 107, 1899, 1)
If this matter were presented to the world—who are wasting the Lord’s money, if they were called upon to help to create such an institution, the money would not be drawn from Seventh-day Adventists which is so much needed to open new fields where the standard of truth has not yet been uplifted. This erecting of so many sanitariums, thus laying upon the conference debts of thousands of dollars, is not approved by God. The institution which has been established in Colorado is sapping the funds so much needed in the work of foreign missions, to prepare the way for the message to be given and a people prepared to be saved for the Lord Jesus Christ. I will write no more now, for this must go to the office in time for the nine o’clock mail, and it is now past seven o’clock. I will write more at another time.
(14LtMs, Lt 107, 1899, 2)
Lt 108, 1899
Those Working in Educational Lines NP July 27, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3SM 227; 5BC 1102; 6BC 1088. + To Those Who are Working in Educational Lines Dear Brethren:
I must speak to you in reference to the conducting of the school in Battle Creek, for I do not want you to make a mistake in this matter. If I understand correctly, plans are being laid to have the school divided into classes, and each teacher carry all the lines of study for the class appointed him. This course is thought to be justified by the example of Christ, who taught His hearers in all lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 1)
Should we not bear in mind who Christ was—the Light of the world, the first, the last, the best in everything? We are to be learners in the school of Christ. No teacher will succeed with the methods you propose. The lessons given to the students should be worked out from books that are far from erroneous and trivial sentiments, the Bible underlying all the education given; but many instructors have not a first class knowledge of how to teach in this way. One mind, one mold of character, is not sufficient for the perfect education of any soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 2)
In every school the education given should be as simple and easy to be understood as were the truths Christ taught; but this cannot be until Christ abides in the heart of the teacher and he becomes a daily learner in the school of Christ. The use of long words, which perhaps very few of the hearers understand, only confuses the mind and eclipses the simplicity and beauty of the truth. The language of Christ is not criticized. Its simplicity is above criticism. We must learn to teach spiritual truths by comparing them with the things of our everyday experience. Christ did this, that He might make the subject more familiar to His hearers.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 3)
In every place where there is a church, large or small, there a school should be established. If the membership is small, one teacher, with the assistance obtained from the older pupils, can carry the work for a time. But even that teacher should not be permanently settled in one locality. Exchanges should be made and the faculties of other teachers brought in. A larger place will require more teaching ability.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 4)
My brethren, take a right course in the school in Battle Creek. Raise the fee for tuition, but before you do this, lay the matter before the parents of the students, showing them that the fee has been placed too low, and that a heavy debt rests upon the school as a result. This matter should be placed upon a proper basis. Although there are a large number of students in attendance at the school, the debt still remains undiminished. This is not necessary, and God is not pleased with such a showing. Without delay the inquiry should be made, Why is this so? As teachers, you may possess a Christlike excellence in serious, solid thinking and planning to improve this state of things.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 5)
I have much to say in regard to many things, and how shall I say it? May the Lord give me wisdom to speak. If the teachers in our schools receive the Saviour in living faith and love, they will study in a new light the words of the disciple John when speaking of Christ. He said, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [John 1:11-13.] These words show us that grace is not inherent in us. It is obtained by receiving Christ in faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 6)
The work of redemption will unite the soul to Christ. But the mind must not be left to drift in accordance with natural inclination. We are to train our minds to comprehend the possibilities before every soul who has a knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. We are to understand the great, unmeasured love of Christ for His creatures. As our minds grasp the great plan of redemption, our narrow faith and limited views will enlarge.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 7)
We need feel no uncertainty in regard to our salvation. Our hope as children of God is not to be indefinite. We are to live under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God help those of feeble faith to have boldness in confessing Christ. As teachers we are to educate the students to hold fast that which they have, that in their religious experience they may gain firm confidence. Then when temptations come, the power of resistance will be sent from the One who has wrought out redemption for them. Grasp by faith every promise, believing that Christ is behind the promise.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 8)
Present before your students the illustration Paul has given of the games engaged in with such earnest purpose in his day. “Know ye not,” he says, “that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” [1 Corinthians 9:24-27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 9)
Through His servant Jeremiah God speaks, saying, “I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.... Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.” [Jeremiah 6:27, 28, 30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 10)
“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.” [Jeremiah 7:2-7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 11)
Again God speaks through the apostle, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 12)
“For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong; and this also we wish, even your perfection. Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.” [2 Corinthians 13:5-10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 13)
Our work is a peculiar work, and one which the world cannot appreciate; for it is not understood by the world. Individually we must stand in God. “Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savor of death unto death, and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” [2 Corinthians 2:14-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 14)
This work for the perfection of saints is not yet done as it should be. The apostle places before us the work of transformation which must go on in our lives. “We all with open face,” he says, “beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,”—from character—“even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18.] This work goes forward in all simplicity as we keep the eye single to the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 15)
Our great need is to walk in the light as Christ is in the light, “giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed; but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.” [2 Corinthians 6:3-7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 16)
Every provision essential has been made for the Lord’s vineyard. But our churches are only half converted. The men who carry on the work in our institutions are not clothed with the righteousness of Christ. God requires of His people, not spasms of repentance, but sincere repentance. Set your house in order, my brethren, and the reformation will be obvious to all with whom you associate.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 17)
Those who carry responsibilities, are they softened and subdued by the Spirit of God? Is there a growing increase in faith and purity? Is advancement made in personal holiness and sanctification through the Spirit? Is the truth purifying the soul-temple of the buyers and the sellers, casting down the idols? Has Christ been formed within, the hope of glory? Is the Saviour revealed in words and works? Are these men converted, soul, body, and spirit? Are they living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God? Are the truths to which they assent strengthening into settled convictions and assurance? Do their actions correspond with their professed faith in these great and mighty truths? If they are sanctified, the love of Christ will pervade the soul and be revealed in the character.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 18)
My brethren, when Christ is abiding in you, He will be your teacher. You will not need that any man teach you. Christ in the heart is revealed in the words and the spirit, and in every business transaction. He journeys with you, and you buy and sell as if in full view of the heavenly universe. A Witness stands by your side. He keeps watch at the door of your lips. When He is your constant companion, you will not elbow others to make a place for “I.” Your soul-temple will be sanctified, and instead of looking upon your own things, you will look upon the things of others. The Christ within you will recognize the Christ revealed in your brother.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 19)
We are to die to self daily. This crucifixion every soul must experience who would be [a] partaker with Christ in His suffering. The self-denying, self-sacrificing spirit you manifest reveals that you are a missionary in heart, in sentiment, in principle. You are to manifest a zeal that will not seek to crush out, but to restore, the moral image of God in man. When the mighty cleaver, the truth, has taken men and women out of the quarry of the world, and brought them into the workshop of God, the axe and the chisel and the hammer must be used. These rough stones must be smoothed, the rough edges removed. Then the polishing work begins, that every stone may be a prepared stone, a living stone, emitting light. When Christ is loved more than self, the Saviour’s beautiful image is reflected in the believer.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 20)
No man or woman can see Christ as He is unless the truth exerts its sanctifying influence upon the life. “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” [1 Peter 2:9.] The Saviour says to His people today as He said to His disciple Philip, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?”“He that hath seen me hath seen the Father: and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” [John 14:9-11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 21)
Where is the faith of Seventh-day Adventists today? What we need now is a preparation that will accord with the grand truths uttered by Christ. We have not a vestige of excuse for failing to respond to the truths we hold in theory, for failing to allow them to exercise their sanctifying power on life and character. Have you beheld His glory, full of grace and truth? If you have, then others will behold it in your words and actions. You will manifest unselfishness and integrity, and the unbelieving will take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus. Beholding Christ, you will be inspired by that faith which works by love and purifies the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 22)
“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” [1 Peter 2:11, 12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 23)
The trouble with the experience of very many is that they have tried to hold fast to self and to Christ at the same time. Their experience is spoiled. Until self is laid upon the altar of sacrifice, Christ will not be reflected in the character. When self is buried, and Christ occupies the throne of the heart, there will be a revelation of principles that will clear the moral atmosphere surrounding the soul. The King’s highway will be discerned, and crooked paths will be made straight. Then a power will attend the people of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 24)
But just as surely as we refuse to fall on the Rock and be broken, clouds and darkness will envelop the soul. We shall feel for the wall as blind men, and will not be able to find it. Must the alternative spoken of by the Saviour come? The Rock will surely fall upon all who are not renewed in knowledge and true holiness. The damage that Satan has done to the soul is great. The poison has circulated through the life blood. It has throbbed in every rebellious pulse. Self-righteousness is not the righteousness of Christ. It is only a stumbling block to sinners.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 25)
The atoning sacrifice is full and sufficient. It is the new covenant, sealed with His blood, which was shed for many for the remission of sins. This Christ declared at the last supper. In this cup there is to those who drink in faith, peace-making, soul-cleansing efficacy. It is the balm of Gilead, which God has provided to restore health and soundness to the sin-stricken soul. The Holy Spirit takes the truth concerning Jesus, and applies it to the understanding. Come to Jesus, you who are only half converted. Read carefully the eighth and tenth chapters of Romans with an earnest longing of soul, and see if you do not enter into the light there revealed.
(14LtMs, Lt 108, 1899, 26)
Lt 109, 1899
Brethren and Sisters in Africa NP August 8, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 1BC 1092; 12MR 42; CTr 72. + Dear Brethren and Sisters in the Faith in Africa:
I learn that you do not yet believe that John Wessels should have left Africa for Australia. Well, I am sorry your mind has not been in harmony with the mind of God. If John Wessels had left Africa one year ago, he would have been doing the very thing the Lord designed he should do. It was the voices of his brethren in the conference, and of his relatives and family connections that held him. He promised me he would come. Had it not been for this promise, which we depended on him to fulfill, the work here would have been one year ahead, which would have been just as the Lord purposed it should be.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 1)
I did not say that John should come against his own judgment and his own will, but I asked him to follow the convictions of his conscience, and in this I did just what I know it was my duty to do. If you had done the same, and had not urged and persuaded and put your will in opposition to the will of God, John would have followed his convictions of a year ago which finally led him to prepare to come.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 2)
God forbid that you should ever repeat this kind of work. In view of the manifest will of God I wrote to John, asking him to come. I was instructed to do this. I would have made no call for him to come had I not had sufficient reason to do so. It was necessary that he should be convicted himself, and he was convicted. But the influences brought to bear on him led him at last to stay. He tied up his means in buildings that ought not to have been erected; and other buildings which he could have erected with his means, but which were not built, which would have given character to the work, are witnesses against you who used your influence to make it appear a necessity for John to stay in Capetown.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 3)
I cannot see how you dared to interpose your wishes and your way between John and the Lord. The money John has tied up in the building in Africa was needed here one year ago, where there is nothing to represent the work. That building will stand as a witness against you. Your unbelief has retarded the work one year, and that means two years in reality, for if we had had a proper building for our sanitarium, the work would have advanced in a way which would have been like multiplying the talents put out to usury.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 4)
The perilous condition of the Wessels family, in which I have the most sincere interest, is kept before me. The Lord says of the family, They are in peril. I saw Philip in danger. The Lord presented him before me as not understanding himself. He has not humbled his heart before God. He has not been converted anew. It is hard for him to die to self, to have a realizing sense as to why he has taken his position with the disloyal, and so greatly dishonored God. In so doing he has absorbed means which might have been blessed by God in creating facilities to advance the work of God. This he might have done if he had kept the faith and walked in the light of the Lord, instead of investing his means, and the means of his mother and others who were sustaining him, in worldly enterprises which were separating his soul from God.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 5)
The influences that surrounded him were not of a character to give him true ideas of himself, as he was when trying to keep the Sabbath, and as he was when separated from the truth. Had his mother and Brother Lindsay had clear perceptions of their duty, they would have seen that when helping relative or friend to invest means where the Lord could in no way be glorified, they were working in a way which God could not approve. They must render an account for the means thus used.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 6)
I cannot but write the things which have been presented before me. Brother Philip Wessels’ relatives assisted him to continue in a business in which he was transgressing the fourth commandment, and God could not prosper him in his disobedience, neither could he prosper those who invested their means to sustain him in the path of transgression he had chosen. Those who have helped Philip in his worldly investments need spiritual enlightenment, that they may be able to look into things unseen, grasping with firm hold things that are as yet intangible. This great lack of true faith is evidence of the want of daily conversion.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 7)
Philip could have used his capital of means where it would have brought him rich returns, great satisfaction, and heavenly blessings in this life. As he put his means into this work, he would have grown strong spiritually, in the place of losing his faith and drawing back from the truth. He would have set in operation a work for the Master by seeing that our publications were translated into Dutch and in other languages. Humble and obedient, he would have done all possible to co-operate with Christ as a laborer together with God. His backsliding has had an influence upon the whole family. He could have used his means to bring the truth before many people. This was his work. He could have exerted his influence to strengthen the whole Wessels family. The Lord sees that his influence has led away from Christ. O how could he do it! how could he do it!
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 8)
Peter Wessels has taken hold of worldly business. He placed his means where it would not be used for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God in our world. As he engaged in this enterprise, he mingled more and more with the world in associations. He will catch the spirit of the world and lose his hold on God. His love for Jesus and the truth is not increasing. Christ declares, “He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.” [Matthew 12:30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 9)
I have been shown the different members of the Wessels family. John loves business, and to engage in worldly enterprises would be his temptation. He has at times been strongly tempted. I knew the position of every member of the family. I knew that the prospect was not favorable for their long continuance in the love of the truth, for they were cherishing false principles and false ideas in regard to their true spiritual condition. This made my soul very sad, and the Lord instructed me to write to John Wessels, asking him to break away from his kindred, and come to Australia, where he could use his means as the Lord’s entrusted goods should be used, and at last have the eternal satisfaction of hearing the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” [Matthew 25:21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 10)
I saw Philip and other members of the family putting their money in a bag full of holes, and I was instructed to call upon them to put the Lord’s money in the bank of heaven, where it would accomplish a work for Him in saving souls. Thus they would put their means into bags without holes, beside the throne of God. In this way they would return to the Lord His own. All that we have is the Lord’s, and we may use it in the way He designs it shall be used.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 11)
I present to you what has been pointed out to you before. The Wessels family have been binding themselves up in worldly enterprises. The enemy has been working his hardest to cheat them out of the inheritance of the saints in light, and he has been succeeding better than they have any idea of.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 12)
Paul wrote to Timothy by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness; from such withdraw thyself.... They that will be rich fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” [1 Timothy 6:3-5, 9, 10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 13)
Words pass from one to another of the Wessels family that answer the description here given. I greatly fear that the love of money will result in the loss of your souls. I knew that if John stayed in Africa, under the existing state of things, he would lose his faith, as have other members of the family. This is why I was persistent in calling upon him to break the net which in the hands of the enemy seemed to be enclosing the souls of so many of the family. I knew that if John should break away, a great victory would be gained. You who exerted your influence directly contrary to the word of God might better undo as fast as possible the work which has been done.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 14)
Let John free. Your influence bound him in Capetown, and bound his means there also. Now go to work and unshackle him. Let him have the means the Lord desires him to invest in the work here, to set in operation a sanitarium that must be built. All here will do to the very utmost of their power to advance this work. John can help us, and as you have handicapped him and bound him and his means, when one year ago he should have come to Australia, bringing his means with him, it is your duty among you to hire means, that he may have his means. He should be released in some way. We want John for his own soul’s sake, as well as for the sake of the family, and we want him to have his means in his own power, to place where the Spirit of the Lord shall indicate.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 15)
Please read carefully the sixth chapter of First Timothy. It is an appeal from the Lord to the Wessels family. The Lord calls upon Philip and Peter to clear the King’s highway. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. What example are you setting those of the family who are tempted and lame? You can both help them if you will be true to your profession of faith. Philip, for Christ’s sake, cease to halt between two opinions. If the Lord be God, serve Him, if Baal, then serve him. Your influence and Peter’s can be of no help unless you make straight paths for your feet.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 16)
In regard to John, he is just where he ought to have been a year ago. I could not write anything to John that would compel him to come to Australia. The Lord does not compel men and women to pursue a course which is for their present and eternal good.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 17)
We cannot possibly serve God and mammon. We must choose for ourselves either one or the other. When Christ spoke to Peter, James, and John, saying, “Follow me,” they obeyed, not questioning whether it was for their temporal interest to do this. [Matthew 4:19.] How essential it is that those to whom the Lord speaks have faith in Him, and are obedient. The Lord knows what is best for us, and we are never to reason in regard to personal advantage.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 18)
“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a land which he should afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” [Hebrews 11:8.] In order to appreciate the obedience of Abraham, we must read his history attentively. “The Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I shall show thee.” [Genesis 12:1.] In the country where Abraham was dwelling, the people were idolaters. The influences surrounding him were not favorable to his receiving right traits of character.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 19)
Living in the midst of pleasure lovers, surrounded by influences which corrupt the senses and stupefy and dull spiritual perception, there was danger of Abraham’s perception becoming so confused that he would not have a sense of the sacredness of truth and of the knowledge of the true God. So the Lord told him to leave his father’s house. “And Abraham obeyed and went out, not knowing whither he went.” [Hebrews 11:8.] His obedience pleased the Lord. He saw in Abraham one to whom He could entrust capabilities for His service.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 20)
There is often wisdom in the separation of families and brethren. Frequently one can exert a more healthful, wholesome influence if he is not mingling with other members of the family. Association becomes so familiar that the words of one may have little weight on the others, although he may give right advice and counsel. The Lord sees what man cannot see. He knows when it is best for families to separate and some members live by themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 21)
One member of the family, in changing his position and going where the Lord may call him, may be led to view matters in a clearer light. If he remains, the many speeches of tongues that are not anointed with the holy oil, may so confuse right sentiments and right principles that nothing will remain sure and clear in his mind. Let him change, and go out from his father’s house and from his kindred, into a land which the Lord will show him. Abraham, not knowing whither he went, took his possessions with him, that he might use all he possessed as the Lord required.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 22)
Abraham was tested, to see whether he would hear the voice of God and obey. The Lord saw that it was not for his best spiritual interest to remain in his country and among his relatives where he could not exert that influence over them that would be a blessing. He told him to leave them. Abraham was a rich man, but in the greatest simplicity he obeyed God, and went out, a sojourner into a strange country. As he left his home and his kindred, God assured him that he would have earthly greatness and prosperity in the land of Canaan. Why did not Abraham make use of all his means to bring about this prosperity? Why did he not invest his means to enrich himself with wealth and influence above any man with whom he was brought in contact? Abraham did not do anything to glorify himself. He did not aim at power. He did not aspire to greatness by building up cities and calling them by his name. He was content.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 23)
The record tells us that Abraham took Lot, his nephew, with him, and for a time they lived together. But their families were large, and there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abraham and the herdsmen [of Lot] over their cattle. “And Abraham said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me, or between thy herdsmen and mine, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right, and if thou depart to the right hand, I will go to the left.” [Genesis 13:8, 9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 24)
Lot’s choice was the land of Sodom. Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and he pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom sinned before the Lord exceedingly.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 25)
Here is brought to view another separation. It makes a great difference when and how a separation takes place. It was Lot’s privilege to inquire, to be very careful where he should go, very careful in regard to the society he chose for his family. But without reference to the inhabitants he chose a land which was beautiful in situation, which promised great returns. Lot went in rich, and came forth with nothing as the result of his choice. It makes every difference whether men place themselves in positions were they will have the very best help of correct influences, or whether they choose temporal advantages. There are many ways which lead to Sodom. We all need anointed eyesight, that we may discern the way that leads to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 26)
Privileges, large and full and abundant, were granted to the Jewish nation. They were entrusted with all the advantages and benefits of a goodly land. But all who receive God’s gifts must consider the Giver, and use the entrusted goods economically, acting as He would in their place. Privileges mean responsibilities. The more one has entrusted for his use, the more deeply should he feel his responsibility. The people for whom the Lord manifested such deep and decided interest, delivering them from Egyptian slavery and caring for them in all their travels, often acted out their natural selfishness and hereditary tendencies to wrong.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 27)
By their murmuring and complaining and fierce jealousy, they often brought the displeasure of God upon then. They thought that Moses meant to finally enrich himself with their cattle and goods. God talked with Moses face to face, as a man talks with his friend, and He told Moses He would destroy the people. But Moses pled with the Lord to spare the rebellious people, though they afflicted his soul continually. “If thou wilt not save Israel,” he said, “blot out my name from the book of life.” [Exodus 32:32.] Again and again Moses entreated the Lord for the people who had shown such little gratitude; but only two of the adults who left Egypt were permitted to enter the promised land.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 28)
Above every nation upon the face of the earth, the children [of Israel] enjoyed the favors and blessings of God. They should have yielded corresponding returns to God. They should have rendered to Him cheerful and devoted loyalty. These were the fruits which God required of them for the greatness, the theocracy, and the blessings which they enjoyed. The covenant advantages were to be theirs if they were obedient.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 29)
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak thou unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily, my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” [Exodus 31:13.] God has given men six days in which to work for a livelihood, and if they disregard His holy Sabbath, they show open contempt for His law, and are numbered with the unbelievers as transgressors. They are not sanctified by the Lord, for they are not rendering to Him His due. They refuse the sign which would distinguish them as the people of God. God declares, “Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.” [Verse 15.] This shows all the light in which God regards His Sabbath. The question of Sabbathkeeping is a life and death question.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 30)
In the days of Christ the Jewish rulers tried to fasten on Him the charge of breaking the Sabbath. Could they have made good their charge, they would have had no need to hire false witnesses to testify against Christ. But Christ declared to them that all His works were in strict obedience to the law of Jehovah. He preserved the sign by which God’s chosen people were distinguished from all people on the face of the earth. “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever.” [Verses 16, 17.] God gave His chosen people special charge to keep holy His memorial, the seventh day Sabbath, which proclaimed Him the Creator of heaven and earth.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 31)
It is not a light matter even to mingle with worldlings in business interests, for all money is the Lord’s talent, to be improved and returned to Him again. God will not sanction any such union, and when one who has had great light and unmistakable evidences shall withdraw himself from the people of God and openly transgress the law of Jehovah, he has divorced himself from allegiance and loyalty to God; but God’s claims are binding still. And unless he repents and is converted, and takes up the work of honoring his Redeemer, God’s hand will surely be against him. He has violated the terms of the covenant, and however much men may praise and honor Him, the Lord does not honor him, for he is a transgressor of His holy law. Obedience to the law of God means everything to us, and God requires that the Sabbath be kept holy.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 32)
O how much more safe and honorable it would be for all who have had the light to walk in the light as Christ their Saviour has given them example, than to follow their own way! “How much owest thou unto the Lord?” God calls for men, honest men, to fill the places of His appointment as stewards, and they are to return to Him the fruits of His vineyard. Some have not had the light and advantages that others have had who know the truth. They will not have to answer for the light they never had. But those who have received the light are required to reflect that light by precept and example upon all with whom they are associated. They are to be decidedly, intensely, in earnest in the work of drawing their fellow men from the pit of destruction.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 33)
The Lord never excuses idleness or pleasure-loving in any man. The Majesty of heaven came to our world to save lost, fallen humanity. His efforts included not merely the outcasts, but those in places of high honor. Ingeniously He worked to obtain access to the higher class who knew not God and who did not keep His commandments. There is a variety of hard work to be done in the vineyard of the Lord. There are different kinds of ploughing to be done, that the ground may produce a harvest of different kinds of fruit. God intends that in and through Christ by the discipline of work His people shall learn how to gain the true riches. All can, if they choose, perfect a character after the divine likeness, a character which is a sample of the character of Christ. Each may take with him into the future life the preciousness of a complete character gained in and through Jesus Christ. This is the only treasure any one can take with him to the heavenly courts.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 34)
God has set His seventh day Sabbath at the end of every six working days, that men may stop and reflect what they have gained during the week of preparation for the pure kingdom which admits no sin, no transgression. Those who know the truth should each week reckon with their souls to see whether the week that has ended has brought spiritual gain or loss. The mind as much as the body is to be withdrawn from worldly business. It means eternal salvation to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord. To him who keeps the Sabbath aright, God says, I put my sign upon you as one who is obedient. Them that honor me I will honor.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 35)
God demands that every power of the human agent shall be subservient to Him. But eternal interests are neglected for earthly and temporal things. God will accept of no divided sacrifice. Christ cursed the fig tree because, notwithstanding its pretentious appearance, it bore no fruit, and under His curse, it became a seared, withered, blasted tree, left to symbolize the Jewish nation.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 36)
The salvation of one soul means the saving of many souls, for through that one soul Christ can work, letting heaven’s light shine into the heart to be imparted to others. This God expects and requires of all His servants. Not one is excused. He who buried his one talent in the earth, that it should not be used to the advantage of the work of God, would have buried ten talents had he been entrusted with them. The warning is given to every soul not to hide his talents of intellect or of money in any business that does not tend to the saving, but the peril of the soul. Work while it is day, for the night cometh in which no man can work.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 37)
The Lord gives men cleverness, tact, skill, and wisdom to be employed in His service of soul-saving. First a man is to consecrate his own soul to God; and when he thus gives himself up, he understands that all he has is the Lord’s. The soul is to be cleansed and disciplined to righteous, holy practices. It is to advance the cause of God in our world by bearing fruit in every good and noble work, and is thus fitted for the grand review.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 38)
God calls for men and means. Those who cannot see the signs of the times in this wicked and adulterous generation will be found with those who perish under the plagues poured from the vials of God’s wrath. Everyone in our world is a steward to some valuable trust on God’s estate. God has given time, sense, and opportunity, all to be used to His glory. He has given His own Word and His Holy Spirit. The unfaithful steward did not utilize the advantages given him to glorify his lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 39)
Today God looks at His vineyard and sees that unwise methods and arrangements are consuming time and money. He calls upon everyone to use his God-given capabilities aright. Your mind was not made for trifling. You are on probation. God is testing you, to see whether you will prove worthy to wear a crown of immortal glory. He calls upon you to do the work which Christ came to our world to do. Deny self, take up the cross, and follow in His footsteps. The people need your God-given ability. You have no time to barter for money. All you have was entrusted to you to be used in blessing His chosen ones, who are helping you to find the strait gate and the narrow way through which you must pass if you would have eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 109, 1899, 40)
Lt 110, 1899
Wessels, Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 8, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in UL 234. Dear Sister Wessels:
You have passed through many trials in your lifetime, and if your children knew it all, they would seek to save you any extra worriment on their account. The Lord knows all about it, and He will not leave you or forsake you if you will be guided by His counsel and keep His way. Hold fast the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end without wavering. You may ever feel thankful that there is One who will never forsake you, never, never disappoint you. Keep your mind and heart stayed upon God. Be firm as a rock to the principles plainly revealed in the Word of God. Keep looking to Jesus. He knows every pang of anguish you feel.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 1)
I did not ask John to come to Australia to afflict you, to make you feel that he loved you less or would forget you. The dangers of your family were presented to me. Philip has the qualifications which would make him a useful worker, a Christian in heart, soul, and life, if he will submit to God, if he will bear the discipline of God. But he is not yet where he can see himself as he is. He loves business, and his danger is that if he can obtain money to engage in business, he will accept any tempting offer that may be presented to him.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 2)
Unless some affliction comes to purify and refine him, unless something changes the state of mind which he has been in, he will become the sport of Satan’s temptations. In that case he will be no spiritual help to any member of the family, but only an anxiety and sorrow. May the Lord impress his heart. When once he has given himself up to disregard plain light and knowledge, to break the Sabbath and become disloyal to truth and the faith once delivered to the saints, it will be easier for him to travel over the same road again for Satan will not readily let go his hold. And if Philip will not yield for the sake of Christ, who gave His life for him, what inducement will be of sufficient weight to impress his mind and change his principles?
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 3)
Philip has a godly wife, who has followed him with her prayers, and who has behaved herself wisely. But the work of individual action lies with Philip himself, who must be led to say, I have dishonored my best Friend. I have put stumbling blocks in the way of sinners, instead of trying to help them and win them to Christ. When Philip sees his own weakness and realizes how greatly he has dishonored God, he will co-operate with his Redeemer. He will do what he knows to be right, whether or not he has all the feeling which he thinks he should have. Feeling is of little value. Faith in God and in His Word is worth everything. If Philip lays hold of the hand reached out to save him, grasping the hand mighty to save, and keeping hold of it, saying, “I will never let go,” that hand will never relax its hold. But he can refuse to hold the hand, and thus be lost.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 4)
The Lord is merciful and compassionate, full of pity and love. He who wept over Jerusalem has shed tears for every soul He has created, saying with mournful utterance, “O that thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.” He has not yet passed the irrevocable sentence, “But now they are hid from thine eyes.” [Luke 19:42.] The Lord help Philip to see his refuge, and make his escape from the enemy who is seeking his life that he may destroy him. There is light and peace and joy for him if he will show that repentance that needeth not to be repented of.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 5)
My heart yearns after every member of the Wessels family. If Philip had been the faithful steward God designed him to be, the now wayward members of the family would not be on the enemy’s side. If their brother Philip, to whom they looked for counsel, had continued to be a true servant of the Lord Jesus, co-operating with Him, these precious ones would have been helped, their feet would now have been treading the narrow path of self-denial which their Saviour trod. The Lord is still saying, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” [John 6:37.] Thank God, the truth never changes, whatever course poor, tempted souls may pursue. Christ is still calling, “Return unto me, and I will return unto thee, and heal all thy backsliding.” [Malachi 3:7; Jeremiah 3:22.] “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and I will have mercy upon him, and to our God; for he will abundantly pardon.” [Isaiah 55:7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 6)
Dear Mother Wessels, I have words to speak to you. Be careful how you use the goods the Lord has entrusted to you. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] My sister, will you acknowledge the Lord’s ownership of you? Will you realize that all you have is the Lord’s? As a faithful steward of means, you are to study His Word and see what He says to you. The Lord requires everyone to serve Him with full purpose of heart. His Word points out the way in which we are to do this: “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] We are to seek to be like Jesus, to reflect His image and imitate His example.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 7)
He left the glories of the heavenly world and His high command, laying off His kingly crown and the rich and glorious garments He wore as commander in the heavenly courts, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might become one with humanity and stand at the head of the race of fallen beings, using His divine power in their behalf. This He did that through the virtue of His character He could give man an example of what he should be and might be through faith in Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 8)
Everyone, whatever his capabilities, is God’s possession, bought with a price; and through the help that Christ can give, he may be a laborer together with God. Hear His invitation to all, not one is left out: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke”—of restraint and obedience—“upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] If you are uneasy under Christ’s yoke, the fault lies in yourself.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 9)
Christ became poor that through His poverty we might become rich. All this humiliation the Lord of glory endured to give men and women an example of what they should do to inherit eternal life, the riches of glory. He places His goods in the hands of His people, and on these goods they are to trade, that He may receive returns. It is all His. Every dollar in our world is His, and He has a perfect right to specify how His lent talents shall be used.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 10)
The Lord is soon to come; and, my beloved sister, let us not who are mothers in Israel, invest our money in buildings, or in any way tie it up so that it cannot be used for the advancement of the work of the Lord in our world. It is too late now to build houses which consume the means which the cause of God needs so much. Put your means where it can be used in the Lord’s work. This is what the Lord would have you do.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 11)
The man who hid his talent in the earth, because he did not want his lord to have the use of it, would not have borne the test any better, had he been given five or ten talents. He would have bound up his means so that his lord could not be benefited by them. How many feel just as that man did? When the lord required his own from him, with the increase that the one talent should have gained, he said, “I knew thee, that thou wast an hard man, reaping where thou hast not strewed, and gathering where thou has not sown; and I was afraid.” [Matthew 25:24, 25.] The lord repeated his words, asking him why, if he knew he was so exacting in making his terms, he did not use his talent so that he could have brought in double through its use.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 12)
The way in which the unfaithful servant abused his trust showed the texture of his character. If he had faithfully used that one pound to help the work along because he had an interest in it, that one pound would have doubled under the supervision of God. He would have been given a larger amount to use in helping the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 13)
Do any of us invent places to hide or bind up the means we have no particular use for, thinking that we do not care to have it invested in the work which must be done in saving souls? One soul saved is worth more than the whole world. Then if the money God has placed in the hands of men be hid away, so that it cannot be used in doing the very work God designs shall be done, will the Lord be pleased or displeased? We can advance God’s work in the earth with the means we do not need. Instead of investing our money in buildings, we can use it to cause the gospel to be heard in new places. The truth must go to all tongues and nations on the face of the earth.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 14)
Christ, the Majesty of heaven, gave up all His glory, that men should not perish but have everlasting life. God did not withhold His only begotten Son, but with Him He gave all the facilities, all the advantages of heaven, that all who believe in Christ as their personal Saviour may have eternal life. He gives men and women the privilege of being co-laborers with Christ by investing in His cause the very means He has placed in their hands. The Lord of life and glory worked to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel, and He requires all who believe in Him to follow His example, working with Him as His human agencies to sound the note of warning to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 15)
“The end of all things is at hand.” [1 Peter 4:7.] “Sell that ye have, and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” [Luke 12:33.] “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” [Matthew 6:19.] There is danger that thousands of pounds will be lost through the business management of those who take counsel from the arch-deceiver, who is laying his plans at this important period of the earth’s history to gather to himself all that should be brought to the Lord for the advancement of His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 16)
“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” [Verses 20, 21.] If the Lord’s money is invested in worldly enterprises, the mind is constantly directed earthward, instead of heavenward. “The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single (to the glory of God), thine whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, (as was that of the slothful servant), thine whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.” [Verses 22, 23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 17)
The Lord desires everyone to work for his own spiritual and eternal good. This can only be done as we obey the lessons Christ has given. If we gain the eternal reward, we must follow the example of Christ our Pattern, who did good and only good with the Lord’s entrusted talents. He cheerfully gave up His life to ransom a wicked, apostate race. But today selfishness, worldliness, pride, and self-indulgence are constantly consuming the means entrusted to those who claim to be Christians. They are misappropriating the money which the Lord requires them to use to bring many sons and daughters to Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 18)
When Christians work as the Head of the church worked, they will not be constantly contriving how they can use the Lord’s money for their own pleasure. Is it not honor enough for them to be co-operating with the world’s Redeemer. Worldly schemes, worldly investments, made to please and glorify self, bring no returns worth the having. God condemns them, and what God condemns is not safe for any living soul to practice.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 19)
“Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:2.] Here is an experience to be gained which will not prove disappointing. The mighty God, who through Jesus Christ created man, calls upon every soul to prove Him, and see what this will bring to all who do this. They are tested and tried, and in conformity to the will of God, they realize what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of their Creator. Worldly conformity is hindered and made impossible through obedience to the plain, simple “Thus saith the Lord.” Gospel sanctification and transformation of soul, body, and spirit sends the feet of all such through the strait gate into the narrow way, the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. In co-operation with God, they work as Christ worked for the souls and bodies of their fellow men.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 20)
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [1 John 2:15.] The Lord calls upon you, my dear sister, to look at these things with eyes enlightened not by worldly advisers, but by His Spirit. Take the Word as it reads. I want you to place yourself where the riches of the glory of heaven shall shine before you and behind you and on every side of you because you are all light in the Lord. The Lord does not want you to be worried and troubled by seeing the goods He has lent you invested where His blessing is withdrawn from their use. Those who invest their money in this way will become literally poor; for God cannot bless their means.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 21)
I might say more, but I have not time. I have not slept since half past two this morning.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 22)
I remain, my dear sister,
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 23)
Yours with much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, 24)
Lt 111, 1899
Lindsay, Harmon “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 4, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I have a deep, earnest desire that you shall succeed, and that your wife, Annie, shall stand by your side, as she has not yet done, to help you in bearing responsibilities. She is but a child yet in experience and burden bearing. Philip and Peter can be a help to the family to bind them together, but they can only do this by rising in their God-given manhood, and for the sake of Him who gave His life for them, giving themselves to God. The Holy Spirit alone can work them to do His will.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 1)
John is here, and I am glad of this. He wants his money and should have it. You can, and if you truly realize the situation, you will find means to release his money. Please see what you can do. If John will walk humbly with God, the Lord will lead and guide him. He has done right in coming, but he would have done far better had he come one year ago. This was the Lord’s will and time. Had you, his brother, had moral stamina to stand in God as a co-worker with Christ, you would have gone forward and upward from grace to grace, from victory to victory, taking others of the Wessels family along with you; but now the battles you have to fight will be much harder. Your helpless human nature turns from the combination of circumstances which have been brought about.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 2)
The failure of Philip has not humbled him. He is not reconverted. But while we regret his disloyalty, we know there is hope for him if he will make an entire surrender of himself to God. If you and his mother had invested your means where it would have brought returns to God, Philip would have been better today, and you would have treasure in heaven that is imperishable. But you have caught the spirit of those who needed your wise counsel; you have substituted idols for the Lord. Sister Wessels’ mother-heart is bound up in her children, and when they call for means to help them out of difficulties she thinks she cannot refuse. But you should have had keen spiritual eyesight to discern what would be the outcome of this business, when Philip was casting off his obligations to the truth and transgressing the Sabbath of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 3)
In bolstering up Philip with money for his business, you and Mother Wessels have not been helping to save his soul, but you have been taking from the treasury of God that which He calls upon you to invest in it for the advancing of His work. Sister Wessels thinks that if John had remained behind, she could lean upon him. If John would have clear eyesight, he must lean upon God for support; but with the example of Philip before him, who ought to have stood true as steel to principle, what could he do? Your mother is not always judicious, Harmon, and when she becomes confused she needs you to advise her and see things in a correct light.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 4)
What is money? What are temporal advantages but the means which God uses to see if you will co-operate with Him? But you have nearly lost God out of your life. Had you been left penniless to make your way, you would have put to the stretch all your God-given energies to make a success in life. Will you not now, with determined effort, bring your mind back to God even if you have to carry your wife with you at every step?
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 5)
You have battles to fight. By becoming a member of the Wessels family, you placed yourself where, if you had maintained a right influence, you would have been a great blessing to that family. You have inherited different traits of character from them. Your education in childhood and youth, your knowledge of the truth are different; and therefore you should have been a steward of large foresight, to exert an influence for good. But by your lack of growth, your failure to see the necessities of the cause and put to the tax every God-given talent, by your refusal to arise and shine, you have dishonored God when it was your privilege to be regarded as a success in any position in which you might stand. You have a knowledge of that which the Bible declares to be your birthright, but you have nearly sold it for a mess of pottage.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 6)
Will you now repent? Will you trust in the living God, and make restitution to God by doing your best in the use of His talents? The hindrances you now have will always be hindrances, but you must rise above them. You must show a God-given purpose and no longer succumb to the inevitable. Put on, not pieces of the armor, but put on the whole armor of God. Fight manfully the battles of the Lord. God helps those who help themselves. God has not given you qualifications for a home servant, but to do special service for Him. He wants you now to take up your God-given work and redeem the time. Gain the respect of those around you by being in every sense a man of opportunity. The inheritance of money does not qualify men to act in positions of responsibility. God works through all who will be worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 7)
Circumstances may arise that will weaken and discourage you, but never sink into a sleepy lethargy. Awake, my brother, I beg of you; awake and gather strength from God who is able to keep you unto the end. I have written to you, because you understand things better than other members of the family. This dear family, beloved of God, are becoming pleasure lovers. I feel a deep interest in your wife. She needs to have serious thoughts, that the conviction of the Spirit of God may take hold of her soul. O that she may turn to the Lord and be converted. I love Annie, and I want her to give her heart to God. I feel so distressed as I see the family growing to be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. The Lord has given them warnings, but they do not heed His voice.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 8)
The whole danger of John was presented before me. As to placing his means in a sanitarium, he could have invested something one year ago which would bring returns to him.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 9)
You have misapplied the means that were in your power. It was your privilege, my brother, to help us even more than you have done, that we might be placed on vantage ground to help others. Your entrusted talents, rightly applied, would have doubled in the work. You can thank God that you helped us here when the work was in great need. I desire that your wife shall see that it is her privilege to conduct herself so that she may not lose the reward. You and she can rise unitedly to be more faithful stewards for God.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 10)
“We are laborers together with God,” the apostle says. [1 Corinthians 3:9.] God is the great worker, and if we place ourselves into working lines, the Lord will fulfill His part. But God does not want you and the Wessels family to invest your means in buildings. Your money is needed in the cause of God. You are not at liberty to tie up your talent in a napkin—in buildings—and bury it where it cannot do service for God. “Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building,” he declares. [Verse 9.] He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
(14LtMs, Lt 111, 1899, 11)
Lt 112, 1899
Lindsay, Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 8, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Lindsay:
I received your kind letter and was glad to hear from you, and to learn that you were entrusted with responsibilities. Give yourself wholly to the Lord. Recover, if possible, that which you have lost. Redeem the time, I beseech of you, in the name of the One who gave His life for you.
(14LtMs, Lt 112, 1899, 1)
“It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” [1 Corinthians 4:2.] I have a warning for you. You are occupying a position of trust and honor. All you possess, in influence and capability and knowledge, comes from God and is to be returned to Him again. You are trading on your Lord’s goods. All that you are handling, all that I am handling, is the Lord’s, to be put out to the exchangers for the advancement of His cause, that souls may be saved to Christ. The work devolving on you is to be done intelligently. The Lord’s goods must not be tied up in business, but be used in bringing souls into the truth. Your talents must be increased that the truth may go to places that have never heard the third angel’s message.
(14LtMs, Lt 112, 1899, 2)
I give you the note of warning: Be on guard. Improve your talents for the Master as faithfully as you would if you were to reap all the benefits for yourself, for if you are faithful it will all be yours. Identify yourself with your Redeemer, and He will identify Himself with you. In word and spirit and deed you are to be an example of the truth. You are to manifest an unselfish interest in the Master’s property that it may accumulate and spread the knowledge of the truth. This Christ has done for us, and He requires that now, while the way is open, advance moves shall be made in lifting the standard of truth in new places.
(14LtMs, Lt 112, 1899, 3)
The Lord has a work for every soul to do in advancing His kingdom in the world. Yours, my brother, is to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” [1 Peter 3:15.] This epistle is addressed to the believing ones who are scattered abroad. To the “strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” Peter says, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
(14LtMs, Lt 112, 1899, 4)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” [1 Peter 1:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 112, 1899, 5)
This hope in every way differs from the hope that arises in the natural heart. It is a living hope. The apostle of Jesus Christ presents a guarantee of its fulfillment. When the new life enters the soul, a quickening power takes possession of the whole man through faith in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Here is the assurance. We are quickened together with Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 112, 1899, 6)
Lt 113, 1899
Lindsay, Kate “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 9, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 19MR 144. Dear Sister Lindsay:
We are very desirous that you should come to Australia before you return to America, for help is greatly needed here. I know of no one whom I would be more pleased to have tarry with us awhile than yourself, so, understanding the needs of the field, I, as the steward of God, ask you to come.
(14LtMs, Lt 113, 1899, 1)
You may have received a telegram before this reaches you. I hope you have. Several of us talked the matter over and decided to telegraph; but the seat of operations in business lines moved to Stanmore, and we have had no special information concerning the matter. But if you are in Capetown when this reaches you, come, by all means, and see us. See what has been done, and what still needs to be done in this field. I have sent several letters to the responsible men in Capetown. May the Lord reveal His good pleasure to you, and impress your mind that this is the right thing for you to do, is the prayer of
(14LtMs, Lt 113, 1899, 2)
Your sister.
(14LtMs, Lt 113, 1899, 3)
Lt 114, 1899
Lindsay, Harmon “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 9, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I send the enclosed article for your mother and all the Wessels family. They need these words. I have tried to write to you also. Will you please make this matter clear to Mother Wessels. If she is not very guarded, she will send the means which belongs to God into the enemy’s lines, and then what? She will obtain no blessing; she will receive no reward, and may lose every dollar. She is not safe in misappropriating the Lord’s goods. I do not want her to manage the goods entrusted to her so as to bring loss to herself, for so it will be eventually if she does not invest her means in such a way as to bring proper returns to the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 114, 1899, 1)
I hope you and Mother Wessels will not put your money into buildings, thinking to make money. The safest way to make money is to lay it up in the bank of heaven. The wisest circulation of your means you will find in spending it to do good and add souls to the cause of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 114, 1899, 2)
I am very anxious that Mother Wessels and Andrew shall visit us. We think it would be well for them to change their associations. We want to see Andrew moving solidly in the lines of duty.
(14LtMs, Lt 114, 1899, 3)
Lt 115, 1899
Wessels, Peter “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 8, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Peter Wessels:
You have not moved wisely. You have acted unadvisedly in engaging and in investing your means in worldly business. Is this the work you are to do? No, I answer, no. If you continue in this work you will soon lose your interest in present truth. Is it not a time now when we should be preparing our souls to do work for the Master? Is it not a time when your whole mind and soul and heart and strength should be employed in trading on the talents entrusted to you, a time to seek the Lord with heart, soul, mind, and strength?
(14LtMs, Lt 115, 1899, 1)
Make a full surrender to God. Place yourself in right relation to Him, and be ready to do anything that He would have you do. The work you are now engaged in will bind up the means that should be used to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth. Look at Philip. What has he to show for all his labor, all his work? The Lord has not prospered him. How much better would it have been for him to have humbled his heart before God and worked out God’s plans. My brother, you are not working out God’s plans, but are following your own wisdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 115, 1899, 2)
Now is the time for us to do our appointed work. Now is the time for us to reveal living faith. I ask you to prepare for what is coming upon the earth—plagues, war, and confusion of nations. I pray that the Lord may hold the four winds until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. We have no time to halt between two opinions. Let us do the work that must be done in these last days—set our own hearts in order, that they may be purified, refined, elevated, and ennobled.
(14LtMs, Lt 115, 1899, 3)
The Lord would have you review your own experience. In some things you have been greatly out of the way. I have longed so much to hear from you that you had despised and abhorred your own course of actions and cleansed yourself from all impurity of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Your lips must be touched with a live coal from off the altar. You must, if you answer the last call to the supper, be clothed with the white robe of the righteousness of Christ. How sorrowfully have the angels of God looked upon you, a man who could do good as the Lord’s messenger, but who could not be trusted; for temptation in a certain line so mastered your senses that it has had all the attraction for you of a gambling hell, the worst and deepest deception that could come upon the human mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 115, 1899, 4)
Has this spell been broken? Have you a pure heart and clean hands? Have you washed your robes of character in the blood of the Lamb? Have you purified your moral taste, so that you behold Jesus, and, by beholding, are becoming changed into His likeness? God help you, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 115, 1899, 5)
Lt 116, 1899
Wessels, Philip “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 10, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 1SM 94-97. Brother Philip:
I have words to say to you. Now for you is the accepted time, now is your day of salvation. Trifle not with your soul’s eternal interest. Account of little value the flattery of men. What will it all avail you in the perils which are coming upon our world? The last call of mercy is being made to a guilty world, and it is for your present and eternal good that you do not flatter yourself or make any account of the praise and flattery of men. Satan is the great flatterer, the great seducer. The Lord God of heaven is He who measures every character and the value of every man by his willing obedience to the laws of His kingdom. God alone estimates without any mistake the value of man. His Word declares that the haughtiness and pride of men shall be brought low.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 1)
All our hope of eternal life is through Jesus Christ, and did He not come to our world in the greatest humility? When He found Himself in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself. This is the lesson we are all to learn. We are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. If the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, humbled Himself, it is a lesson every human being will have to learn—to humble self. Let the Lord do all the exalting. Let the Lord Jesus do the fashioning of the mind and of the disposition and character. Let Christ be our hope and crown of rejoicing.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 2)
The Lord will save Philip Wessels if he will seek God with all his heart. If he comes, humble and repentant, God will mold and fashion his character, so that He can use Philip Wessels to His name’s glory. If he seeks his own honor, if he thinks he knows best how to manage himself, then the Lord cannot work with him or for him. Satan is the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience, but the Lord has passed through the scenes of temptation, point by point, in behalf of man. He knows the strength of Satan’s temptations. He knows how to lift up in behalf of the tempted a standard against the enemy. He will do this if man will call upon Him sincerely; if he will recognize that his disobedience was sin and dishonor to God, and that he was in co-partnership with satanic agencies in making of none effect the Word of the living God.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 3)
In the presence of your enemies you can magnify the law, but you will have no strength given you from God in justifying the course of disobedience, transgression and sin. Had you lost your life in your unrepentant life, you would have perished in your sins.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 4)
Now Philip, I beg of you to consider Jesus your Pattern. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He came out of the wilderness of temptation a conqueror. You lost your hold on God and were conquered. But Christ your Redeemer has thoughts of mercy toward you. He will receive you if you humble your heart before Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 5)
It is expressly stated that Satan works in the children of disobedience, not merely having access to their minds, but working through their influence, conscious and unconscious, to draw others into the same disobedience. If evil angels have such power over the children of men in their disobedience, how much greater power the good angels have over those who are striving to be obedient. When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, working obedience unto righteousness, angels of God work in our hearts unto righteousness. It is due to the guardianship and working of the angels of God for your wife that she has not apostatized. Heavenly angels have guarded her. Now it is time that you took your position beside her as a houseband, to bind up your children, yourself, and your wife in solemn covenant with God, to obedience unto obedience.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 6)
The Spirit of God will lead Philip Wessels if he will be led to understand that he cannot have his own way. He cannot follow the working out of his own will. Angels came and ministered to our Lord in the wilderness of temptation. Heavenly angels were with Him during all the period in which He was exposed to the assaults of satanic agencies. These assaults were more severe than man has ever passed through. Everything was at stake in behalf of the human family. In this conflict Christ did not frame His words even. He depended upon “It is written.” In this conflict the humanity of Christ was taxed as none of us will ever know.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 7)
The Prince of life and the prince of darkness met in terrible conflict, but Satan was unable to gain the least advantage in word or in action. These were real temptations, no pretense. Christ “suffered being tempted.” [Hebrews 2:18.] Angels of heaven were on the scene on that occasion, and kept the standard uplifted, that Satan should not exceed his bounds and overpower the human nature of Christ. In the last temptation Satan presented to Christ the prospect of gaining the whole world with all its glory if He would only worship him who claimed to be sent of God. Christ must then issue His command. He must then exercise authority above all satanic agencies.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 8)
Divinity flashed through humanity, and Satan was peremptorily repulsed. “Get thee hence, Satan,” Christ said, “for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [Matthew 4:10.] It was enough. Satan could go no farther. Angels ministered to the Saviour. Angels brought Him food. The severity of this conflict no human mind can compass. The welfare of the whole human family and of Christ Himself was at stake. One admission from Christ, one word of concession, and the world would be claimed by Satan as his; and he, the prince of the power of darkness would, he supposed, commence his rule. There appeared unto Christ an angel from heaven, for the conflict ended. Human power was ready to fail. But all heaven sang the song of eternal victory.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 9)
The human family have all the help that Christ had, in their conflicts with Satan. They need not be overcome. They may be more than conquerors through Him who has loved them and given His life for them. “Ye are bought with a price.” [1 Corinthians 6:20.] And what a price! The Son of God in His humanity wrestled with the very same fierce, apparently overwhelming, temptations that assail men—temptations to indulgence of appetite, to presumptuous venturing where God has not led them, and to the worship of the god of this world, to sacrifice an eternity of bliss for the fascinating pleasures of this life. Everyone will be tempted, but the Word declares that we shall not be tempted above our ability to bear. We may resist and defeat the wily foe.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 10)
Every soul has a heaven to win, and a hell to shun. And the angelic agencies are all ready to come to the help of the tried and tempted soul. He, the Son of the infinite God, endured the test and trial in our behalf. The cross of Calvary stands vividly before every soul. When the cases of all are judged, and they are delivered to suffer for their contempt for God and their disregard of His honor in their disobedience, not one will have an excuse, not one will need to have perished. It was left to their own choice who should be their prince, Christ or Satan. All the help Christ received, every man may receive in the great trial. The cross stands as a pledge that not one need be lost, that abundant help is provided for every soul. We can conquer the satanic agencies, or we can join ourselves with the powers that seek to counterwork the work of God in our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 11)
On which side are you, Philip? Are you on the Lord’s side? You are on one side or the other. It is a life and death question now with the members of the Wessels family. How long will they halt between two opinions? “If the Lord be God, serve him; if Baal, serve him.” [1 Kings 18:21.] I have more to say in regard to these matters, but time fails me. Your safety, Philip, is in clinging to the stronghold for refuge. You have no time to lose. Dally not. We have an Advocate pleading in our behalf. The Holy Ghost is continually engaged in beholding our course of action. We need now keen perception, that by our own practical godliness the truth may be made to appear truth as it is in Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 12)
The angelic agencies are messengers from heaven, actually ascending and descending, keeping earth in constant connection with the heaven above. These angel messengers are observing all our course of action. They are ready to help all in their weakness, guarding all from moral and physical danger according to the providence of God. And whenever souls yield to the softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God under these angel ministrations, there is joy in heaven; the Lord Himself rejoices with singing.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 13)
Men take altogether too much glory to themselves. It is the work of heavenly agencies co-operating with human agencies according to God’s plan, that brings the result in the conversion and sanctification of the human character. We cannot see and could not endure the glory of angelic ministrations if their glory was not veiled in condescension to the weakness of our human nature. The blaze of the heavenly glory, as seen in the angels of light, would extinguish earthly mortals. Angels are working upon human minds just as these minds are given to their charge; they bring precious remembrances fresh before the mind as they did to the women about the sepulcher.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 14)
A created instrumentality is used in heaven’s organized plan for the renewing of our nature, working in the children of disobedience obedience unto God. The guardianship of the heavenly host is granted to all who will work in God’s ways and follow His plans. We may in earnest, contrite prayer call the heavenly helpers to our side. Invisible armies of light and power will work with the humble, meek, and lowly one. They that [be] for us are more than they that be against us. Take courage. Be hopeful.
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 15)
“Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth, for the spirit shall fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is nigh, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.” [Isaiah 57:15-19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 116, 1899, 16)
Lt 117, 1899
White, J. E. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 11, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in OHC 174, 184, 274. + Dear son Edson:
You must not let your feelings run so high. You cannot leave a correct impression upon minds when you take the words I have written and make it appear as Elder Tait’s book must be drawn from the field. I do not wish the things I write to be circulated in such a way as to make dissension and confuse minds that are not able, because not cultivated, to distinguish between right and wrong. I am pained because so little humble, Christlike love is cherished in hearts today.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 1)
If I had light on the points you mention, I should be very loath to give it. If Elder Corliss has not stated things correctly, he must answer for this to God. It was certainly not a wise thing for you to burn his manuscript, for you know not what might arise from him. I consider the condition of the man’s head, and feel sorry for him. And I am more sorry than I can tell you that you have anything to do in bookmaking with him.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 2)
Do not allow your mind to dwell upon things that will not lead to peace and unity. Cultivate meekness, love, and true Christian courtesy. We must learn of Christ. If it is our duty to work and wait, then so be it.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 3)
Edson, my dear son, and Emma, my daughter, I love you both; but there is a great deal of mischief working which will make hearts sad. If I could shield you, I would. But you know that Jesus is a very present help in every time of need. Do not be troubled by what other people think or say. God help you, my son, to stand on the platform of eternal truth. Do not be troubled, but cling to the Lord; He will never fail you. Encouragement from humanity is not abiding, but looking unto Jesus you will always find encouragement.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 4)
The Lord is merciful, full of tender compassion and loving kindness. When mistakes are made, because the counsel of the Lord is not followed, sorrow always come from some source. But the question is asked, “Will the Lord cast off forever, and will he be favorable no more? Is his mercy clean gone forever? Doth his promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious; hath he in his anger shut up his tender mercies?” [Psalm 77:7-9.] He who is able to rest in the Saviour will have peace and joy. My son, you may have Jesus for your friend.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 5)
You might better suffer wrong than do wrong. If your book, The Coming King, does not have a sale which answers all your expectations, take the whole matter to God. Should anything be presented as light to decide in your favor the matter of which you write, do you not see that the impression would be left on minds that it is because you are my son and have influenced me that your testimony is received. The Lord does not work in this way; and I have not, neither do I ask or hope that the Lord will give me, light upon these points.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 6)
The whole matter must be left unanswered, unless you have strong evidence to prove the matter yourself. Farther than that, I have not, I assure you, the slightest faith that the Lord will adjust these personal questions, even to vindicate the right, for this would open a door to many to question the truth of the testimony coming from God. It might be positively and truly from God, yet the enemy would present temptations, and many unwise words would be spoken.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 7)
Take heed as to what you say. There is a promiscuous pile of rubbish, in the shape of words, which needs to be cleared up and buried. These words might better never have been spoken, for they make a vast amount of mischief. Let each one look to his own spirit. Let each one look to his own heart and life, and by the help of God cleanse himself from everything that defileth. Then he will be prepared as a cleansed vessel to receive the holy anointing oil. The prophet of the Lord asked the question, “What be these two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? ... Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” [Zechariah 4:12, 14.] The golden oil is poured into clean, pure vessels, to be imparted to others. This is what every soul needs. We want the holy communications from heaven, and less rubbish of talk that only piles up difficulties. We want none of self and all of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 8)
I do not think any one designed to do anything to stop or interfere with the sale of your book, although it has resulted thus. The least said about this matter the better for you and me. The more you fret over it, the worse you will feel. I have not a word more to say than I have said in reference to the subject. Neither you nor I are at liberty to say what books shall be published and what books shall not be published. Light was presented to me in regard to the management of the book Bible Readings. Wrong principles were brought in, in the handling of this book, which for two years kept the books the people should have had out of proper circulation.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 9)
These books contained the very light which the Lord instructed me the people should have. They needed the lessons and messages contained in Great Controversy and Patriarchs and Prophets. I did all I could do, and suffered much agony of soul, because of the way in which the books were treated, and the Lord will not condemn me.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 10)
Now, Edson, the very best thing you can do is to come to Australia and help me. W. C. White cannot do this work. I have been waiting for years, but he is a manager, and is called here and there, so that I have not his help, and now I call for you to come and help me; but do not come with a complaining spirit. Do not come if you yourself have no light to come. But I tell you that it is best for you to absent yourself from America for at least two years. We can prepare books adapted for the Southern Field. Just as surely as you shall try to set things right in America, a strength will be exerted against you that will discourage and weaken your hands.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 11)
Those who have robbed the Southern Field of its facilities are not to answer to you or to me. It is the Lord who has been robbed, and aside from bearing my testimony concerning the matter, I can do nothing. The Lord alone can take this matter in hand. I have written some very straight things to those who have been actors in the matter, but farther than this I shall not take any active measures. I shall leave the burden of the message upon the men to whom it is given.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 12)
Will you leave the jangle and perplexity that now exists and join your mother in the work here? I hope the Lord will let you view this matter correctly. The sea trip will be a blessing to you, and the climate here will bring back your strength. I shall do nothing at all to compel you to come, but the way is open for you, and I will pay your fare. We may never meet on this side or on the other side of the great ocean. I know not how long my life may be spared, but I am now much more healthy than I have a right to expect. The Lord is good and greatly to be praised.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 13)
Now, Edson, seek the Lord. Ask Him to teach you, to guide you. Do not talk much. Considering the existing state of things, silence is eloquence. Let your speech be guarded. As you do not wish to be criticized, be sure not to criticize anyone. Guard your mind. Guard your words. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” [Matthew 12:37.] When Satan can get up some scheme to cause difference and alienation, he is in the very height of his bliss. He knows that in unity there is strength, that in dissension, faultfinding, and disunion there is weakness. The enemy is very unwilling to let go his object—to weaken the confidence of brethren in one another. The testimonies of reproof are not sent for that purpose, but to purify, to correct errors, to cleanse the soul-temple from its moral defilement.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 14)
Unity in diversity or individuality is the figure God presents before us. Every branch is to bear the fruit of the vine stock, which represents Christ. There are a variety of branches. No two are just alike. This reveals God’s great plan.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 15)
The warning given to you, my son Edson, was to be a safeguard to you to prevent the very things which have occurred. The embarrassment brought to yourself, the temptations brought to others, is the very result I was shown would come if you carried out the enterprise you intended. I saw that you would be represented as an unwise manager, who absorbed money in the work without economizing. The past will be repeated, men would say, so presenting the danger of your financial management that they would have, they think, an excuse for their course of action. This was no excuse for them. But I had no burden to create more difficulties than already existed.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 16)
We must ever bear in mind that Satan is working hard to secure every soul. We must work on the Lord’s side, not giving the least occasion which any one can take advantage of. Every one who names the name of Christ is to adorn the doctrine of Christ our Saviour by a well ordered life and a godly conversation, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price, which is an ornament which comes alone from God. He who possesses all the treasures of earth and heaven has given us a true estimate of the inward adorning, the divine gift, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 17)
I need this, I must have this priceless treasure every hour. Then let us be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. I do not question but that you, my son, the child of God, have had many things to vex you, and sometimes your talent of speech is unwisely used to express your feelings. Now, my son Edson, whom I love in the Lord, is it your purpose to obtain and keep the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit? Possessing this, you will have favor both of God and with men. Words spoken hastily wound and bruise souls, and the deepest wound is made upon the soul of the speaker. Christ’s gift, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, is authoritatively declared by Him who can make no mistake to be of great price. We must each find out its worth for ourselves by seeking it from God. However men may estimate us, if we wear this ornament, we bear the sign of our discipleship with Christ. We are estimated by the Most High, for the ornament we wear is in His sight of great price. This precious gem is to be sought for. The exhortation regarding it is particularly addressed to women, but it is applicable to both men and women. Both need to wear this ornament habitually.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 18)
As Christ’s purchased possession we are of value with God. In all our relations to one another and to God we need to pursue daily a course that God can approve. We must show that we have learned in the school of Christ His meekness, His lowliness of heart; and this is the best fruit we can bear to the glory of God. I know that you can make yourself, through much watchfulness and prayer, through the grace given by God, a wise steward. Then you will reveal precious, fruit-bearing qualities.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 19)
To every soul things will come to provoke, to stir up anger, and if you are not under the full control of God, you will be provoked when these things come. But the meekness of Christ calms the ruffled spirit, controls the tongue, and brings the whole being in subjection to God. Thus we learn how to bear with the censure of others. We shall be misjudged, but the precious ornament of a meek and quiet spirit teaches us how to bear, how to have pity for those who utter hasty, unadvised words.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 20)
Any unpleasant spirit displayed is sure to arouse the demon of passion in unguarded hearts. Unholy anger needs not to be strengthened, but bridled. It is a spark which will set on fire untamed human nature. My son, avoid speaking words which will stir up strife. Rather suffer wrong than do wrong. God requires every one of His followers, as far as is possible, to live peaceably with all men. Let us remember that angels of God are our companions, and they must be respected as God’s messengers. If words are spoken and charges made to provoke you, the best reproof you can give is to remain silent, as though you heard not. Those who are so wanting in grace as to speak unadvisedly and provokingly would not in such a frame of mind appreciate any words which might be spoken. They need treatment, a good footbath, with cold water to the head, before it would be safe to speak even reasonable words to them or make any reply to their charges.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 21)
We are all to remember that we are under the yoke of Christ, and we must not disgrace our Saviour or the yoke He has invited us to wear. We will just as surely rule our spirit as we wear the yoke. Christ has said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make us willing to learn of Jesus, who was Himself meek and lowly in heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 22)
When we are humble, we are ready to be educated by the great Teacher. He will let us know ourselves, and we will learn to serve God in His own appointed way. Jesus has left us an example, that we should follow in His steps. “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let us rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” [Hebrews 12:12-15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 23)
How often, my son, when bruised and broken, by carrying out your own ideas, which were flattering in anticipation, but which proved to be as a mirage in the desert, you have longed to grasp an outstretched, strengthening arm, and to hear the words, not of recrimination, but of friendly cheer, which the Lord has mercifully provided for the tempted.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 24)
How oft, after following your own supposed wisdom, when bruised by disappointment and well nigh broken by the fierce anxiety of battles without and still more from battles within, you have only half felt your mistakes were due to yourself. The Lord certainly did not bring misfortune upon you, but He left you to reap that which you had sown. Those who should have helped you did not. Wounds which might have been avoided were painful for you to bear. They soured your spirit and made you desperate. At times when you suffered, I have passed through the suffering with you. Your lesson has, I trust, been learned. It is not in man to direct his steps.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 25)
Why I refer to this is to remind you that you have had an experience. Remember to a purpose. Whatever man as weak as thyself may do, consider thyself lest thou also be tempted. You have grasped encouragement, help, and sympathy from your sympathizers, and have depended too much on man and not enough on God. The insufficiency of your own human nature, the promptings of your trusted strength, have been the cause of bringing you into hard places. Bear in mind that others are passing over the ground over which you have travelled. They have no more judgment and strength to resist temptation than you had. Be not ready to judge others, if you do not want to be judged.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 26)
The fact is, the Lord has been greatly dishonored by the perversity of His sons and daughters. Let Him not be grieved by any words or acts of one in reference to another. As long as we are in this world, we must be linked one with another. Humanity is interlaced and interwoven with humanity. As Christians, we are members one of another. The Lord has made us thus, and when disappointment comes, we are not to think the worst of one another. We are individual members of the general body.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 27)
In helplessness and disappointment we are fighting the battles of life, and the Lord designs us as His sons and daughters, whom He calls His friends, to help one another. This is to be a part of their practical Christian work. “Who is my neighbor?” [Luke 10:29.] Read and understand. It is the very one who needs help the most. Thy brother, sick in spirit, needs thee as thou needed him. He needs the experience of one who has been as weak as himself, who can sympathize with and help him. The very knowledge of his own weakness helps that one to help another in his weakness.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 28)
Let it not be that the sympathetic cords, which should be quick to vibrate at the least touch, shall be cold as steel, frozen, as it were, and unable to help where help is needed. There is a work to be done in human hearts to make them keen and true and sensitive.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 29)
Precious help is provided for every one of God’s believing children. In Christ Jesus divinity enshrouded in humanity moved among men, bearing the clear credentials of heaven. He suffered in man’s behalf. The necessities and woes of the human race pressed upon His divine manhood. He, the Son of God, was not dependent on human sympathy, but He did not check or repulse it. Amid the conjectures and prejudices of the priests and rulers, who were always criticizing, always accusing, He found a quiet resting place in the family at Bethany. There strife, prejudice, and enmity were not. There He had not to meet words that would sting and bruise the soul. There He found rest and freedom from the strife of tongues.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 30)
In the sixth chapter of John, He tells priest and ruler, Jew and Gentile, that He is the bread of life. Except we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we cannot have life. We must be Christlike. Let us strive to make our lives what Christ designs them to be, full of the fragrance of love to God and our fellow men, full of Christ’s own divine Spirit, full of holy aspirations toward God, rich in the beauty of Christlikeness.
(14LtMs, Lt 117, 1899, 31)
Lt 117a, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 18, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear children Edson and Emma:
I have been very sick. I have not been out of my room to prayers for one week. I have not sat at the table with the family for one week. Yesterday I was asked to speak in regard to the sanitarium. Many prayers had been offered in my behalf. At twelve o’clock, July 17, I rode over to the school, the horse going on a walk. I could not stand upon my feet. The school chapel was full. A chair was placed on the platform and I was made comfortable, and then spoke nearly one hour. At first my voice was so weak, it was a question with me whether I could speak, but strength was given me, and I bore my testimony.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 1)
Brethren came to counsel with me. Parties came thrice, but I could not speak with them or see them at all. Today have ventured to have words with two parties. We need to consult the Lord most earnestly in prayer. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven by the winds and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” [James 1:5-8.] Here is where the great deficiency exists. We do not bring our hearts to Christ in humility.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 2)
The Lord will work with and for all who have sincere faith. “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations,” but be careful and not fall under these temptations. “Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect, wanting nothing.” [Verses 2-4.] We have no time to indulge in the luxury of sorrow or unhappy feelings. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.” [Hebrews 13:12-15.] Here is where we lose many blessings.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 3)
The appearance with many who profess to believe the truth is as though they had a severe task laid upon them, and were sour under its influence. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, ... and be ye thankful.” [Colossians 3:15.] “But without faith it is impossible to please God.” [Hebrews 11:6.] Whatever you may have to pass through because of the little love and sympathy and appreciation of your work, bear in mind the Lord Jesus knows all about it. Look heavenward for your words of comfort and hope, and you will never, never be disappointed. “Lift up your heads and rejoice, for your redemption draweth nigh.” [Luke 21:28.] Now, just now as never before, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 4)
“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more as we see the day approaching.” [Hebrews 10:24, 25.]
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 5)
Bear yourselves, children, as Christians. Keep your tongues from evil, and your lips that they speak no guile. Do as Christ would do under provocation. Keep your own souls in the love of God. Let not your hearts be troubled, but look up in faith, in confidence, in love. Jesus loves you, and He would have you trustful in Him. He would have you clasp that hand that never lets go. There is One who understands. There is One who never makes a mistake. There is One who is ever touched with the feelings of your infirmities. Look upward, heavenward, but not earthward.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 6)
Open the windows heavenward, and let the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness in. Close the windows earthward, and we will not dwell on the disagreeable chapters in our experience. If the mind will dwell upon the most disagreeable things that occur, they will bring a disagreeable atmosphere about the soul which is not healthful for spirituality to contemplate. When you hear anyone talking evil of a brother or sister, however deserving they may be of censure and reflection, do not encourage these evil tendencies; change the subject. There is enough, plenty, for you to dwell upon that is cheerful and uplifting in the blessed Scriptures. Satan would keep our minds fastened upon the disagreeable things until we become disagreeable in words and actions, for “by beholding we become changed into the same image.” [2 Corinthians 3:18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 7)
Keep your treasure house full to overflowing of the wonderful, wonderful truths for this time. Press close to the side of Jesus, and let nothing and nobody get in between yourself and the Precious Teacher and Healer. Words are a most dangerous gift—a talent—misused and abused. We all need sanctified hearts. The fountain must be pure, then the words will prove fragrant and a savor of life unto life. Let not our spirit take control, and we flatter ourselves that it is wholly indignation of wrong. It takes something more than talking, expressing our feelings, to cure them. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” [Matthew 12:37.] Let us fear and tremble for our individual selves, and guard our words that they will not be of a character to wound or bruise the soul of any one.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 8)
Our work is to be laborers together with God, to restore. We are obliged at times to speak decidedly, firmly, but let it be in love and the spirit of Jesus Christ. We hurt our own souls when we speak words in an impetuous, querulous way. We have no words to waste. We have need to guard and cleanse the fountain from which the words of expression tell the character of the fountain from which we draw our supply. Children, there are for us the richest blessings. Receiving them in the sanctification of the Spirit, we refresh and enlighten and bless all with whom we associate. We none of us know how soon the Lord will come. Probation is soon to close. Let us make the most of our time and improve our opportunities.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 9)
Be not ashamed to declare the truth in the congregation in Battle Creek. Act as the Lord’s free children, for the Lord hath chosen you to show forth His praise, His majesty, and His glory. The Holy Spirit of God will make you fruitful in all good works. Walk humbly with God and He has a testimony for you to bear, a work for you to do in Battle Creek. Be not intimidated. Let the straight truth of the living Word be proclaimed in all confidence. You are to reflect the light to others. You are to show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Whatever course others may pursue toward you does not in the least change your relation to the work and cause of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 10)
You are not to work in any other man’s armor. But in the simplicity of truth magnify the truth, and the Lord will be with you. You are not to hurt or feel bruised or wounded at words or attitude. Let the love of Jesus pervade your heart and be perfectly free in Jesus Christ. You are in His service and nothing is to interpose between you and your God. Strive with all the power God will give you to bring up those who need uplifting. Eat the words of Christ yourself, drink His blood, which are the words that Christ has given—which are spirit and which are life. Be of good courage in the Lord. Do not go oppressed and discouraged, for then you cannot have the faith that gives courage and boldness in Christ Jesus. Let His love flood your soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 117a, 1899, 11)
Mother.
Lt 118, 1899
Jones, C. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 10, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother:
Will you explain to me why the president of the California Conference made the statement at the General Conference that the California Conference had sent Sister White fourteen hundred dollars, and that he had ordered one thousand dollars more to be sent? What does this mean? You should have set this matter in an altogether different light, for the impression has been left on minds that this money was sent as a donation.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 1)
I acceded to your proposition to make a settlement with Mrs. Scott by taking shares in the Healdsburg College, to the amount of both principal and interest, because you said she might make trouble for the institution which would involve it in difficulties. When you inquired if I would settle the business in this way, you said you thought the brethren in California would be willing to take these shares. I understood you were going to present this at the next annual gathering of the conference, and then publish the particulars in a circular, and send them to the churches. I was in need of means, but nothing was done. Thirty dollars, I think, were raised, and then the matter was dropped, with the explanation that it was not thought best to present it in this way.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 2)
The letter is not before me now, but I feel distressed. Why should I, away in this destitute field, give that amount to the Healdsburg College? When I invested my means, I thought I might not receive more than a thousand dollars, but this amount would help me very much. I desired to settle the affair, and consented to take the shares, supposing that decided measures would be taken to present the matter to the next assembly, just as Brother C. H. Jones had said would be done. I know if justice were done, and the brethren in California understood the matter, they would not let this amount be disposed of so readily. That money was my own, and as a steward of the Lord’s goods I was to see that it was appropriated in fields where it was most needed.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 3)
In this field the pressure for means was so great that I urged the matter, and finally presented it before Elder Loughborough and the president of the General Conference. Elder Haskell was writing to me from Queensland in regard to their meetinghouse. He was distressed, but it seemed impossible to advance. Dr. Caro, Elder Starr, Elder Daniells and other ministers, presented the condition of things before me, and asked me if I had any light for them. I said what I could to encourage them. That night the check came. Before this I had not been able to sleep for sorrow and perplexity, and that night I could not sleep for joy. I had no thought but that the providence of God had sent the money, and it was soon put to use. One hundred pounds was sent to the union conference, to be forwarded to Elder Haskell for the meetinghouse in Brisbane. But Elder Haskell, knowing that a house of worship must be built in Newcastle, returned half the amount for this purpose.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 4)
One hundred pounds was loaned to the union conference to erect better bathrooms for the sanitarium, and at our recent conference at Cooranbong, I donated this amount for the sanitarium which we shall establish. This left me with four hundred dollars. A portion of this was invested in a new tent, which had to be used as a meeting place. Every dollar of the fourteen hundred was appropriated to meet the demands of missionary fields.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 5)
I do not want to hear the statement repeated that the California Conference donated to me fourteen hundred dollars. The president of the conference has stated that he has given orders for one thousand dollars to be sent to Sister White. Will you tell why it has not come? Again a letter from Battle Creek states that three thousand dollars have been sent to Sister White. Sister White has received only the fourteen hundred dollars, and how these statements can be made in righteousness, while you do not know certainly what you are talking about, I do not know.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 6)
Neither you nor the president of the conference have any right to make these statements when they are not really as you present them, and you know it. Where are the three thousand dollars you say you have sent? Where are the one thousand dollars which Brother Gowell or some other brother is said to have sent? Have they been lost by the way? I wish you would explain; for I am in the dark, and would be pleased to be enlightened.
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 7)
Sara just tells me that five hundred dollars has come,
(14LtMs, Lt 118, 1899, 8)
Lt 119, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 13, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in UL 239; 5BC 1099-1100. + Dear Edson and Emma:
Do not criticize others. The spirit of criticism is eating away the very vitals of the people of God. We cannot afford to pile up rubbish. Heaven sees the work that is going on of piling up the rubbish of words. Suppose we decided not to add anything to this pile of needless, vain, and foolish words. We have a most sacred, solemn work to do. The apostle Paul said, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear and in much trembling.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 1)
“And my speech and my preaching was not in enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world: nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” [1 Corinthians 2:2-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 2)
We have a message to bear to the world. “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God: that we might know the things which are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can we know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” [Verses 12-14.] This great lesson is for the interest of all to know. We are to work vigilantly in prospect of the solemn event of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and if we are waiting and watching and working, we shall speak sound words among those who like ourselves are waiting and watching.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 3)
There is work to be done. The piles of rubbish that have been accumulating need to be removed. How? “Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 7:1.] Cultivate personal piety. God would have us inquire, “Who hath known the mind of the Lord?” that he may instruct us, and that we may be able to say, “We have the mind of Christ.” [1 Corinthians 2:16.] Then all the rubbish of evil words will be removed. May the Lord imbue us with His Spirit, and touch our lips with a burning coal from the altar. Earnestly, vigilantly, watching and waiting and working, we are to be, “not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” [Romans 12:11.]
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 4)
The church is the one object of Christ’s intense interest in this world, and for which He has unceasing care. This church is engaged in securing the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life to all who receive it. In every soul God looks for stable principles revealed in word and action. Then they will bring from the treasure house words weighted with the principles of eternal truth. We have no time to praise the devil, no time nor voice to criticize. We are to show that the grace of Christ is abiding in our hearts. Its influence will be revealed, whatever company we are in, by words of deepest importance, involving consequences as enduring as eternity.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 5)
At this period of the earth’s history we cannot afford to weaken one another’s influence. The Christian warfare is close and severe. We have to meet and battle with unseen foes, and we must be in harmony with the heavenly agencies, who are seeking to cleanse us from the inclination to criticize our brethren, to pass judgment on them. The Lord desires us to stand under the yoke of Christ. Labor in God. Toil does nor hurt half as much as worry and perplexity. It is because we have so little genuine sympathy that the battle goes hard.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 6)
If we become so active that we have not time to pray, we have not put on the whole armor of righteousness. Paul enjoined Timothy, “Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine.” [1 Timothy 4:16.] The soul must be purified and made ready to receive the golden oil which the two olive branches, through the two golden pipes, pour into vessels cleansed to receive it. In turn the vessels are to empty themselves of the treasures of truth, bringing from the treasure house things new and old. Heavenly messengers, the anointed ones, supply the living agencies, that they may impart.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 7)
The Lord has rich stores, and He desires men to enjoy His blessing. Had men in the beginning rightly appreciated and appropriated the talents God gave them, the earth would not have been cursed by a flood. And we see the work of destruction still going on, and why? Because there has been a national apostasy. The world has thrown off the law of God, and has legalized transgression and sin. The people of God must now show their colors. There must be no drawing back. The very best credentials we can carry is love for one another. All strife, all dissension, is to cease.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 8)
God will not accept the talents of the smartest, the most eloquent man if the inner lamp of the soul is not trimmed and burning. There must be a consecrated heart, a consecrated surrender of the soul. We are justified by faith and judged by works. The Lord calls. Shall we hear His voice? Shall we by diligent trading place our means where the Lord can co-operate with us in their use? Let us work on, doing our best in all meekness and humility of mind, and we shall be more than conquerors through Him who hath loved us.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 9)
How few are willing to suffer reproach and shame for Christ’s sake! His Word is our testimony. We are to believe and love the truth for Christ’s sake. We must rise higher and higher in purity [and] knowledge. We are Christ’s witnesses. Then let us not talk of difficulties or ponder over our trials, but come close to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 10)
By beholding Him, studying and talking of Him, we become transformed into His image.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 11)
I expect Elder Waggoner here in September. If you would come, and we could have a reunion here and a counsel in regard to my books, how glad I should be!
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 12)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 119, 1899, 13)
Lt 120, 1899
Those at the Head of the Work NP August 14, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 375-376; 2SM 188. + To Those at the Head of the Work Dear Brethren:
Light has been given me that sufficient, careful consideration is not given to the matter put into print. What good does the public receive by learning all the business that is transacted in our conference? There are matters which do not concern the outside world at all, and these should be kept within our own borders.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 1)
When the Lord gives cautions through His servant, why do certain men understand the message according to their own ideas, which are often contrary to the light given. Satan, the great schemer for souls, rejoices when he sees the work of God in a tangle through his management, and money laid out in such a way as to bring perplexity into the fields where help is given. This state of things brings discouragement upon the people of God. Our institutions have been unwisely managed, and debts are accumulating on them because men do not heed God’s warning. Notwithstanding His messages, they plan for more outlay of means in the erection of buildings.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 2)
Let each one now bind about his desire to create buildings, and place the money where the Lord would have it—to make a beginning in places where the warning message has not yet found a foothold. Our institutions should make every effort to get free from the oppressive influence of debt. Let God’s people humble their hearts before the Lord, and make a covenant with Him by sacrifice. The Lord would have His cause prosperous, and He will be pleased to see His churches converted anew, and working, not with spasmodic enthusiasm, but with solid good sense to free His cause from the dishonor of debt.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 3)
We need anointed eyes at this time, that we may see nigh and afar off and work understandingly. Then we shall see those portions of the vineyard which are yet a barren waste no longer neglected. The reformatory message is to go to every place. Clear rays of light are to shine forth at every camp meeting, that the churches may be educated to do their God-given work. Instead of appealing for more institutions, plead for workers who will act as faithful canvassers and Bible workers. Appeal to the churches to work within their own borders, that every church member may become a living stone in God’s building.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 4)
For years the light has been shining in clear lines, and if the messages sent had been received and acted upon, there would today be an altogether different showing. But the outlay of means for the sustenance of institutions, which have been years in operation, has been so large that the work has not been advanced in other places as God designed. Finite wisdom is not to plan for a few sections in America, while men close their understanding to those places where God has indicated a special work shall be done. Many more are to come to a knowledge of the truth. This message is to go to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 5)
When an interest is aroused in any town or city, that interest must be followed up. The place must be thoroughly worked, until a humble house of worship stands as a sign, a light amid the moral darkness. These memorials are to stand in many places as witnesses to the truth, but in their erection there must be no needless expenditure of means. God in His mercy has provided ministers of the gospel to go to all countries, tongues, and peoples, until the Lord’s standard of truth shall be established in all parts of the inhabited world.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 6)
The workers must arouse themselves to see afar off. With many, self-denial and self-sacrifice are dead, and these elements must be raised to life again. Men must understand that the large wages which they demand are sapping the Lord’s treasury. They are binding up God’s money in private interests, and by their actions are saying to the world, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” [Matthew 24:48.] Shall not this thing be changed? Who will come up to the great example of the Master-worker? If you have money, my brethren, use it in doing missionary work. For Christ’s sake heed the Word of the Lord. Christ declared that in these last days men would act as they did in the days before the flood. Do not, I beseech you, act the part of the antediluvians.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 7)
God calls for His capital of means to be used in saving the souls that are ready to die. Our money is to be used to the very best advantage, that it may do permanent work in establishing souls in the truth. When souls are converted, they are to be educated to bring other souls to Christ. God calls upon every worker to lift every jot and tittle possible from now on to the close of earth’s history. Selfishness is to be cut away from the people of God. Every soul is to be sanctified through the truth. Our dress and furniture, let them cost as little as possible, for there is a world to be saved. The time is not far distant when every man must give an account for the means he has handled. “How much owest thou unto the Lord?” [Luke 16:5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 8)
The educational work is to be taken into account. How shall our schools be carried on? Church schools should be established, and teachers employed who will teach the students in the common branches. The Bible should be made the foundation of all study. Many of the churches should carry this work themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 9)
Sanitariums—not large, expensive buildings, but institutions where effectual work can be done—are to be established in many places. This work is to be begun solidly, and enlarged as circumstances shall demand. But ever remember that the medical missionary work sustains the same relation to the third angel’s message as the right arm does to the body. The arm is not to be made the body. It is to be the helping hand of faith, which is to lead people to Christ. Medical missionary work should always be connected with the work of establishing souls in the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 10)
Beginnings may be made in every prominent place where camp meetings are held. Instead of following the example of the workers in America in creating building after building, make small beginnings. Count the cost of every undertaking, that you may know that you will be able to finish. Draw as little as possible from the treasury. It needs men of faith and financial ability to plan and devise economically, for sanitariums must be erected with a limited outlay of means. Buildings in which to begin the work can often be secured at low cost. Christ invites every worker, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.]
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 11)
All the talent and money and sympathy must not center in the work of seeking out the depraved in the large cities, for other lines of work need to be carried forward. Yet an interest in this kind of work needs to be created in all our churches, for this is preaching the gospel to the poor. The churches established in Australasia, in New Zealand, in Victoria, in New South Wales, should commence work just where they are, and labor in Christ’s lines. The work is going so rapidly into new fields that it is becoming necessary for workers to plan how they can deny self. This is to be an individual work. Money cannot be drawn from the conference for medical missionary work. A deep interest must be awakened in every church to take up the work. The Lord calls for undivided self-sacrifice.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 12)
Let none think that the medical missionary work is to be independent of the ministry. This work is a part of the gospel. And as worldlings shall see the good work being carried forward, they will be convicted of its genuineness, and will help. But unless the ones who labor are rooted and grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus, there will be danger of them leading away from the principles of truth in order to reach a certain class. These souls need the truth. The truth is their only foundation for a solid building, and unless they build solidly, they will not stand the test of temptation. No dependence can be placed on souls who are only half converted.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 13)
We must move forward, not according to the devising of men, but as God shall direct. There must not be such ample distribution of labor in certain lines, with such poor returns as have been presented to me. A way should be devised to connect the medical missionary work with the churches. The conference is not to be responsible for this work. Let church members be instructed that this is the gospel they are to practice. The various institutions which have been established will require means to keep them in running order, else they will witness against the truth rather than for the truth; and if a large number of these institutions are left for the conference to carry, there will not be means enough to advance all the interests, and the foreign missionary work will be neglected.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 14)
Dr. Kellogg has had a special work to do, but he has been gathering too many responsibilities to himself. God did not appoint him to do this. The so-called medical missionary work cannot be carried on as it has been without endangering the general prosperity of the cause. Should these burdens crush him, he will suppose it is because he did not have the co-operation of his brethren. But it will be because he has loaded himself down with a class of work which demands more than he can give to carry it forward. “Who hath required this at your hand?” was asked. [Isaiah 1:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 15)
In Australia we are not to pattern after the example of any in America. The work we do must be solid, and thus be a witness for the truth. We who have had light from God must take heed. Every line of work is to be carried on in Christ’s lines. We are in very poor business when we live for pretense and display, that we may gain the admiration of the world. The service of God is not mingled with common fire. Everything is to be done in God’s way and according to God’s will. The Lord will help all who give themselves unreservedly to Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 16)
The message we give to the world at this time is to bear the signature of heaven. Self-denial must characterize our work. Christ was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, and what a life of earnest work and self-denial He lived. For our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He did all this for you, my brethren and sisters, that He might save you from eternal ruin. What response are you making? What have you done for Him? Christ declares, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” [Luke 14:27.] Shall we not die to self? Christ calls us to follow Him, to be laborers with Him, to be faithful to every trust which His life of sacrifice imposes upon us. Then be faithful to your stewardship. Be firm as a rock to principle. Be earnest and steadfast in every good purpose, courageous in every effort, and united in building up and enlarging the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 17)
We need to understand that God is in every enterprise. Nothing that is said or done or thought can escape His notice. He is in every institution. He sees every deposit made, every income and outgo. He keeps an account of every dollar drawn by those who are selfishly making large draughts on His treasury. Every conscientious denial of self, every manifestation of a grasping, covetous spirit, is registered in the books of heaven just as it is.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 18)
A Watcher is present who notes every word and transaction of our individual lives, who weighs every motive that prompts to action. The hand that traced the characters on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace is ever writing, God is here; God is in every place. All our words, all our plans, all our secret motives, are weighed in the balances of infinite justice and truth. Shall fatal defects be found in our characters? Shall the compassionate, self-denying, self-sacrificing Saviour find us wanting in tenderness, love, courtesy, and compassion for those for whom He gave His life, or shall our names be found written in the Lamb’s book of life?
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 19)
God has given us gracious opportunities for doing good. He has provided us with every facility, every faculty, and we are answerable to Him for our use or abuse of them. If we use them well, God can call us laborers together with Him, the great Character-builder. If we cleanse ourselves from every impure and selfish principle, the blessed benediction can be pronounced upon us, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; ... enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” [Matthew 25:21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 20)
Christ calls upon every one to do His work. “Go work today in my vineyard,” He says. [Matthew 21:28.] “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] Satan must be cast out and overcome. Speaking of Satan, Christ declared, “He abode not in the truth.” [John 8:44.] He was an exalted angel, possessed of a heavenly home where all was holiness and joy. But he swerved from his allegiance. He fell from his high estate, and with a large army of associate rebels was cast out of heaven. From his position as covering cherub, he became the avowed antagonist of God. He planted his standard on the earth and established a rival empire, where all the powers of evil combined in opposing the influence of God. The prince of darkness, actuated by the principle which works in all the children of disobedience, left no means untried to attract the attention of men to himself and conform them to his nature, stimulated by his intense hatred of the God whom he had dishonored, he tried to eclipse every ray of light from the world, and to efface the likeness of God from men by making them recipients of his own apostate character and stamping his image on their souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 21)
Two classes are presented before us, the followers of Christ and the followers of Satan. Who will take sides with the enemy to practice selfishness and withhold from God His own? Satan calls all who will acknowledge him to come under his banner. By selfishness and covetousness, which is idolatry, he has planted his throne between the human worshippers and God. The talents which God has entrusted to man to be used in serving Him, Satan has caused to be invested for the building up of His kingdom. Satan, and not God, is worshiped.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 22)
In order that men might not forget the true God, Jehovah has given them a memorial of His love and power—the Sabbath. He says, “Verily, my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath, therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 23)
“Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest; holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh he rested, and was refreshed.” [Exodus 31:13-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 24)
Satan has worked with masterly power to make null and void the fourth commandment and give to the world a spurious sabbath, that the sign of God might be of no effect. He found a co-partner in this work in the papal power, which sought to change times and laws. The false sabbath was exalted by princes and rulers, while the true was trodden under foot. Our work for this time is to undeceive the world if possible. Satan has interposed between man and his God, that man may not bear the sign which God has said should exist between Him and His people; and the whole Christian world has been imbued with satanic enthusiasm to depreciate the seventh day and exalt the idol sabbath.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 25)
But God has chosen a people who will be loyal to Him. He has erected a temple for the maintenance of His worship, and He designs that His work shall be carried forward in establishing churches as memorials of the people who bear His sign. These houses of worship, however humble, will continually proclaim the treason of Satan and the genuineness of the Sabbath—that Sabbath which was instituted in Eden when all the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
(14LtMs, Lt 120, 1899, 26)
Lt 121, 1899
Jones, A. T. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 14, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I received your letter. I thank you for writing. The Lord would have your words a power of influence for good wherever you may be. When you have the treasures of the Word to present to the people, let the golden oil from the two golden pipes be emptied into the vessel prepared for its reception, and the truth spoken in love will be a power for good. But, my brother, you have too much of the spirit to drive. Soften and subdue your own spirit. Let the peace of God rule in your heart. Those who bear the sacred truth to the people must in word and spirit and action pursue the course the great Teacher pursued. They must be meek and lowly in heart. Your words are a talent, and these words are to be wisely improved, that they may have the very best influence.
(14LtMs, Lt 121, 1899, 1)
I have a great desire that everything shall be cleansed away that in any way hinders the Spirit’s influence circulating through the office. Light came to me regarding the condition of things that would be created in that many who had no right to anything more in royalties than they had already received, would demand more, because they placed so high an estimate on their own productions. This spirit of selfishness would bring great confusion. I was shown that the maneuverings with the Gospel Primer, and all the transactions that took place regarding this little book, were unjust and selfish. A covetous spirit came in, or I might say, developed itself; for it was already in.
(14LtMs, Lt 121, 1899, 2)
Decided measures were taken to press those who possessed the book to make terms in regard to it. Not one of the actors in this transaction will be pleased to meet the record of it in that great day when every action will proclaim itself to the ones who acted the scheming part. Every wrong deed is written against their names. Such things as this are robbery and will testify against the wrongdoer. Everything was done that could be done. Those who owned the book were helpless because of a lack of means. Those in positions of trust knew this, and pressed them unfairly, unmercifully, and unjustly to accept any terms that would relieve them from the pressure brought to bear upon them. Thus it was made exceeding hard for those who had prepared the book to appreciate its value, for it was discounted. Man [determined] that it would amount to little when handled.
(14LtMs, Lt 121, 1899, 3)
When Elder Olsen was president of the conference, letters were sent by me to him in reference to these matters, saying that these things must be made right. Elder Littlejohn, a blind man, was not properly dealt with. This case calls for consideration and restitution. Frank Belden was not justly dealt with, either by the Review & Herald or the Pacific Press. Unfairness and injustice were practiced. This was plainly specified to Elder Olsen. But his perceptive faculties were confused because he himself was enticed to do many things that were not straightforward. The managers of the publishing institutions had these men in a net. They were in debt, and struggle as they would, they could not extricate themselves from the meshes which were being drawn closer and closer about them. These cases have been specified. It was expressly stated that there are matters to be rectified in the place of being sponged out.
(14LtMs, Lt 121, 1899, 4)
Lt 122, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 14, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in BEcho Supp. 09/18/1899. + Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I have not been able to sleep after one o’clock. I have written several pages to Brethren Sutherland and Magan. I will send you a copy of the same. In the night season I was instructed in many things. The danger that threatens our churches is that new and strange things will be brought in, things that confuse the minds of the people, and give them no strength, at the very time when they most need strength in spiritual things. Clear discernment is needed, that things new and strange shall not be laid alongside of truth as a part of the burden of the message to be given at this time. The very messages we have been giving to the world are to be made prominent. The books containing the light God has given must be brought before the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 1)
Canvassers should have the fact impressed upon them that the canvassing work is the very work the Lord would have them do. The work of the canvasser is to bring before the world as fast as possible the light that God has given. The publications will do a far greater work than can be accomplished even by the ministry of the Word, because the canvassers reach a class that ministers who teach in Word and doctrine cannot reach. From the light given me, I know that where there is one canvasser in the field, there should be one hundred. Persons should be encouraged to take hold of the work, not to handle the little story books, but to bring before the world the books so essential at this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 2)
The Lord will be with steadfast, consecrated workers. The time has come when a large work should be done by the canvassers. As watchmen they are ringing the warning bell to awake the sleepers to a sense of their danger. The work to be done is great; the world is asleep, and the churches know not the time of their visitation. How can they best learn the truth? Through the efforts of the canvasser. Thus the reading is brought before those who otherwise would never hear the truth. Those who go forth in the name of the Lord are His messengers to give to the world the glad tidings of salvation through Christ in obeying the law of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 3)
The multitudes are in darkness, in error, and the Lord would have the light of truth shine forth to the world. To every man is given his work. Here is a work that man can lay hold of and do. All who will consecrate themselves to God to work as canvassers are giving the last message of warning to the world. They will be drawn out to speak the truth, and will have opportunities to explain the Word of God. In doing this itinerant work they are flashing rays of light upon the pathway of those who are in the darkness of error.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 4)
Those who are fitting for the ministry can engage in no other work which will give them so large an experience as will the canvassing work. All who want an opportunity for true ministry, and who will give themselves unreservedly to the Lord will find in the canvassing work opportunities to speak upon many things that pertain to the future immortal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 5)
Doctrinal points should not be forced upon the people by the canvassers. But if the people lead out by asking questions, give them “the reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” [1 Peter 3:15.] What fear? Fear lest your words should savor of self-importance, lest unadvised words should be spoken. The words and the manners are to be after Christ’s likeness.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 6)
Pray and work. More will be accomplished by the Christlike, humble prayer than by many words without prayer. Work in simplicity, and the Lord will work with the canvasser. The Holy Spirit will impress minds just as He impresses the minds of those who listen to the words of God’s delegated ministers, who preach His Word. The same ministry of holy angels attends the one who gives himself to canvassing for books for the educating of the people as to what is truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 7)
Men and women can work in lines effectually if they feel in their hearts that they are doing the work of the Lord in ministering to the souls who know not the truth for this time. They are sounding the note of warning in the byways and highways to prepare a people for the great day of God which is about to break upon the world. We have no time to lose. We must encourage this work. Who will go forth now with our publications? Let them read the sixth chapter of Isaiah and take its lesson home to their hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 8)
“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” [Verses 5-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 9)
This representation will be acted over and over again if the canvassers are pressing close to the side of Christ, wearing His yoke, and daily learning of Him how to carry messages of peace and comfort to the sorrowing, disappointed ones, the sad and brokenhearted. By imbuing them with His own Spirit, Christ the great Teacher is fitting them to do a good and important work.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 10)
This work has not, of late, had the spirit and the life infused into it by the leading agents that once made it a specialty. Painstaking effort is required; instruction must be given; a sense of the importance of the work must be kept before the workers; all must cherish the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice that has been exemplified in the life of our Redeemer.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 11)
The Lord Jesus, standing by the side of the canvassers, walking with them, is the chief Worker. The Holy Ghost by their side makes impressions in just the lines needed, if the worker recognizes Christ as the One who is with him to prepare the way. Thus the worker can move forward representing the sacred truth he is handling, in the books for which he is finding a home in families.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 12)
Just as the truth presented in the books becomes woven into his own experience and developed in his character will be his strength, his courage, his life. The experience gained will be of more benefit to him than all the advantages he might otherwise obtain in fitting for the work of the ministry. It is the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit of God that prepares the workers, both men and women, to become pastors unto the flock of God. As they cherish the thought that Christ is their companion, a holy awe, a sacred joy, will be felt by them amid all their trying experiences and all their tests. They will learn now to pray as they work. They will be educated in patience, kindness, affability, [and] helpfulness wherever they may be. They will practice true Christian courtesy, bearing in mind that Christ their Companion will not approve of any harsh, unkind words or feelings. Their words need to be purified.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 13)
The power of speech should be regarded as a precious talent, granted them to do a high and holy work. The human agent is to represent the divine Companion with whom he is associated. To that unseen, holy Companion he is to show respect and reverence because he is wearing the yoke of Christ and is learning His pure, holy ways and manners.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 14)
Those who have faith and confidence in this divine Attendant will develop. They will be gifted with power to clothe the message of truth with a divine, sacred beauty. In all the self-denial and self-sacrifice required, amid all the unpleasant things that occur, they are ever to consider that they are yoked with Christ, partakers with Him of His spirit of patience, forbearance, kindliness, self-denial, and self-sacrifice. This spirit will make them a place and give them success in the work, because Christ is their recommendation to the families. They will not be easily repulsed, for they know that the household needs the instruction these books contain.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 15)
Some will lay them on the parlor table, and seldom look into them, until some sorrow comes. Perhaps sickness enters their home. Then they will look for those books, and the stricken ones will find peace and rest, and fall asleep in Jesus, resting in His love because He has forgiven their sins and is precious to their souls. This has been the testimony of many. The Lord co-operates with the self-denying human workers. His own mind, His own spirit, is communicated to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 16)
God has His workmen in every age. The call of the hour is answered by the human agencies. Thus it will be when the divine voice cries, “Whom shall I send? and who will go for us?” The response will come, “Here am I, send me.” [Verse 8.] The Lord imparts a fitness for the work to every man and woman who will cooperate with divine power. A great work is to be done in our world, and human agencies will surely respond to the demand. And all the requisite talent, courage, perseverance, faith, and tack will come as they put the armor on. The world must hear the warning. When the call comes, “Whom shall I send? and who will go for us?” send back the answer clear and distinct, “Here am I; send me.”
(14LtMs, Lt 122, 1899, 17)
Lt 123, 1899
Faulkhead, N. D.; Salisbury, W. D. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 17, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in BEcho Supp. 09/18/1899. Dear Brethren Faulkhead and Salisbury:
I would be pleased to be with you, my brethren, if this were the will of the Lord; but I cannot leave my work. We are praying for you, for we feel just as great an interest in the work you are trying to do in Melbourne as in the work we are trying to do in this part of the Lord’s vineyard. The Lord’s angels are round about you in North Fitzroy as we know they are round about the workers in Cooranbong. I wish to reveal to the people, for their encouragement, the light which the Lord has been pleased to impart.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 1)
The publishing house is a center. It is a representative of the truth we claim to believe, and the church in Melbourne should feel that it is honored in having among it this printing office to give character to the message that comes from the press in publications to go into the highways and byways. This institution is God’s instrumentality, to send forth the messages of truth to the people in clear lines. The workers in the publishing house are highly honored in having a place in it, and if they are daily learners in the school of Christ, the Lord will give these apprentices wisdom to discern the good and choose the blessings which it is their privilege to enjoy in connection with the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 2)
All may realize that faith without works is dead, being alone. When the workers in connection with the Echo office combine faith and works, they will send forth precious rays of light into the moral darkness of the world. Those who are engaged in any branch of the work are acting a noble part in doing service for God. They are to stand loyal and true at their post of duty, appreciating the privilege of so close a connection with heavenly instrumentalities. Angels are supervising the work, and you are co-operating with the ministry of the delegates of heaven. In all your work you may truly say, The Lord is here. Let your silent prayers go up to God in acknowledgment of His blessings. Be thankful, and the Lord will give you wisdom and understanding.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 3)
I would speak especially to the believers in Melbourne. Pray every morning and evening that the Echo Publishing House may have God’s richest blessing upon it. This institution may be one of the most successful educating schools in business and spiritual lines. We do not half appreciate the mercies and blessings of God. Let no murmurs or complaints come from your lips, for angels hear these words. The Lord will be pleased if you in Victoria and we in New South Wales will take hold heartily and sustain the publishing institution with our prayers and our means, and encourage the hearts of those who carry the heavy burdens. Do not encourage criticism and complaining, for this is the most detrimental commodity you can deal in. It is Satan’s goods, and you need not pass it round.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 4)
A grand work is being done by those who handle the press. The sheets that come from the groaning press to be prepared as tracts and bound up as books are to go forth to visit all the places of the earth. There should be canvassers who will do faithful service in this work. When the Lord’s voice calls, “Whom shall we send? and who will go for us?” the divine Spirit puts it into the hearts of men and women to answer, “Here am I; send me.” [Isaiah 6:8.] But bear in mind that the live coal from the altar must first touch your lips and cleanse you from all impurity. Then the words you speak will be wise and holy words.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 5)
The Lord would have many take a part in this grand work who are consecrated, whose hearts are humble, and who are willing to engage in any line of work that demands their service. All are not to be canvassers, for then there would be no printers, editors, or managers. And if all were printers, there would be no canvassers. God will fit every one for the work who will seek to follow Him. If those who take up the canvassing work are thoroughly converted, they will reflect light and do honor to God by speaking a word in season to those who are willing to hear.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 6)
The Lord will co-operate with all who are in earnest in the work, as He co-operated with Daniel and his three companions. Of these youth we read, “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: ... and the king communed with them, and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king; and in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” [Daniel 1:17, 19, 20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 7)
When the Lord co-operates with the human agent and the human agent co-operates with God, marked advancement is made in all learning in business lines and in spiritual knowledge, for the Lord opens the understanding, that His faithful children who honor Him may continually advance. Church members in Victoria should consider it a privilege to have their children connected with the publishing house.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 8)
We unite with you heartily, with our prayers, our energies, and our sympathies. As you enlarge your work of book making, you will increase your school of apprentices, and those who are educating these youth should realize that they are doing God’s work. Each youth should learn some part of the business, and then climb higher, to learn in advanced lines, until he is complete in all parts of the work, and is prepared in his turn to become an educator.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 9)
It is the privilege of the instructors to cultivate tenderness, kindness, [and] true courtesy by manifesting these graces to every student in the office. Every youth is the Lord’s property, to be watched over, cared for, loved, and treated courteously. When youth are determined to have their own way, let not the parents of these youth receive the testimony of their children, but go directly to those at the head of the institution and learn the truth. Parents, teach your children to respect and honor the men whom God honors and respects by placing them in positions of trust.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 10)
The divine Spirit puts the desire to engage in the work into the heart of the man whom He can qualify for that place. Some are fitted for one branch of the work and some for another. Some as sons of consolation are to carry the message to the sorrowing, the disappointed, and the brokenhearted; and angels of God will be with these workers. But those who are prepared to do God service in any line will not seek the easiest place. Said Christ, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.]
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 11)
There is a special work to be done in ministering to the most hopeless cases. The workers can possess a science of simplicity and eloquence that will search out and help the most needy, the class for which the sermonizers feel no special burden. Was not Christ the greatest Teacher the world ever knew? Was He not the Son of the infinite God, and yet He said, “I do nothing of myself.”“Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but my Father which dwelleth in me, he doeth the work.” [John 8:28; 14:10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 12)
The true worker should ever bear in mind that he is doing service for God. Missionary work does not consist merely of preaching. It includes personal labor for those who have abused their health and have placed themselves where they have not moral power to control their appetites and passions. These souls are to be labored for as those more favorably situated. Our world is full of suffering ones.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 13)
God has written His law upon every nerve and muscle, every fiber and function of the human body. The indulgence of unnatural appetite, whether for tea, coffee, tobacco, or liquor, is intemperance, and is at war with the laws of life and health. By using these forbidden articles a condition of things is created in the system which the Creator never designed. This indulgence in any of the members of the human family is sin. But how much more sinful is it in those who profess to be Christians, who say they are Abraham’s children. They are not, because they do not practice the works of the Lord. If they were following Jesus they would deny unnatural appetite.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 14)
Every gratification of unnatural appetite produces disease in the physical system. The eating of food that does not make good blood is working against the laws of our physical organism, and is a violation of the law of God. The cause produces the effect. Suffering, disease, and death are the sure penalty of indulgence.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 15)
As those whom God has called and chosen, we are under obligation to become intelligent in regard to the difference between eating to live and living to eat. Look at the world and see the worship that is paid to eating, drinking, and dressing. It is carried into every phase of life. Needless worries and burdens are brought upon the family by wishing to be hospitable in entertaining visitors. They overwork to prepare a great variety for the table. An over-abundance is eaten. The digestive organs are given too large an amount of work to do. The distended stomach cries out for relief, “Hold, hold, put no greater burden upon me than I can carry;” but the protest is unheeded. These dinners and teas and suppers are a burden and an injury.
(14LtMs, Lt 123, 1899, 16)
Lt 124, 1899
Brethren in Victoria NP August 18, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in BEcho Supp. 09/18/1899. + My Brethren in Victoria:
Lift the standard higher and still higher. There is a great work to be done, and there is no time to be lost. Canvassers are to be educated and trained to do the work required in selling the books upon present truth which the people need. Our young men and young women may do a good work in canvassing if they will obey the words, “Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine.” [1 Timothy 4:16.] Self must be disciplined. The young men and young women who give evidence that they are truly converted and who take up the canvassing work may consider that this work is the very best preparation for the ministry. The canvassing work involves the performance of the highest moral duties. In this work there will be many temptations which will test whatever integrity and strength of religious principles and habits young men have, in their experience, acquired.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 1)
The whole period of life is a brief season of trial. Those who take hold of a work so important as the canvassing work must constantly guard self, lest Satan shall obtain the advantage. A multitude of petty temptations will assail the one the Lord is testing, and if he stands firm as a rock to principle, it is because he makes the Lord God his trust every moment. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.” [Romans 13:14.] Let the sincere cry from the soul be, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” [1 Samuel 3:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 2)
True workers are not careful to make special conditions whereby they may secure favors and have a very pleasant time in self-serving. But many canvassers go into a hotel and obtain their meals there, when they should make self-denying, self-sacrificing efforts to obtain accommodations in a humble cottage. But whether you go to a cottage or to a more stately mansion, let it be known that you are Christians, that you love the service of Christ, that you love missionary work, that you are carrying a class of books of the highest value. Obtain entrance if you can, and if possible sell helps enough to give you a bed and something to eat.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 3)
If you can, obtain the privilege of conversing with the family. Ask them if you may have the privilege of uniting with them in their morning and evening worship. Thus doing, you have committed yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ, and no one will be more in need than you of stirring up the gift that is in you. Show that you realize that you are in a useful line of duty and honorable employment, that you are doing missionary work. If there is water to be brought, modestly ask the privilege of doing this. The numerous kind acts, you may do, though small, will win for you respect, and an order, it may be, for a book. You can find friends if you ever show yourself friendly. And you may feel every day that you are in an educating school.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 4)
August 18. I cannot sleep. I am burdened to write at one o’clock a.m. During the night I have been under the special influence of the Spirit of the Lord. I have been instructed that I am not to use my influence to divorce Willie from the cause and work of God. He should not load himself down with too many responsibilities. There is continual danger of getting the work into a jam, and then comes confusion, and often uncertain work. Every method is to be weighed candidly, and the Lord is to be sought unto diligently. We are to ask Him to do all things for us that seem necessary to be done. He is our Wisdom, our Sanctification, and our Righteousness. We are not to feel ourselves weak, but strong in His might, to go forward with courage in the name of the Lord to do the very things that need to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 5)
The Lord has instructed W. C. White from his youth in regard to the way his work should be carried on. He cannot divorce himself from the work. He can help me by giving more time to the matter of getting out properly the testimonies the Lord has given to His people. But the Lord would have him connect with me, and also with his brethren, to plan for the work. The Lord will work with him and with his mother. He must secure the very best help to unite with him in the work he shall do in the preparation of books, and in the work in connection with his brethren. His reliance must be upon God, and on God should be the reliance of all who act a part in this great work to be accomplished in sending the message of warning to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 6)
Much more book-making needs to be done in the Echo office. This institution has not been favored with donations as have the printing establishments in America, and there are not here workmen who are thoroughly and understandingly connected with the work. Those who bear the heaviest responsibilities have not been strengthened and sustained by the churches in their prayers, and in realizing that the prosperity and success of the work is largely due to the attitude of the churches.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 7)
If the churches do not feel that the work done in the Echo office is a most important work, and that the workers need their sympathy and hearty, intelligent co-operation, this deficiency will be a drawback to the work. Complaints will be made in regard to the men who carry a heavy load. Discouragements come upon these men because of the unconsecrated elements in the churches, who love to talk, and say, “Report, and we will report it.” [Jeremiah 20:10.] They are making more work for the men who are already overburdened.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 8)
All who daily consecrate themselves to God to hold up the hands of those who bear responsibilities, God will bless. We are engaged in a great work, and Satan will use all his power to win to his side, the men and women who could co-operate with God in doing a precious work if they were sanctified, cleansed, and worked by the Holy Spirit—if they had warm, true hearts of tender love, and gave due respect to those whom God has appointed to carry a great and important work. The men engaged in this work have been and will again be wounded by those who think and speak evil and create feelings of distrust and jealousy, which should not be tolerated or kept alive by unsanctified tongues.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 9)
The publishing house is the Lord’s house, and it is not to be desecrated by those connected with it. Every worker employed there should put to the stretch nerve, brain, bone, muscle, and sinew to make the publishing house all that God designs it to be. The Lord’s blessing will rest upon the managers and the workers if they will learn lessons in the school of Christ, wearing Christ’s yoke, and working in Christ’s lines, as every believer should. When they are doing this, God says of them, Ye are laborers together with God. Christ is to be honored and glorified by every soul who connects with the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 10)
The false tongue, the suspicious remark, the evil surmising and jealousy, have done great harm to the work and workers in the office. The Lord has been dishonored and His work retarded because the sacred fire has not always been used. The common fire, in feelings, devisings, and speech, has had its influence, and has brought discouragement, weakening the hands God designed should be strengthened and upheld. The Lord has opened ways and means, and given evidence that this work is His, and that He will bless those who will work interestedly in connection with it.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 11)
There have been those, and unless constant watchfulness is exercised there will ever be those, who are not true and faithful, men and women who are not able to discern the sacredness of the work given them to do. Seeing, they see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. Their will is not on the side of the will of God. They do not love the truth, and it has not a sanctifying, refining influence upon them. The time will come when the sensual, the proud, the careless in heart, those who are opposed to the truth, will have to be separated from the office. Darkness will close about them, and soon, very soon, the cry will come from unfeigned lips, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved.” [See Jeremiah 8:20.] They are gathering in bundles with the tares, to be consumed by the fires of the last day.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 12)
The Lord would have a company of youth brought into the Echo Publishing House, and there tested and tried. If under the instruction they receive they do not improve, but show that their hearts are gross, that they do not care to be converted from the error of their ways, all the light shining about them becomes darkness to them. They call good evil, and evil good. Their testimony is not reliable. They dishonor the office by remaining in it, and should be separated from it.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 13)
Those who will be worked by the Holy Spirit, the Lord will qualify by His grace. He will let the light of His countenance shine into their hearts, giving them clearness of thought and knowledge such as He gave to Daniel. He will fit them to do His work. These workers will exert a right influence, and their very countenance will reveal their pure, correct, temperate habits. Unbelievers will take knowledge of them that they are superior in their ways, their speech, their demeanor; for like Daniel and his associates, they carry their credentials with them.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 14)
The Lord would have the Echo office stand high in the estimation of all who believe the truth. He would have the believers in the truth sustain this institution and give tangible proof of their confidence in it. Thus they will honor God, for the Lord has made the Echo office an instrument of His appointment. It is to be conducted on high and holy principles, making manifest that the seal of heaven is upon it. The Lord has His eyes upon it, and angels will work with the workers. Not a mean transaction in any business dealing is to be done in behalf of believers or unbelievers. The Lord would have the publishing house stand as a faithful sentinel to advocate the truth. Rays of light are to go forth from it, to penetrate the moral darkness which covers the earth.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 15)
Let our brethren and sisters have words of encouragement and confidence to speak of this the Lord’s instrumentality. God calls upon them to encourage the workers who have to carry the burdens, for He is working with them. He calls upon His people to recognize the sustaining power in this instrumentality. It is God’s work. Honor the Lord, then, by doing to the utmost of your power to give it the influence it should have.
(14LtMs, Lt 124, 1899, 16)
Lt 125, 1899
Daniells, A. G.; Robinson, A. T. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 17, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brethren Daniells and A. T. Robinson:
W. C. White was speaking to me in reference to two old men coming to Cooranbong. At first I felt disagreeable at the thought, but then I put away all such feelings. This is the place where these persons could be cared for, and they will be close beside the meetinghouse, where they can have church privileges. If this is considered the best thing to do, Brother Tucker’s legacy could defray the expenses. The Retreat is heavily in debt. I think it would be a good thing for the afflicted ones to be in such a comfortable, wholesome place. Brother Tucker was happy every moment of his stay here, and [he] enjoyed the wholesome atmosphere. As the Retreat will be completed in a short time, we will be able to accommodate them.
(14LtMs, Lt 125, 1899, 1)
W. C. White said that you were anxious to have him go to Melbourne, but it is well he did not go. He proposes to give half his time to my work and half to the school business and other lines. I do not propose to accept any such proposition. When he is compelled to tax his mind as fully as it should be if he engages in business matters, it is too much to put upon him the work that needs a fresh mind. I want him to take hold of the testimonies, which should have been brought out long ago, and given to the people, but I have not been able to obtain help.
(14LtMs, Lt 125, 1899, 2)
My book on temperance should be in circulation, but what mind have I to handle these books? W. C. White could do this work. I am greatly troubled over this matter. I must have the work done, but I cannot get W. C. White’s time. Sometimes I have thought it would be best for me to go to America and get this work done. There is need of careful, critical, sharp thinking to be put into this work, to know what shall be brought before the people, and what shall be left unsaid. You know that there is not one in this house who can give me the help. I cannot get the right kind of help anywhere.
(14LtMs, Lt 125, 1899, 3)
W. C. White has given no time to the book on Christian education.
(14LtMs, Lt 125, 1899, 4)
I cannot consent to attend camp meetings this year, unless it be the meeting at Maitland. It is too much for me. I am trusting in the Lord. I am grateful for the strength and grace I have received. I am very desirous to speak to the people, but it costs me too much. The writing I have to do for America is large.
(14LtMs, Lt 125, 1899, 5)
Lt 126, 1899
Kellogg, Br-Sr. [J.H.] Refiled as Lt 86a, 1893.
Lt 127, 1899
Jones, C. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Jones:
Can you give me any information in regard to the money raised for the Southern Field? The neglect of his field is again urged upon me. This matter has been presented to you so many times that I feel sad to have to bring it before you again. I do not need this additional burden. In regard to the royalties on books it was thought best to ask the authors to wipe out their claims, but God calls for a full restitution of the means raised for the Southern Field. Whatever the condition of the institutions in Battle Creek or on the Pacific Coast, they had no right to use this money for any other purpose than that for which it was raised. I ask you again, where is that money?
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 1)
I am writing on the subject of the unfaithful husbandmen. The Lord made terms with these stewards to return to Him the fruits of His vineyard at a specified time. A certain amount of fruit was to be given in its season. The whole vineyard was the Lord’s, and as the owner He had a right to expect a revenue from it.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 2)
Through His servant Isaiah, the Lord declares, “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the whole house of Israel.” [Isaiah 5:7.] Again the church is represented by a vine brought out of Egypt and planted in the Holy Land. Christ represents the union which should exist between Him and the church by a vine. “I am the vine,” He says, “ye are the branches.” [John 15:5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 3)
In this the Lord has a lesson to give to His children. They are His chosen ones, favored above all other people on the face of the earth, and He calls them to show forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. The blessings which are so liberally bestowed upon them, they are to respond to by returning to the Lord the fruits essential for the advancement of His kingdom and the glory of His name. The blessings and privileges granted to God’s people mean sacred responsibilities. God required that the returns shall be proportionate to the blessings received. Those who receive largely are to divide their goods with their fellow laborers.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 4)
God requires that the tithes and offerings shall be regarded as sacred by those who are in charge of the Lord’s vineyard. Faithful returns are to be made to Him. Those portions of the Lord’s vineyard which have received the most advantages should prove that they are benefitted by these advantages by rendering to God His own in unselfish, devoted service; for this He requires. The gratitude of the heart is to be expressed in deeds of holiness and strictest integrity.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 5)
It is for the advantage of the husbandmen to render to the Lord the fruits in their season, for the well cultivated vineyard speaks for the faithfulness of the caretaker. Any deviation from integrity, in allowing parts of the vineyard to remain unworked, limit the powers of that part to bear fruit, for it is capable of bearing just as good fruit as other portions of the field if it has proper advantages. God sees the barren, unworked parts of His vineyard, and He wants these parts worked. The message we bear is a worldwide message. The good news of salvation is to go to every kindred, tongue and people. Shall this work be bound about because some of the husbandmen appropriate all the facilities to that portion of the field over which they have supervision?
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 6)
The Lord made a covenant with the Jewish nation if they would be loyal to the Lord of the vineyard, who had placed His goods in their hands, and unselfishly return to the Lord the fruits of His enriched land. As the husbandmen, they were to do unselfish, faithful work for every part, and not bind up all the blessings and facilities in one part. We should be awake to see all the improvements that can be made, and use to the best advantage the Lord’s money.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 7)
There are fields desolate and bare, in which much work needs to be done. Selfishness and covetousness has been brought in, and everything possible is centered in a few places. Plants are not made in other portions of the vineyard, and the Lord’s way is not prepared, His paths are not made straight. He cannot gather fruit from the trees of His planting. The Lord has work to be done that is not done, because every advantage is centered in a few places. God calls this unfaithful stewardship.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 8)
God revealed Himself in great power to ancient Israel. He designed that through this nation His name should be magnified in all parts of the world. Their advantages were not to lead them to glorify themselves. They were to glorify His name by them, in appropriating facilities to the more destitute fields. But God’s name was not glorified; and selfishness and covetousness has marked the path of God’s people all the way from the time of ancient Israel to the present day. The good that God has purposed to do has not been done because of this unfaithful stewardship, and He will take away the trust from those who have proved untrustworthy.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 9)
In every work God entrusts to the hands of men He leaves room for the development of character. He has sent message after message to this people as He did to ancient Israel, but still the human traits of character are seen in the selfish, covetous appropriation of means. God is watching every institution to see how it will trade upon His goods. He has sent servants to overlook His vineyard; but words have been spoken that to a large extent have made of no effect the message brought. His service is now mingled with selfishness, and God is dishonored.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 10)
The common fire, in the place of the sacred, is used. Man’s opinions and devisings have created a condition of things which is not as God would have it. Matters are not now as they should be to represent the work for this time. The message that should come to the world is being warped to meet the convenience of men who desire to make a success of their worldly business. Money is invested in worldly enterprises and bound up in schemes which are not after God’s order.
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 11)
We must not move impulsively, regardless of the poverty stricken fields which have nothing to give character to the work. Men are to heed the warnings Christ has given in regard to moving with consideration. He asks the question, “Which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it, begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an embassage and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” [Luke 14:28-33.]
(14LtMs, Lt 127, 1899, 12)
Lt 128, 1899
Leininger, Brother and Sister [J.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 23, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in MRmnt 105. Brother and Sister Leininger:
I received your letter, my brother, and I was pleased to hear from you. My health is very much better then it has been for some time. Since our conference I have done much writing. Letters have gone from my pen to Africa and America, at the center of the work. I am now nearly seventy-two years old.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 1)
I read your letter carefully. You are aware that the brethren at the Pacific Press have tried to help you, by situating you where you could help yourself. This has been my advice. I think it would be advisable for you to accept the opening to work for Sister Gray. Were I in your position, I should be very thankful to the Lord for this opening. As to what people say, you must have learned ere this that there are all kinds of people on our world. If Sister Gray is an energetic, straightforward woman, she will not please those who are slack and shiftless; but this you should not want to be. The opening has been made for you; do not miss the opportunity.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 2)
In regard to my taking shares in the school stock, I see no light in it. When the way opens, and you have means, you can pay me. It will be best for you to make up your mind to accept this offer from Sister Gray; for it is the advice of your brethren and my advice. You can be a help to Sister Gray. We must all do the best we possibly can. We need not suppose that we shall have everything to please ourselves. We must get out of self into Jesus, and make up our minds that if trials come, we will show the Christlike side of our character, and not be easily discouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 3)
You must have some place where you can engage in business which will support your family. You will not then feel dependent on anyone. I should certainly be reluctant to see you, who once had means, unable to support your family. You cannot do this in Healdsburg, and it is therefore essential that you get out of Healdsburg, and plead with the Lord to give you energy and health to support yourself. The way seems open. Go to this place in the name of the Lord, and you can be a blessing to the commandment-keeping people of God. Put your trust in God, and He will help you.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 4)
I am at the present time more than ten thousand dollars in debt. All the means I can obtain I am using in placing the truth before those who have never heard it. This is the work the Lord calls upon us to do. We are to enter into aggressive warfare against error. I need more means to invest in the Lord’s vineyard. I am pained when I see so many fields unworked. I am willing to do as I have been doing in this field—use every dollar I can possibly spare, and then borrow money to invest. The money loaned me by Sister Wessels, one thousand pounds, will have to be returned to her, but where the money is coming from, I am not able to determine. This is in addition to the ten thousand I owe in America. I am trusting that the way will open very soon, so that we can work the fields which are all white unto the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 5)
The Lord will commend in us all a holy prudence. We are not to be rash. Be wise. I think it would be well for you to accept Sister Gray’s offer. By employing you she can help you, and if you are economical you will find favor and be a great blessing to our sister. You can ask the Lord to be your helper. You can give evidence of your fidelity, and show that you are entirely trustworthy. There is an art in being faithful in little things. Here is where many fail. This may be the reason that some have told you that Sister Grey is difficult to suit. You may be the very man to be faithful in little things, and if this is so, you will be faithful in the things that are larger. I know what I am talking about. I have had to depend upon hired help, and unless I followed them critically they would rob me of time, and do their work in a slack, lazy, shiftless manner. I have had to pay out my money in wages and in seed for the cultivation of the land, which brought me no returns. I lost my seed, my income in produce, and tithe money that could have been brought into the treasury, because men were not diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 6)
I was advised to employ a good, faithful man to care for my land, which I wished to cultivate in a Christian manner, so as to reveal the best symbol of what a farm should be in this country, where there are so many shiftless, lazy workmen who have never cultivated their land at all. We hired a good Christian farmer, and he has worked my land, which I am trying to make an object lesson to those who would rather beg than work. I know what a trial it is to have shiftless, indolent men, to whom you have to pay just as much in wages as to the man who has interest and fidelity, and puts religion into his work. I have just such a man.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 7)
He who will be faithful in the small things will be faithful in the large things. We have a great blessing in our farmer, Brother James, and if you could help Sister Gray by working on Christian principles, you will be doing her a great good, and obtaining good yourself in the satisfaction you have in supporting your family and being a blessing to others. You hear one side of the matter, but if you heard the other side of the question, you might find a key which would open the door, so that you might see within. The blame may not rest upon Sister Gray, but on her unfaithful workers. I advise you to move into some place where you can find profitable employment. I respect you, my brother, and I want you to prosper; but it would not be wise for me to advise you to remain in Healdsburg.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 8)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 128, 1899, 9)
Lt 129, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. NP August 29, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 308. Dear Brother:
I will write you a few lines acknowledging your letters. I thank you for them. I signed my name to the papers transferring my property to the purchasers. I did not design doing this or sending the papers until I had heard from you, but our need of money to get the Health Retreat finished and in running order was so great that I could not retain the place. I consented to take the price you offered me, but why three hundred dollars should be cut off, I cannot understand, unless it be that the men doing the business supposed, as has been the case many times during my connection with the work, that in dealing with Sister White, they need not be just and fair. If ever we needed money, it is at the present time. This is why I offered my place for sale. I have repeated over and over again that in Battle Creek you have one thousand facilities where we have one.
(14LtMs, Lt 129, 1899, 1)
The one thousand dollars you sent me I place on my books to your credit, to be transferred to you again. We did not expect a donation from you personally or from your brother Willie. I thank you for your endeavor to help us from your own purse, but we cannot accept it. We will use the money in our emergency at the present time, but it is yours, and thus it will stand on my books.
(14LtMs, Lt 129, 1899, 2)
I pledged one hundred pounds for the sanitarium, knowing that this was all I could do. Our wish was to see and converse with you, but my letters seem to be misunderstood, and therefore I cannot feel freedom in writing. The warnings that have come to our people, you well know, are unheeded, and it may be that they are considered untrue. From henceforth I will only write to our responsible men when I dare not keep silent, lest I create a sorrow which does not lead to change and reform.
(14LtMs, Lt 129, 1899, 3)
I am in good health for me. I am writing much, and the Lord gives me strength and grace. He has assured me that when at any time I have written to you in plainness, it has been to save you from making mistakes, and to place you under the leading of the Holy Spirit. Here I must leave the matter. Nothing has been overstated in regard to the dangers which threaten you. This I must say, because I will not testify to a lie. I did not write to you to plunge you in despair, but to save you from being brought into that position. May the Lord relieve the situation, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 129, 1899, 4)
Lt 129a, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 29, 1899 See variant Lt 136, 1899. Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 308. Dear Brother:
I may have to mention your name sometimes when answering questions in regard to the work you have done and are still doing, and when seeking to correct the methods and plans of those who suppose that they are to do just as you are doing. The management of the work of God in every line must bear the signature of heaven. I may have to differ from your opinions as to the way in which the work should be carried, for there is need of modifying some lines of work. If I am called to do this, do not regard me as any the less your friend.
(14LtMs, Lt 129a, 1899, 1)
I hate falsifying. Your brethren who have stood in connection with you have not stood as true as steel to truth and righteousness in their representations to you. They have not guarded and counselled you when it was their duty to do this as faithful servants of the Lord. Had they stood in the order in the clear light of truth, they might have helped you much. You have regarded them as your friends and supporters in all your devising and planning for the medical missionary work, but when your judgment does not coincide with theirs, they do not tell you so. You and they would do well to take heed.
(14LtMs, Lt 129a, 1899, 2)
The Lord never gives to one man the qualifications to carry such tremendous responsibilities as you are handling. The mold you are placing on minds is not always as God would have it. If you move according to all your own independent judgment, and your colleagues assent to all your ideas, they and you must bear the consequences. The Lord God of heaven is marking every movement in the political world, just as surely as He is marking every action in His church, and He will reprove and counsel and warn those whom He would have stand as His representatives of pure, holy, unadulterated principles. We are living in perilous times, and our salvation is more to us than anything else.
(14LtMs, Lt 129a, 1899, 3)
But I will not continue this subject. I love you, and I pray for you, and I believe the Lord hears my prayers for you as verily as if they came from your own mother’s heart. Hide yourself in Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 129a, 1899, 4)
Lt 130, 1899
Irwin, G. A. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 29, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I am sending to Edson copies of some things which I have written, which he will permit you to read, and which you may copy if you wish, for your own special use. But be careful how you use them, and do not make it harder for me than is necessary.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 1)
After I get off the present matter that I am writing, I intend to largely discontinue my letter writing; and as soon as I can, get into books the matter which our people generally need, so that the churches in all the fields can be benefitted by it.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 2)
There is one matter which I wish to have clearly and distinctly understood, regarding the dealings of our publishing houses with missionary enterprises which have been robbed of that which was their due and with men who have been oppressed and closely dealt with. The proposition that the authors should sponge from off the slate the claims which they were bringing against the Review and Herald and the Pacific Press was given for the authors themselves to act upon. It was not intended that the men in the publishing houses were to sponge off all the figures regarding their unjust dealings.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 3)
The responsibility of the publishing houses to make restitution regarding their unjust dealings with the Southern Field stand just the same as before the authors begun to press their large and unjust rates. It has been plainly specified to me that this matter must not be delayed or allowed to rest, until the means which has been absorbed by the Review and Herald, the General Conference, and the Pacific Press is carefully reckoned up, both principal and interest, and placed in faithful hands to be used in the Southern Field.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 4)
In the case also of Elder Littlejohn there has been narrow and selfish dealing. The Lord hates robbery for burnt offerings.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 5)
I am sorry to tell you that since the instruction was given to authors to erase their claims against the publishing houses, there has been manifested by the managers of these publishing houses just such selfishness as was shown by the [authors] which caused them so much distress. God is grieved by the spirit that has been manifested by these men who have felt so rejoiced that the authors were advised to rub out their accounts. God did not give them this work to do. God has permitted the matter to proceed as it has up to the present time to test the true honesty of these men’s hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 6)
To allow the money which belongs to the Southern Field, both that which was raised by donation and that which should have gone to it from the books published in its interest, to be longer withheld from the field will be a very great wrong. It will be establishing a wrong principle among God’s people to allow this to pass without restitution. Every transaction of this character which is known should be carefully searched into by those in authority, and restitution should be made.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 7)
It was right for the ones who felt that they had been dealt with unjustly to consent to themselves [to] do the work of rubbing out the accounts. But in all cases where persons have been specified in the testimonies as having been unjustly dealt with, the Lord would have publishing houses make square dealing with them, and pay them their dues, and to deal in like manner with any others whom the publishers know to have been oppressed and wronged. The Lord allowed this matter to come up in such a way as to be a test as to the selfishness of all the parties concerned. The authors manifested a spirit which, if restraint had not been mercifully given, would have caused such confusion and entanglements as it is impossible to describe. And the managers of the publishing houses have manifested an unwillingness to make restitution, which is passing strange.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 8)
For a long time the Lord has been speaking to the managers of our publishing work regarding the unjust dealings with Edson White, regarding the Gospel Primer, the profits of which were needed in the poverty stricken field where he was at work. Time and again the case has been plainly stated, and for the men managing the Review and Herald to let the matter go on as it has, for them to continue to refuse to do justice and judgment, is greatly displeasing to the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 9)
Never will the office of publication be clear until its managers shall correct these things which have been repeatedly presented before them. May the Lord open the eyes of those who are too blind to see things in a correct light. I greatly fear that reformation will never come to the hearts that cannot understand what Christ would do were He in their place. The managers of our institutions are called of God to represent Christ in their spirit and in their work.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 10)
I write you these things because they are to be candidly considered, and heeded, else there will stand against the actors in these matters an account which they will not wish to meet in the day of judgment. O, for the workings of the Holy Spirit, not for an hour, not for a few days, but throughout the daily life, and for every day of the life, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 11)
Brother Irwin, I often think of you, and pray for you at the family altar, also for Elder Haskell, and for all in responsible positions. I make no more calls for Edson to come to Australia. I would not have him leave his field of labor. But brethren, what are you going to do? Are you going to co-operate with him, and help him? The light which I have is plain, that there has been a great neglect to bring help for the Southern Field. I have been instructed of the Lord to make appeals in behalf of this field. These must not be passed by as of little importance.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 12)
The Lord calls upon His people to work heartily, and promptly for the uplifting of the colored people. Carry the matter to God in prayer, and to God’s people in earnest appeals. Anywhere, everywhere, that means can be raised for this field, call for help, and do not wait for slow and roundabout methods.
(14LtMs, Lt 130, 1899, 13)
Lt 131, 1899
White, J. E. NP September 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Son Edson:
I have some things to say to you. Be careful in your book making. You are in danger of making large calculations, as you have done many times, which will involve you in difficulties. Concentrate your mind on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not undertake to make books without studying to see how you can do this without involving yourself in debt, thus burdening your books before they are printed. Move slowly. Do not try to change the present edition of The Coming King. It will be a selling book. After you read the light recently given me, you will see that you, as well as I, and all who handle the books, will have to be converted. We are living in the most critical period of this earth’s history; and the Lord requires you to move guardedly. There are those whom you can take into your confidence as counsellors.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 1)
The idolatry of picture making is coming to a dangerous pass. Those who ought to have experience in these matters are being led to consent to the expenditure of means by the false representation that the money thus expended will be brought back again in the greater number of books that will be sold, because of the illustrations. If this picture making craze shall go on as it is now doing, the Lord will make manifest His displeasure; for the means thus invested should be used in sending the truth into new territories. But I have dwelt on this point largely elsewhere.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 2)
I shall get out the parables without such a large number of illustrations. Whatever others may say will not move me. Mount of Blessing was kept out of the field for a long time on account of the illustrations. All I could say would not work a change although I was deeply impressed in regard to the matter. Now that I have light, I shall certainly act upon it. I will not invest so much money in illustrations that my books cannot be bought by those who need them and would appreciate them.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 3)
We must never get above the simplicity of the work. We must walk humbly with God. Ministers should feel free to carry books with them, to dispose of wherever they may go. Much of this work was done in the early history of the cause of God. Ministers acted as canvassers and colporteurs. They took books with them and sold them, using the means obtained to help in the advancement of the work in places where help was needed in building churches. These can speak intelligently regarding this method of work, for they have appreciated the light given.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 4)
Wherever a minister goes, he can leave a book in the family with whom he stays, either selling it or giving it to them. The Holy Spirit will attend every worker, for God’s work is to go into all the world, vindicating the claims of Jesus Christ, and writing His name on hearts. The Holy Spirit’s work is to control the human agent through his capacities and powers, throwing light into the understanding, and leaving a keen, clear-cut testimony against sin.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 5)
On this point I will bear testimony in the name of the Lord. The instruments the Lord employs may be humble men, who have not been ordained to the ministry. They may be regarded by some as inefficient; but if they can pray, if in simplicity they can talk the truth because they love it, they may advance the truth through the power of the Holy Spirit. As he presents the truth in simplicity, reading from the Word, or recalling incidents of experience, the Holy Spirit makes an impression on mind and character. The will becomes subordinate to the will of God; the truth heretofore not understood comes to the heart with living conviction, and becomes a spiritual reality.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 6)
Edson, I pray for you, that the Lord may lead you, that I shall not be made very sorry by your involving yourself in debt any longer. The Lord has been dishonored by the hasty movements which have involved you in debt, and drawn funds from me to cancel these debts. Thus I have invested thousands of dollars over and over again. Edson, before you build your tower, stand some time in counsel with God and your brethren. I am now trying to wipe out that debt at the Review and Herald Office, and therefore cannot make the advance moves that I ought to be making in new places.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 7)
Build no towers without sitting down and counting the cost, to see whether you will be able to finish. If you have any outstanding debts, such as that of Mrs. [Sarah] Ross, if there are any of whom you have borrowed money, pay back every farthing before you engage in other investments. I write you this because the name of the Lord is dishonored, and your influence injured. When you take a straightforward course in these things, you will have done that which the Lord requires of you. Owe no man anything.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 8)
Let The Coming King remain as it is. The Lord can work in your behalf if you will walk humble with Him. Do not think I do not understand the difficulties through which you have been passing. But notwithstanding these difficulties, you must bear in mind that in the past your course has not been a financial success. I am dealing with these cases more or less all the time, and therefore I feel that I must warn you to keep out of debt. Settle every debt you have, for it is your duty to do this. Do not borrow. Borrowing makes it hard for you. When you obtain the victory over this vexing point, you will remove one great temptation from the minds of your brethren. You have given them occasion to doubt you and distrust you, to think that you are unreliable. Do not be a stumbling block to any one.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 9)
Let The Coming King remain as it is. Do not take time and money to change the book. I greatly wish that you could be with us for a time, that Willie and myself could help you in your book making. But I have no more to say on the point of your coming to Australia. Concentrate your mind on the work. Decide what you want, and then do not keep changing your mind, for this changing makes great perplexity. Make no changes unless it is a positive necessity. These matters have been presented to me. You cause sorrow and perplexity in many ways to others, and the sure result is that they cause you sorrow, because they do not show you warmth of affection and confidence. They are afraid you are going to make them trouble.
(14LtMs, Lt 131, 1899, 10)
Lt 132, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister [J. J.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother and Sister Wessels:
I thought you would be pleased to hear from us. We took the train at the appointed time, and found plenty of room. I laid down on the seat, and slept for hour. Sara also slept an hour. Two conveyances met us at the station—my phaeton, drawn by two horses and driven by Sister Peck, and the cart for our luggage, drawn by Rowdy.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 1)
I have not slept since one o’clock. The manuscript sent in the morning by express was prepared and ready for me to read when I reached home. This was very quick work. I have read fifty one pages carefully, and I now lay aside my American mail to write a few lines to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 2)
After crossing the ferry last evening, we drew up our carriages and had a short counsel in regard to matters concerning the sanitarium. I hope, Brother John, after all my entreaties to get you from Africa, you will not feel that there is nothing for you to do in this place. After I had taken my place in the train, the matter which was related in our committee meetings regarding the work of a manager in our sanitariums was clearly presented to me. I was shown that this is your place. Sara and I were in a ladies’ compartment, so I was not obliged to talk, but I had opportunity to do some earnest thinking.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 3)
I recalled the light given me in reference to yourself, which was that your position was to be that of manager. Dr. Caro needs one by his side who will be his counsellor. This will not fasten you to the sanitarium all the time, but if ever there was a time when you are needed, it is now. We need you to come right into the sanitarium, and help the doctor. You need now to be getting a hold, and obtaining an influence. In regard to Brother Morse, the arrangements made for him, and brought before the few in your parlor, will be followed. Now, my brother, step into your lot and place.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 4)
I present the case of Brother Sharp before you. He should have nothing or very little to do with accounts until he has had a full year’s rest. His life and talents are precious, but he has come very near bankruptcy of the brain power. He is carrying altogether too heavy a load of care. As our brother in the Lord, we should have special interest in his case. I want him placed in a position where his brain can have as much rest as possible, and his physical powers be called into exercise. He should not accept any less wage than he is now receiving. It is none too much. I feel great concern for his health. I want him to become physically sound. The Lord will certainly make up all accountable if we do not now take right hold of his case. His line of work will be more clearly defined as soon as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 5)
Right here let me say, You are needed just now. The doctor thinks you will not take any position now, but you must. You need to keep a sharp look out in regard to buying and selling health food supplies in a better way than is now being done. I cannot tell you all now, but you are needed. The doctor needs you as his helper, and then you are needed to look for places that can be bought as cheaply as possible, so that the sanitarium can be rightly located. Let there be no delay in this matter. The Lord certainly has a place for His building. You can take in the situation.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 6)
We want not that any man shall become linked with the [doctor] who will be his shadow, who will do just as he shall suggest. I say, Take hold as one who is to act an important part in the building up of the sanitarium. As a physician, the doctor has his place; as a manager, you have your place. Brother Morse is out of his place. Stand by the doctor’s side now, for he needs you. He has not experience, and you can help him to gain an experience. Your individuality must be expressed.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 7)
The doctor has some fears that you will think the facilities here so meager, that you will see the contrast between this institution and the South African Sanitarium so clearly, that you will suggest changes which will consume means. But we must do with the facilities we have until our own institution is erected. The means we shall have for this is the Lord’s. Let the doctor see that you can judge in this case. Watch every opportunity to find a place suitable for the building.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 8)
This is hastily written, for it must go this morning. Let the doctor see that although you have had in hand plenty of means to handle, you also have the talent of economy, which you can exercise in an emergency. You know of the dearth of means here, and God will help you and bless you in taking right hold.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 9)
The matters you will have to attend to cannot now be definitely defined, but as you take hold of the work, you will see and understand them. The doctor needs you, as a man of appointment. You were to leave Africa to come to Australia; for dangers were opening before you and your mother’s family. I cannot now relate all that I may tell you at some future time. I would write to Elder Daniells, but I have no time today. You can show him this letter. I think it is now time for you to connect with the sanitarium. The doctor seems to have the opinion that you do not want to connect with any class of work at present, but I do not think he understands you.
(14LtMs, Lt 132, 1899, 10)
Lt 133, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia September 10, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PM 218; 10MR 98-99. + Dear Children:
I am up early, writing by gas light. All the others are asleep. I am in Sydney, and am being entertained at the house of Brother John Wessels.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 1)
I am much burdened in regard to some things urged upon my mind. I have written something in regard to the matter of picture making, especially for our books. The large investment of means for this purpose has been decidedly wrong. It is not pictures that we should feel a burden to present to the people; it is the truth, the subject matter, that they need. The work of illustrating is a constant temptation to tie up money. The very ones who need the books and would appreciate them cannot obtain them because of their high price.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 2)
I have matter regarding this subject written out with all the particulars, and will send it in this mail if I can get it copied. I think I can, but fearing I cannot, I write to you by hand. Do not accept the temptations which will come to you with peculiar force to get out books which involve a large investment of money. The Lord is not in this matter. The thousands of dollars expended in illustrations could be invested in getting out books and selling them cheaply. As ministers attend tent meetings, they should have the privilege of taking these books with them, and selling them as cheaply as possible. With the money they receive above what the books have cost them, they should buy books to present to those of our people who cannot afford to purchase them, or to unbelievers, who may thus be brought to a knowledge of the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 3)
There is a rivalry coming into the work. One book is issued to supersede another book issued. The publishers and authors who enter this competition will lose the grace of God out of their hearts. This spirit is now strengthening, to the injury of the moral influence of souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 4)
It is too late, altogether too late, to depend upon the expensive covers of a book, or its abundant illustrations, for its sale. It is enough, without any explanation, to say that God has not inspired this enthusiasm regarding illustrations. Had I The Desire of Ages to publish now, the showing would be entirely different. The books that the people need should be issued free from all display. The saving of the thousands of dollars expended in illustrations would make it possible for the books to be sold at a price that would enable many to obtain them. The Lord has not inspired this enthusiasm. It is a part of the work that has led away from the simplicity of the faith which should characterize Seventh-day Adventists as a chosen generation, a peculiar people zealous of good works. Canvassers and artists have had much influence in deciding this subject of illustrations.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 5)
I have been surprised as the increased expense caused by illustrations has been laid before me. This expense is not essential. It is not after God’s order. The colored race need books made especially for them, printed in large type and furnished with pictures. Because of their ignorance and the cast of their minds, colored people can understand a subject better when illustrated by pictures. But this can be done in an inexpensive manner.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 6)
The Lord is not pleased with the spirit that is coming into the publishing institutions. Economical, saving habits must be maintained in every line of the work. There is a world to be warned, and all that is not positively essential to make our books readable should be avoided. Souls are to be reached by the publications coming from the press. The illustrations will not and are not doing the great amount of good that it is represented they will do. There are some who would be attracted by a picture, but there are many who care naught for these things. The Lord calls upon His people to maintain their principles by issuing plain, inexpensive books, which contain the very choicest matter. Then the Lord will use His influence to place these books in the hands of those whom they will benefit.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 7)
More liberality must be shown in giving our publications to those who would not otherwise obtain them. Now as never before we should humble our hearts before God and come into the closest relationship with Jesus Christ. We should move and work understandingly. Make no large investments in illustrations and in expensive covers. Unless we work upon correct principles, the human plans that now appear so flattering to human minds in their estimation of success will, when presented before them in the books of heaven, show results which will surprise those who are now striving for the superiority in the appearance of their literature.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 8)
I have this to say: It is best to be as true as steel to pure, clean, holy principles, without thinking of the consequences as far as human calculations are concerned. The whole world is twisted and warped out of God’s order, and we must not consult the tastes, appetites, or the opinions of those who have not wisdom and judgment from on high, who cannot discern the binding claims of God’s holy law, who fail to see that it is for their present and eternal interest to honor God and keep His commandments. We must not shape our work to meet the extravagance existing in the outlay of means for multitudinous illustrations which do not add to the sale of the book, as artists and canvassers would represent. It should be kept before all our publishing houses that God does not sanction such expenditure of means.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 9)
We want to present the truth in humble simplicity, letting it bear its own savor of life unto life. We are departing from the very principles which should have lived and strengthened in every publishing house from which our publications are issued. Now is the time for us to work. Now is the time for us to put all our forces into solid work in dark, diseased places, which have been neglected for want of funds to carry out the commission of the Lord: “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” [Luke 24:46, 47.]
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 10)
“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.] “He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” [Mark 16:16-18.]
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 11)
Let this passion for picture making be bound about. Let the divine Spirit work to produce the impression God would have made upon mind and heart. Christ is our efficiency. All the pictures of the greatest artist in the world can never, never do the work that needs to be done for the soul, the work of the Holy Spirit, which convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. The Hebrew nation had before them the type of a Saviour, who was to be crucified for the sins of the world. Thus Christ was seen in figure as the great offering. But the need of this instruction ceased when type met antitype in the death of the Lamb slain for the sins of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 12)
Christ ascended on high, to take His position as our Advocate in the heavenly courts. Having reached His throne, He sent His Holy Spirit, as He had promised, in response to the prayers of His disciples. The right impressions made on the human heart are made by this Spirit. The expensive covers on a book, or the expensive illustrations in it, do not accomplish the work in the conversion of souls that we are inclined to think they do. We must depend upon the working of the Holy Spirit upon human minds. Pictures are supposed to do this work, but those who think thus will be disappointed.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 13)
The Holy Spirit is to be prayed for, trusted in, believed in. Humble, fervent prayer will [do] more in behalf of the circulation of our books than all the expensive pictures in the world. More than this, God is dishonored by our putting trust in these things. The Lord would have His people come to their senses. The Holy Spirit will be poured upon the church in strong, heavenly currents if God’s people will believe, if they will turn their attention to that which is true, and living, and real. After Christ’s ascension, the disciples were gathered together of one accord in one place.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 14)
As they made humble supplication to God their differences were swept away. They became of one mind. And after ten days of heart-searching and self-examination, each taking his own case in hand, for it had to be an individual work, the way was prepared for the Holy Spirit to enter the cleansed, consecrated soul-temples. Every heart was filled with the Spirit, which came with a copiousness and power, as though it had been held in restraint for ages, ready to be poured out upon the people who asked for it, as if God desired to show His people that it was His prerogative to bless them with the choicest of heaven’s blessings. What was the result? Thousands were converted in a day.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 15)
The sword of the Spirit flashed right and left. It seemed newly edged with power, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow. The idolatry which had been mingled with the worship of the people was overthrown. New territory was added to the church of God. Places which had been barren and desolate sounded forth the praise of God. The church became a vitalizing power. Believers, themselves re-converted, born again, were a living power for God and for His kingdom. A new song was put into their mouth, even praise to our God.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 16)
Every soul controlled by the Holy Spirit saw in their brethren and sisters the faces of angels. One interest prevailed, one subject of emulation swallowed up all others—to be like Christ, to do the works of Christ. The earnest zeal felt was expressed by kindly helpfulness, by kindly looks and brotherly love. All strove to see who could do the most for the enlargement of Christ’s kingdom. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one mind. Every spiritual pulse beat in harmony.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 17)
I have more to say, but, for want of time, I cannot say it all now. Let me say to you, my son, present the truth to all with whom you come in contact. Tell them of the great and measureless gift of the Holy Spirit. In it is contained all of heaven’s resources. It is not because of any restriction and narrow calculation on the part of God that the riches of His grace do not flow earthward to men. If all were willing to receive, all would become filled with His Spirit. God gave with a liberality that men do not appreciate, because they do not love to receive. Tell them how Godlike is His gift. Had men been consulted in regard to their choice of the gift to be bestowed, they would have asked for some inferior good. But the Lord Jesus took this matter into His own hands, and poured out His Spirit—a blessing, which if received, will satisfy every want.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 18)
Christ’s great object in sending His Spirit was to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: “of sin,” He said, “because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” Standing as He was in the very shadow of the cross, He longed to say many things to His disciples, but He declared, “Ye cannot bear them now.” [John 16:9-12.] Thus it is at the present time. God has given warnings, but they have not been comprehended, and the evil predicted has come. And there are still many things to be unfolded, but “ye cannot bear them now.” I now speak because I dare not withhold my peace.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 19)
Monday morning, September 11
I cannot sleep. I arise at eleven o’clock p.m. I begin to see how we have been departing from the principles of simplicity. As I write, the matter urges itself upon me in such a manner that I cannot forbear to speak. The design of Providence in all its divine operations is the accomplishment of the great work of redemption. This work is done by as few and simple means as possible. And such is the dependence of every part of God’s government on every other part, such is the entire harmony of the whole, that when the Lord touches chords invisible to human perception, the vibration is felt throughout every part of His dominion.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 20)
God sees that the enemy needs to be unveiled in the matter of book making. Satan has insinuated himself into this work, so that in the production of books containing valuable truth, men have failed to count the cost. They have failed to find out whether the illustrations, provided under the representation of larger sales, were absorbing all the means, limiting the power to accomplish the work in other lines, work which needs to be done at once. Close examination should be made of the influence of this work upon the church and the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 21)
The enemy is coming in to awaken the spirit of rivalry, thus increasing an evil which, unless purged from the temple of the soul, will bring the sure chastisement of God. The thousands of dollars expended in illustrations should not be thus invested. That money should be used to defray the necessary expenses of laborers sent to new fields. Thus more territory will be covered. Books sold should be handled by consecrated workers, whom the Holy Spirit can use as His instrumentalities.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 22)
God has great and grand resources for man to lay hold of, and in the most simple manner will be developed the working of the divine agencies. External exhibitions, such as pictures which show the skill of the artist, have become a snare to entrap publishers and authors. To use the money, which is so scarce at this time, in trying to portray sacred things of heaven in figure does not do the work. “No,” said the Great Teacher, “my Spirit alone is competent to teach and convict of sin. Externals only make a temporary impression upon human minds.” The only power that will succeed in transforming the soul is contact with the Holy Spirit. The heart must be convicted of sin. As never before men are to be co-laborers with Jesus Christ. He has all claim on the human heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 23)
Said the Advocate, In man’s behalf I will enforce truth on the conscience, and men shall be My witnesses, going into all the world, asserting My claims on his time, his money, his intellect. All these I purchased on the cross of Calvary. External representations, such as pictures, cannot do the work. Use My entrusted talents to proclaim the truth in its simplicity with pen and voice. Time has been occupied and the light has been hindered from coming to the world, in the effort to make the simple but grand truths of the gospel more impressive. That is not the work of human agencies, but the work of the divine power. You place hindrances in the way by your elaborate preparations. Means thus used should be invested in sending the gospel to all parts of the world, awakening burdened souls to inquire, “What shall I do to be saved?”
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 24)
There is no force which can compel the freedom of the mind. And yet the Holy Spirit has a compelling power through the convincing arguments of truth. Wherever the truth shall be proclaimed in the spirit of meekness, souls will repent and be converted to salvation. The external advantages which should be secured are humble chapels, where the people can worship God in the beauty of holiness. The Lord calls for reforms. God’s wisdom is to be extolled, man’s wisdom laid in the dust.
(14LtMs, Lt 133, 1899, 25)
Lt 134, 1899
Brethren in America Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia September 8, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7BC 933; TMK 260. + Dear Brethren in America:
We thank the Lord for the good work that is going forward in this part of the Lord’s great moral vineyard. We thank God that we can trust Him as we advance. We have a humble house of worship in Cooranbong, and three buildings for the school of God’s appointment. We have advanced step by step in faith and confidence in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 1)
We have not been satisfied with planting the standard of truth in one or two places, and then hovering over these places and giving them all the advantages, while the world, which is God’s vineyard, is left unworked. We must not remain in a few places, as if it depended on the minister to hold the church together lest it fall to pieces. Individually church members must heed the invitation of Christ, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” [Matthew 11:29.] Every soul must take Christ’s yoke and learn of Him, His meekness, His patience, His piety and goodness. When God’s people are meek and lowly of heart, they will be able to stand in any place and under any circumstances. They have taken the yoke of restraint and self-denial, and are seeing daily the necessity of trusting not in man, but in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 2)
Through their lack of faith, ministers have contributed to make the churches dependent upon ministerial labor. Are the individual members converted to the truth? Does the truth abide in their hearts? Let those who have been long in the faith and have had experience feel that they are their brother’s keeper. Let the sisters also feel that they have a work to do in comforting the feeble-minded, encouraging and praying with their sisters of like faith. Thus the love that should exist in the church will be cherished in its purity and simplicity. This is the work that should have been done, but has not been done. How long shall this continue?
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 3)
The men who bear the last message of mercy to a perishing world must broaden their labors and seek earnestly to lift the standard of righteousness in advancing lines of truth among those who know not the truth for this time. The church members must be educated to stand by the grace given by God alone. They are to understand that nothing weakens a church so much as for the members to suppose that they can trust in the minister to do their repenting and praying and witnessing for God.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 4)
Many think when they are in perplexity or trouble that the minister should be on hand to talk to them and pet them. Let the minister teach each member of the church that though Daniel or Job or Noah were in the land they could not save one soul of them. The can only save their own souls by their own righteousness. These weak, dependent souls need spiritual exercise. Their spiritual sinews and muscles need to become strong by exercising them for their own good and for the blessing of others.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 5)
Church members should be shown that God speaks to every individual saying, Go, work in My vineyard. It is spiritual work that gives spiritual knowledge and tact and skill to forget self and remember Jesus, who was a constant worker. The Lord needs your undivided hearts. You must receive His grace every day for this you must have before you can impart it. Let every weak member of the church begin to co-operate with the Lord Jesus Christ without any further delay. Every soul is to become a channel to receive, that he may communicate.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 6)
You need not be dependent upon the minister for your experience. You are not to be a useless member of the Lord’s body, living without God and without hope in the world. Put on the whole armor of Christ’s righteousness. Begin the work, little though it may be, and you will find a helper in God. Christ declares, “I am at your right hand to help you. Tell all your trials and perplexities to your God, as He has invited you to do. He will never betray your confidence.” This is the first lesson to be learned in your religious life. Do not let your thoughts dwell upon yourselves. Think of Jesus. He is in His holy place, not in a state of solitude and grandeur, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand of heavenly beings who wait to do their Master’s bidding. And He bids them go and work for the weakest saint who puts his trust in God. High and low, rich and poor, have the same help provided.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 7)
When the minister teaches the members of his church to look to him for help, he is weakening in the place of strengthening them. We must have strong churches. Tell the members of the church over which you preside that Christ has said, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must have charge of many more than now believe in Me. I want you to help those who know Me not to become acquainted with Me. By living in close connection with Me, you are to learn how to do the work that will reveal Me to those who know Me not. I must have communication with every part of My vast territory. I must work through various channels, through human instrumentalities. One worker for the truth is to take up the work right where he is, and seek to interest others.”
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 8)
Christ is represented as stooping from His throne and bending earthward, to send help to every needy soul who asks Him in faith. His ear is listening to every cry from needy souls. He is approving or condemning the actions of human beings. He is raising up the fallen, bringing hope to the hopeless, and placing their feet in sure paths. Let God work more largely with His church and reveal Christ to the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 9)
Ministers and men in responsible places are altogether too officious. Move from between God and the people, and let them view God as the all-sufficient One, and the minister as the delegated servant. Your work is to preach the Word, “to be instant in season, out of season, to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.” [2 Timothy 4:2.] When the church shall come in close relationship with Christ, then they will find that which they have lost—“their first love.” [Revelation 2:4.] They will not be causing trials in the church by their wrong course of action. They will not draw upon the minister’s strength and vitality to keep them converted. If they are not bound by strong cords of love to Christ, all the ministry in the world will not help them. They will not feel that the minister of God must be continually preaching to them lest they be lost, but they will themselves work to help others, and every church member will become a living stone to emit light.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 10)
The church should stand in partnership with Christ, in a firm brotherhood in which God and man have a part to act. Many church members are blind in their understanding of matters which concern their personal accountability to God. “In returning and rest shall ye be saved,” God declares, “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” [Isaiah 30:15.] Many who profess religion have not the genuine article. There is not revealed in their lives the fruits of a genuine conversion. The same old habits, the same jealousies and evil surmisings and evil speaking, the same faultfinding and criticism, and selfishness and covetousness, is seen. With such attributes, how can the church prosper? The Holy Spirit is ever working to bring the human agencies in harmony with God. Without genuine conversion, not one soul will enter the city of the King of glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 11)
My burden is that ministers of the gospel shall preach the truth as to what constitutes true conversion. They are not to lead down into the water souls who are not converted. The church is becoming composed of men and women who have never realized how sinful sin is. The Lord have mercy upon the churches. All the ministerial labor in the world will never convert a soul from the error of his ways, unless the power and grace of God shall work within, cleansing the heart from all the defiling, degrading influences of sin.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 12)
Having his name written in the church books will not make a man any more of a Christian than he was before he made any profession. In true conversion the soul is born again. A new spirit takes possession of the soul temple, and a new life commences. Christ takes possession, and is revealed in the character. Christ is sought unto, submitted to, and the spirit of a new life works within. His faith passes into knowledge, and there is an understanding of the Word. A partnership is entered into uniting man with God and God with man. The branch grows into real, living oneness with the vine. A church composed of such members as this has life in itself. The believers can help one another. They will be living stones in the building, all united in receiving light and emitting light.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 13)
I am alarmed for those members of the church who feel no weight of responsibility. They expect to be helped, but they do not help others. There is work to be done, but they are only useless hangers on. All need to awaken to life. What changes could be wrought in the church if every member would become a working member! There is no such thing as a truly converted person living a helpless, useless life. The fruitfulness of a church depends on its oneness with Christ. Our life is hid with Christ in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 14)
As we become branches of the living vine, we have a work to do, and God has a work to do. God does His part through the agency of the Holy Spirit, working upon us to do our part. And while this work is silently going on in the human agent, man will act his part. A distinct work is assigned to every true Christian. When a soul is converted, and exercises faith in Christ; when prayer is offered, and obedience rendered in accordance with the prayer, the active working of the Holy Spirit is revealed. The spiritual quickening and strengthening of the soul come from above. “I know in whom I have believed,” will be the testimony borne, as we work out the divine purpose for us. [2 Timothy 1:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 134, 1899, 15)
Lt 135, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 29, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4MR 131-133; 11MR 308. Dear Brother:
I have been more grieved than I can express at the word that has come to me from you regarding the matters about which I have recently written to you. I have recently found a manuscript which I wrote to you while in Wellington, New Zealand, about five years ago, a copy of which was sent to you at that time. I have sent to you the original letter, just as I wrote it, so that you may see that the light has been coming to you for several years upon the same points about which I have written you several times recently.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 1)
And why is it that I have written to you so often? Because there is none other whom you consider of sufficient authority to heed. This is the way the matter is represented to me. Your brethren and associates in the medical college and in the sanitarium are not the ones who can help you. You are your own authority. If the men connected with you were as true to you as they ought to be, you would hear words of counsel from them which you have not had.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 2)
Your position is a most perilous one. The whole situation has been laid open before me, and you are warned not to follow the example of Nebuchadnezzar. Your attitude toward your ministering brethren has been just as I have stated it to you, and your dangers have not been exaggerated. The brethren connected with you have often heard your remarks regarding the leading workers in the General Conference, and your students have heard you demerit the ministers; and this has not been pleasing to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 3)
You cannot properly build up and manage the medical missionary work while giving it the prominence which you have thought that it should maintain. By representing the gospel ministry as inferior to the medical missionary work, you have placed a wrong mold upon that work. If your fellow workers were men who felt that they must honor God by speaking the truth plainly at all times, they would have told you that the Lord could not be glorified by the words which you have so often spoken against others. Cautions and kindly counsels should have been given by those connected with Dr. Kellogg. I speak understandingly. The unfaithfulness of your associates in this matter has led you to suppose that they endorsed all that you have said, and this is recorded in the books of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 4)
Not once or twice, but many times, the ministers have been presented to me as sitting before you in meetings; and you have made charges against them that have brought no credit to yourself. The impression left upon minds has been that you regarded your judgment as superior to that of others. But should your methods be followed by your brethren in all things, they would not be walking in the way of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 5)
Your speaking of the ministers before your classes, and exalting the medical missionary work above the work of the ministry, is bringing in a state of things that is not in harmony with the third angel’s message. I was shown that angels veiled their faces when they heard your words in regard to God’s servants. These men have been given a work to do for God, and many of them are doing this work just as faithfully as you are doing your work. Some are laboring under more discouraging circumstances, because they have not the advantages and facilities which you possess for the prosecution of their work.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 6)
The swaying of things so heavily in one line is not after the Lord’s plan. The wisest use is not being made of means. The thousands of dollars that were invested in the Boulder Sanitarium would have accomplished a hundredfold more good in the saving of the souls and bodies of men, if it had been sent to some other country, where there is a dearth of facilities for the prosecution of the work. Strongholds, cities of refuge, must be built up in many lands, that the truth may go forth in connection with the medical missionary work to all parts of the Lord’s vineyard.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 7)
I was shown that the means which has been coming so rapidly from what you may call your own pocket is the Lord’s money, and it should not be expended just as you may fancy. You have exaggerated ideas regarding some features of the work, and to please you, some of the workers connected with you have given exaggerated reports of the encouraging features of their work, while the objectionable features, which should also have been reported, have not been presented.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 8)
The field is large, and there is a great work which must be done. Not in one or two lines alone, but in every line. One man, or several men, are not to undertake to compass the whole field. We have a worldwide message. The planting of the Lord is to be in many places.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 9)
The medical missionary work must be as closely connected with the work of the gospel ministry as the hand and arm are connected with the body. You need the gospel ministry to give prominence and stability to the medical missionary work; and the ministry needs the medical missionary work to demonstrate the practical working of the gospel. The Lord would have His work carried forward symmetrically and harmoniously. His message must be carried to all parts of the world. There is a large vineyard to be worked. The wise husbandman works the vineyard so that every part produces fruit.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 10)
Read the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah. This chapter will tell us what is the work before us. “The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” [Verses 1-3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 11)
Please consider what this [fourth] verse means: “And they shall build up the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, and the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God; ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in your glory shall ye boast yourselves.” [Verses 4-6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 12)
“I therefore beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. And unto every one of us is given grace according to the measures of the gift of Christ.” [Ephesians 4:1-7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 13)
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.” [Verses 11-15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 14)
Some things have been opened before me which I have not written, and which I shall not write if it can be avoided. You move in strong lines. You carry a large weight of influence, and if you stand on the wrong side, you will sway the work in lines that are not right. And it will bear, not the divine credentials, but the mold and the fashioning of men. I have greatly feared that you would injure yourself, and do a work that would have to be undone as verily as Elder Olsen’s work has had to be undone. The Lord moves in straight lines, and He will have each part of His work united with the other.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 15)
I am very sorry that the men connected with you are afraid to speak plainly, and give you their judgment when it does not accord with your opinion, for God will surely remove their light and judgment from them, if they consent to have disparagement of His servants in the ministry by assenting to your words.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 16)
Your associates have displeased God in passing over your unjust remarks, which have exerted an influence against Christ’s representatives. You may point to some defects in these men, some mistakes that they have made; but could not the Watcher point to mistakes which you have made, which are just as offensive in His sight? It is best that we be very careful how we present before others in a disparaging light those whom the Lord has honored in the work of opening His Word to the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 17)
Brother Kellogg, the Lord calls for a halt, while you sit down and count the cost, to see whether you will be able to finish the building which you have begun. My brother, you are in danger. You are making many plans that you can never carry through. In your effort to embrace so much in the rescue work, you are in danger of divorcing yourself from the leading and most urgent features of the last gospel message.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 18)
There must be camp meetings held to reach all classes, and at every place where these camp meetings are held, a home should be established where educated workers can teach all classes of learners how to work in medical missionary lines in connection with the Bible workers. All are to be taught how to carry the work to towns and cities that have not yet heard the message. Thus the light of truth will shine forth in many places. Meetinghouses must be built and humble buildings hired or erected to be used where treatment can be given to the sick. By this means the work of the gospel and the medical missionary work will be bound together.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 19)
If the means which has come into the hands of our people had been properly used, there would have been established many centers of influence, where there is now simply nothing. This barrenness of many fields in regard to the light of truth testifies loudly against us as a people.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 20)
Brother Kellogg, you need complete rest, at frequent intervals, that you may find your bearings. You need to unload your mind of cares, that you may study your relation to the work. Never allow yourself to feel that you are a controlling power. God is the Sovereign of the world. His hand is able to hold the lines of government, and if we will be led and instructed by Him, He will use us to do His work in preparing a people to stand in the great day of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 21)
Christ wept over Jerusalem, saying, “O that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” [Luke 19:42.] The sins committed by professed Christians are no excuse for a single soul. Hypocrites are in the churches all through the land, but that does not justify us in blaming Christ and His ministers. Christ gave His life to save all who believe in Him. Those who really believe in Jesus have no pretense about them. They are genuine Christians. In heart and soul and action they are true to one another. There are tares among the wheat, but the true Watcher knows the false from the true. He never makes a mistake in His estimate of the characters of men, and after a time He will separate the tares from the wheat.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 22)
The Saviour points men to the cross of Calvary, as an evidence of His love for them. He has told men how to love one another as Christ has loved them. Jesus is the only true pattern for the world. If we choose to copy a defective pattern, it will be our own loss. A perfect life, a holy character, is presented before us. All who are overcomers will have the crown of life that fadeth not away.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 23)
A heaven of bliss is placed before you, and Jesus says that you may have it. It is yours if you will take it. “Take hold of my strength, and make peace with me,” He says, “and ye shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah 27:5.] May the dear Jesus reveal Himself to you as He has done to me, is my prayer. He is the One “altogether lovely,” and the chiefest among ten thousand. [Song of Solomon 5:16, 10.] Believe, only believe. Commit the keeping of your soul unto him as unto a faithful Creator. Jesus will forgive you, and make your character like his own pure character, if you will open the door of your heart and let Him in. He wants to give you His peace, His joy, His comfort. If you will let Him do this, He will cause you to triumph gloriously.
(14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, 24)
Lt 136, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 29, 1899 Variant of Lt 129a, 1899. Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
Many questions are brought to me regarding the work with which you are connected, and in answering these questions I may often have to mention your name. When seeking to correct the methods of those who suppose that they ought to do just as they think that you are doing, I am often led to refer to your work, and I may frequently differ from your opinions as to the way in which certain parts of our work should be carried forward. There is need of modifying the plans upon which some lines of our work are being done. Therefore if I am called upon to refer to the work which you have done and are still doing, do not regard me as any the less your friend.
(14LtMs, Lt 136, 1899, 1)
The management of the work of God in every line must bear the signature of heaven. The Lord hates falsifying. I desire to speak to you plainly. Your brethren who have stood in close connection with you have not all been as true as steel to truth and righteousness in their representations of the work to you. They have not guarded, cautioned, and counselled with you when it was their duty to do so. Had they stood in the clear light of truth, as faithful servants of the Lord, they might have helped you much. In all your planning and devising for the medical missionary work, you have regarded them as your friends and supporters. But when their judgment did not coincide with yours, they have refrained from telling you so. Both you and they will do well to take heed regarding your relation to one another.
(14LtMs, Lt 136, 1899, 2)
The Lord never gives to one man alone the qualifications and to carry such tremendous responsibilities as you are handling. The mold which you are placing upon minds is not always as God would have it. If you move according to your own independent judgment, and your colleagues assent to all your ideas, there will be serious consequences to be borne by you and them. The Lord God of heaven is marking every movement in the political world, every movement in the business world, just as surely as He is marking every action of His church; and He will reprove and counsel and warn those whom He would have to stand as His representatives of pure, holy, unadulterated principles. We are living in perilous times, and our salvation is more to us than everything else.
(14LtMs, Lt 136, 1899, 3)
But I will not write more upon this subject. I love you, and pray for you, and I believe the Lord hears my prayers for you as verily as if they came from your own mother’s heart. Hide yourself in Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 136, 1899, 4)
Lt 137, 1899
White, J. E. Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia September 8, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PM 219. Dear Son Edson:
About a week before your letters came, I seemed to be in an assembly where many things were being considered. By several who were present the question was asked, Why is there so little prosperity attending our institutions? Why is there such a great dearth of means?
(14LtMs, Lt 137, 1899, 1)
Many resolutions had been made which had never been carried out, and there seemed to be a heavy burden upon us all. Then a voice said to us, “You have not obeyed the voice of God. In Leviticus you have Christ’s words recorded for your direction in various lines of work, but the principles of God’s Word have been disregarded.”
(14LtMs, Lt 137, 1899, 2)
To the ancient Israelites God said, “If thou make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not make it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.” [Exodus 20:25.] We are not to make things to represent heavenly things, for by so doing we mingle the sacred with the common. The Lord is not pleased with these things. An extravagant outlay of means has been made for illustrations. Thousands of dollars have been expended which has not tended to glorify God. A large number of illustrations in a book will cause some persons to purchase it who would otherwise not take it; but the benefit derived is not equal to the disadvantages. God can make pictures upon the mind’s eye more beautiful and correct than can be made by the greatest artist who has ever presented to the world a representation of heavenly things.
(14LtMs, Lt 137, 1899, 3)
A strife for supremacy has come in the line of picture making. Men have crowded into books the productions of the human fancy which is of little worth. This state of things has been largely brought about by the canvassers’ representations. These many illustrations do not serve to convert souls but to feed the imagination with food that gives no real spirituality or life. Thousands of dollars have been expended for that which is not bread.
(14LtMs, Lt 137, 1899, 4)
Christ said, “He that eateth the flesh and drinketh the blood of the Son of God, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.” [John 6:54, 44-46.]
(14LtMs, Lt 137, 1899, 5)
Lt 138, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 13, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 164-165, 228; BTS 05/1913. + Dear Sister Henry:
I have a short time in which to trace you a few lines. I am always pleased to hear from you at any time. My mind is perplexed as to how we shall build our sanitarium. In company with Dr. Caro and others, we have been looking for a site outside the city boundary. We must have some acres of land, but this we seem unable to obtain. We are praying and submitting the case to the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 1)
I receive letters congratulating me upon the donations which came to us from the last General Conference. If this had only been true, we could have gone straight forward, but the trouble is that only three thousand dollars was raised for Australia at that conference, and this had to be divided among the different important interests. Word still comes to advance, and we shall try to do so, notwithstanding the fact that no help has come in response to our appeals. The Lord understands the whole situation, and I lay my burden upon the Burden-bearer. The light given me is that we must plant the standard where the truth has never been proclaimed. This we have been doing, and we shall continue to lift the standard and give the last message of warning to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 2)
The word continues to come, In the name of the Lord advance. The Lord will honor the faith of those who trust Him. God has called upon you to make your appeal, to show that you are worthy of the sacred trust which He has in His Providence conferred upon you. God is testing the principles that move His people to action. Having adopted a right principle of action, reverence and obey it. Let it appear that you make it the law of your life, from which no temptation can swerve you. It is the life of the people of God to proclaim and act out heavenly principles. God has given you wisdom, as a lamp for your feet in a dark path. Come what will, though heaven and earth pass away, hold fast to the light given, that not one jot or tittle of the principles God has laid before you be marred or dishonored.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 3)
God accepts nothing less than absolute surrender of the mind, the heart, the will, the strength, the entire being, to His control. The Lord can guide. His voice will be heard in reproof, in warning, and in encouragement. Then there will be brought into the work a power which comes alone from God, simplifying all the movements of the life of the soul. This is as a thread of gold, binding man to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 4)
Let those who are working upon wrong principles, whether with apparent failure or apparent success, remember that God never changes. His attributes are ever on the side of righteousness and truth. He can pluck down. He can build up. In full view of the world let your voice and pen testify that God is truth, and that in Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 5)
The Word of God is the standard of character. That Word does not repress activity. It opens before the conscientious soul, who is striving to honor his Saviour, channels for activity. The Word does not leave men in uncertainty or without an object. It gives the highest object, which is worthy [of] the co-operation of the Holy Spirit. The work of imparting the knowledge of truth, present truth for this time, is the all-important work. All heaven is engaged in it. The truth for this time is not to be lost sight of under an accumulation of interests that are of secondary importance. These are not to be allowed to engross the mind while important issues are not advanced. The Word of God places a lamp in the hand, which lights the path heavenward. It allows of no diversion from the straight and narrow path in which God requires His people to walk.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 6)
The Word of God tells of unsearchable riches, treasure that is beyond our estimate, to be secured by every soul who will be guided by the Word rather than by human sophistries and principles which eventually divorce the soul from God. There is no safety in departing from one principle which the Word reveals. The soul is to be pervaded by a continual, abiding sense of every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. It is the life of the soul to be sanctified through the truth, and to maintain the authority of the truth. Understanding and heart are to be sanctified by the strictest obedience to the Word, and the action and conscience by connection with the pure and sacred springs from which they derive their inspiration.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 7)
In this age of the world there is no safety in departing from a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” however wise and correct the human assumption may appear. Tradition in names and books is nothing. God’s Word is everything. The wisdom of the wisest man that lives is foolishness if it swerves one jot or tittle from the Word of the living God. God lives, God reigns, and He declares, “Them that honor me I will honor.” [1 Samuel 2:30.] Of those who place their sophistry above a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” God says, “I will make their wisdom foolishness.”
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 8)
In this period of time there is no safety for the soul who has not a penetration deeper than casual sight. We are called now to reach the highest standard of integrity. It is positively necessary for all who would walk in the straight and narrow path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to take heed, lest their feet be diverted from the path that leads to success and victory and triumph in the third angel’s message. Those who would command the very best resources must walk humbly with God, their hand clasped in the hand of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 9)
He who would reach the highest standard of perfection in Christian character must penetrate deeper than habit. He must be afraid lest his natural traits of character, his habits of opinion and authority shall mislead him. The only safety for the human agent who is striving for an immortal crown is to live in hourly contact, in conscious, loving communion, with the highest principles God has set forth in His Word. Truth and righteousness must be inscribed upon every action done for our fellow men. Mercy must constantly flow forth from the soul, revealing an abiding Christ. Sanctified judgment and purified reasoning will give strength and solidity and spiritual power. Then every cause that asks for our sympathy and co-operation will receive careful consideration. There will be no spasmodic movements made.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 10)
Sanctified reason must bear sway. Sanctified intellect must make decisions, inquiring into every cause that solicits attention, and then acting with the thought that God will approve. When the holy principles of the Word of God become the ruling element in a man’s life, they will lead him to act rightly, not impulsively. There is then an abiding Christ in his heart, whose bidding he obeys, and light and grace flow forth in words and deeds. This is the religion of Jesus Christ. This is the inexhaustible source of the only true species of power which the human agent, sanctified to God, may freely exercise. In the cross of Calvary we see our liberty, the claim of power that will be safe for us to exercise.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 11)
Strong, deep sympathies, pure, powerful heavenly principles, are the indispensable agencies to be brought into the work for this time. Self, with its baleful results, has figured largely enough. We need now an indwelling Saviour, who will supply the pure, holy current of love, and maintain principles that will inculcate the sum of all righteousness, purity, holiness, and perfect benevolence. This will show that we love God with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourselves. The moral taste is to be refined and elevated. Our passions are to be brought under control because we wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness. The gospel is to be lived. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, are the fruits borne upon the Christian tree. God help us to be right with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 138, 1899, 12)
Lt 139, 1899
Gotzian, Sister [J.] Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia September 11, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 17MR 119-124. Dear Sister Gotzian:
I am much burdened regarding the dearth of means which delay the opening of our Avondale Health Retreat. The principal part of the building is up, roofed, floored, and enclosed, but it is not plastered. And we are losing precious time, which ought to be filled with effective work in behalf of those for whom this building is erected.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 1)
I have done what I could to help this work along, as well as helping in many other enterprises of great importance to the advancement and honor of the cause that demanded encouragement and assistance. The money which our brethren in California sent me in payment for the college stock that I took from Mrs. Scott was very soon distributed where it would count the most for the work of the Lord. Not one penny of it would I use for myself. All of it, and much more, has gone into the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 2)
Last year I gave $125 to the Stanmore meetinghouse, and $100 to the meetinghouse in Windsor. This year I have given $250 to the meetinghouse in South Brisbane, and $250 to the meetinghouse in Hamilton, Newcastle. I have invested five hundred pounds in the Avondale Health Retreat and $500 in the Sydney Sanitarium.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 3)
This present time is a most important time for the work in Australia, and not only for Australia, but for the missionary work in the countries near Australia, which should receive laborers from this field. The work in Australia is just struggling on to its feet, and as it becomes strong, it will exert its strength in behalf of other fields. Just now the work in Australia must be advanced as rapidly as possible; for everything is now favorable, and the Lord is going out before His messengers, encouraging them, directing their work, and blessing their efforts.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 4)
The work of our Health Retreat here in Avondale will have a very important relation to other parts of our work. It will not only serve as a hospital for the sick of this district, who are most destitute of proper facilities for treatment and of a knowledge of nursing, but it will also receive patients from Sydney and Newcastle, and from more distant places. Already the Summer Hill Sanitarium, Sydney, is overflowing, and Dr. Caro says there are patients there who would do better in a place like Avondale. Dr. Rand of Newcastle is waiting impatiently for us to be ready for patients. This is an especially good place for those who become interested in the present truth, for they can attend the Bible classes at the school. It is a splendid place for convalescents who may be benefitted by the country surroundings.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 5)
When plans were being laid for this building, and the committee was planning to make everything as small as they could, to save money, our Counsellor said to me, Where is the room for your weary missionaries? In response to this we built larger, and are planning to make it a resting place for weary ministers, missionaries, and evangelists. Brother Gates is here, and needs the very care and treatment that this institution is intended to afford. He caught a bad cold in Melbourne, and needs treatment now; but our place is not yet ready.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 6)
In times past we have had to take sick people into our own homes for treatment, because it was not safe to give them treatment in the places where they lived. And now our houses are full of busy workers, and we rejoice that the Retreat is nearly ready for work. Soon the school will close, and several young people who have been preparing for this will be ready to enter its employ as helpers and students.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 7)
Will you, my sister, donate something for this work? You have helped us in the past, and at the time of your past donation you intimated that you could do something more if I would write to you in regard to the matters that we have in hand. I now venture to write. This building must be opened, for the necessity is great. We need your help. Can you give it to us, by your own donation and by asking the help of others? I know there are those who could help us if they would. I know there are those who would cheerfully help if they understood our work and its needs.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 8)
We see new fields to be entered, and we pray the Lord for help. I am sending to you with this [a] copy of a letter just received from Elder Tenney. The next camp meeting held in Queensland will be at Toowoomba, a beautiful city about one hundred miles west from Brisbane. It is the business center of a large, fertile, and wealthy district. There is a small band of Sabbathkeepers in this place, and much prejudice against the truth, but we trust that the camp meeting will sweep this away, and that this may become the center of an important work.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 9)
Last year at the Brisbane camp meeting I was urged to hold some meetings in Toowoomba, and I promised that I would spend Sabbath and Sunday there on my way home. After this a large company of brethren from Rockhampton assembled and urged us to visit that place, which is nearly four hundred miles north of Brisbane. We decided to respond to their request, and went to Rockhampton as soon as the Brisbane meeting was over. I was sick on the way and while there, but was able to speak to the people three times. My severe illness prevented our stopping at Toowoomba as we had promised, and I now think that I shall attend the Toowoomba camp meeting, and thus fulfill my promise to visit that place.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 10)
About two weeks after the Toowoomba meeting the camp meeting in Maitland will commence. Maitland is a place of over 20,000 people, twenty-two miles west of Newcastle, and twenty-eight miles northwest of Cooranbong. The instruction given to me about our work has been that we should as rapidly as possible present the truth in the various suburbs of Newcastle, and also in all the towns along the railway line from Newcastle to Brisbane. Maitland is a rich farming district, and is the center of a large stock raising district. If we are successful in securing proper help, we hope with the blessing of God to have a rich harvest of souls there, some of whom will go forth to work for others.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 11)
Brother John Paap, who formerly lived at Kaikoura, New Zealand, and who has been one of the chief supporters of our school, has recently sold his property in New Zealand, and has settled in Maitland. The presence of his family there will be a help in the formation of a church in that place.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 12)
Last Thursday Willie and his wife and myself drove from our home to Maitland for the first time. The first ten miles of the road was rough and mountainous, and we could proceed but slowly, but the last part of the road was good. We spent an hour taking our dinner by the roadside, and were from seven a.m. to two p.m. in making the journey.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 13)
When we reached Brother Paap’s place, we found that they had been waiting dinner for us for some hours, but had given up our coming, and brethren Starr and Daniells had gone to look for a campground. Although I had been travelling since seven o’clock, I did not stop to rest, but we started out immediately to meet Brethren Starr and Daniells, and to search for a campground.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 14)
There were good high grounds in East Maitland, but we wanted to find a place in West Maitland, where there is the largest population. We drove around for nearly three hours, and found that all the unoccupied ground around West Maitland is low and subject to floods. In past years this city has suffered greatly from the floods, and about four weeks ago much of the land around the city was under water. At last we gave up the effort to find a campground nearer than that which Elder Starr has selected, near East Maitland. This matter settled, we drove rapidly to the five o’clock train, which we reach just in time to get on board. I found room to lie down, and slept a portion of the way. At nine-thirty we reached Strathfield, where we were met by Brother J. J. Wessels, who took us to his home. I thought it was a pretty busy day for one seventy-two years old.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 15)
I shall speak to the people here on Sabbath, and on Sunday we are to visit several villages on the railway line near Hornsby, that we may see what the opportunities are for selecting a good location for the Sydney Sanitarium. We are praying the Lord to lead and guide us in this matter. We desire that this sanitarium shall be established outside the city, in a high and healthful locality, where we can secure easy communication with the city, and have the advantages of the city water supply. We must be several miles from the sea.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 16)
The building erected at Avondale for a health retreat is small, about fifteen rooms in all, but it will serve for the present necessity. For this building we solicit your donations. Those who help us in this will be doing a good work. We are much in need of money to provide facilities for work. May the Lord help His people to do the work that is so urgent in this part of His great vineyard. There are important fields to be worked. We shall not hover over the churches, but press into new territory, and raise the standard in places where the message has not been proclaimed. May the Lord bless and guide you is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 17)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 139, 1899, 18)
Lt 140, 1899
Wessels, John “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 14, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother John Wessels:
Your letter is received. Thank you for responding. All that you say is reasonable, and it is the only course that you can pursue. The Lord will adjust these matters if we will let Him work His own plans. We are laborers together with God. He is the great worker. He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Bear this in mind; for it is an important statement. Unless the Lord build the house, the labor is vain. O how much need there is of practical, experimental religion in building up the work that is to be done for this time. Let us remember, my brother, that the eye of the Lord is over all his works. He reads as an open book the secrets of every heart. Lean your whole weight upon him. He will be with you always, even to the end of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 140, 1899, 1)
Things will soon adjust themselves. I have been waiting for my brethren to set things in order. Since that long council meeting held at the school, I have written out some matters that the Lord has given me. While there are places in which Brother Morse can serve, it is not as a superintendent or a manager.
(14LtMs, Lt 140, 1899, 2)
We leave this morning for Newcastle with our own horse and carriage. Our destination is Wallsend, and we start as soon as it is broad daylight.
(14LtMs, Lt 140, 1899, 3)
Sister Wessels, I think the girl Sara has spoken to you about by letter had better go to you, because you need not keep her one week or one day longer than you need her. There are places open for her if at any time you decide that she will not suit you. I am anxious for you to have some one at once. I would not have you tax yourself now on any account. In Bessie Packham you will have a girl that you can instruct and help, and one that you may be sure will
(14LtMs, Lt 140, 1899, 4)
Be of good courage in the Lord, and trust wholly in Him. Give my love to Sister Anthony and tell her to encourage cheerfulness and hope in the Lord, and make melody to God in her heart. Open the windows of the soul heavenward, and let the sweet, warming rays of the sun of righteousness in. Close the windows earthward, shutting out the atmosphere of unbelief, which worries the soul. Jesus is not a dead but a living Saviour. Praise His holy name.
(14LtMs, Lt 140, 1899, 5)
Love to all.
(14LtMs, Lt 140, 1899, 6)
Lt 141, 1899
Daniells, A. G.; White, W. C.; Palmer, E. R. Wallsend, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia September 15, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 8MR 372-373. + Dear Brethren Daniells, White, and Palmer:
We arrived here at Wallsend at 10:30 a.m. For the first eight miles the roads were very rough, but the last part of the road was excellent. We did not feel very wearied. A good breeze sprang up, and we were quite refreshed. We drove slowly, because much of the way seemed to be up hill. Will it be so when we return? I am glad we came this way; for now we know the road. When we reached the suburb of Wallsend, we did not know the way to the mission, so we let the horse take his own course. He looked at every turn in the road, and finally brought us up to the gate of the right house. Sister Wilson was home, and very glad to see us.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 1)
Last night I received words of caution that the school catalogue went into many particulars. These might better be subtracted from it. Do not feel that everything concerning our school must be given to the public. Leave many things unsaid. Do not open before all, in the catalogue, everything which concerns the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 2)
As the matter now stands, the impression is upon many minds that the diet question is being carried to extremes. When students combine physical and mental taxation, so largely as they do at this school, the objection to the third meal is to a great extent removed. Then no one needs to feel abused. Those who conscientiously eat only two meals need not change in this at all. But when we have to prepare the third meal for different ones among our ministers, and for the president of the General Conference, it does not seem consistent to limit the students to only two meals. The statement need not be made that the third meal is limited as regards material, but this meal should be simple.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 3)
The fact that some teachers and students have the privilege of eating in their rooms is not creating a healthful influence. There must be harmonious action in the conducting of meals. If those who only eat two meals have the idea that they must eat enough at the second meal to answer for the third meal also, they will injure their digestive organs. Let the students have the third meal, prepared without vegetables, but with simple, wholesome food, such as fruit and bread. Then the controversy will be ended. Then the removal of the vexed question, which keeps the minds of some fathers and mothers in a condition of distressed sympathy for their children, although these children are gaining flesh all the time, will remove a serious objection to the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 4)
I think that healthy, growing youth need a nourishing diet, especially when dispensing with meat, which has an immediate stimulating influence, to be followed by depression. Meat eating cannot be tolerated in the school. Tea or coffee should not be allowed. And if the students are allowed to have lunches in their rooms, unwholesome food will be eaten, which will be deleterious to health. Teachers in any line, if they have not had an experience in health reform, will not see the necessity of binding about their own customs and habits and walking in the light that the Lord has given them upon these matters. They will hanker after hurtful things, as did the children of Israel, and to their own hurt. By their example, they will make it very difficult for the managers of the school to make the right course seem important and essential to the students. When the teachers do very much as they please, eating in their rooms when they choose, this removes from the students the objection for them to do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 5)
The time has come when it is to be understood that those who connect with the school as teachers should not let one word drop from their lips in the line of complaint or criticism, for this will be a leaven that will work to cause disaffection and disunion. This past term of school has been most trying and taxing. When those who are working as teachers show an absence of caution and discretion, and express themselves as dissatisfied before teachers or students, they show that they have not that wisdom which makes their influence safe in the school. Here are collected together all kinds of minds, with all phases of character, and unless the students have a wise example set them, they will obtain little good in the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 6)
The Lord says to the teachers, You need to be converted. Your hearts need to be purified, refined, elevated, before you are qualified to teach in the school, or as nurses and physicians. You must drink the blood of the Son of God. You must eat His flesh, which is His Word. Self and selfishness has worked and is working in the experience, so that the whole is marred. If ever any one needed the purifying, refining influence of the Spirit of God, it is the teachers in our school, that they may do the work which is of such consequence to the students.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 7)
Human nature is ever struggling for expression. It is ever ready for contest. The soul who learns in the school of Christ must be first emptied of self, of pride, of love of supremacy. There is a sacred silence in the soul. Self dies. Christ lives, and His grace is imparted.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 8)
O what a work needs to be done. The highest place we can occupy is sitting as did Mary at the feet of Jesus, learning of Him. The music of His voice charms the soul. When teachers receive Christ into their hearts as an abiding Guest, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will be theirs, to impart in words, in attitude, and in example. Christ is an Instructor to whom it is well that we all take heed. “He that hath sent me is with me,” He declared; “the Father hath not left me alone.” [John 8:29.] No storm of human or satanic wrath could disturb the calm of His perfect communion with God. He says to us, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] It is the love of self that interposes between the soul and God. It is the absence of sanctification of mind, soul, and spirit to God that leads to criticism and complaint.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 9)
But I will go no farther with this matter this evening, for there are other things that are urged upon my mind. I send this as a word of warning.
(14LtMs, Lt 141, 1899, 10)
Lt 142, 1899
Sisley, W. C. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 14, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother Sisley:
I wish to answer some questions which have come to me by letter. In one it was said, “Some of our brethren are under the impression that when you wrote regarding the royalties on books, and stated that it was the will of the Lord to pass the sponge over these past transactions, you made an exception of the case of the Gospel Primer. Will you please give me a plain statement of the matter?” I write to you now to say that the Gospel Primer was an exception. There has been unfair dealing in regard to this work. When the little book was selling readily, there were several who had the power in their hands to deal with the ones who compiled the work. The poisonous plant of selfishness had sprung up into a large tree, and had struck its roots deep. And when this book was issued which presented an opportunity of bringing in money, the tree bore fruit in an evil work.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 1)
I heard a voice saying, “That book is bringing in more money than the ones who brought it out should have.” Others were of the same mind as this speaker. Some spoke against the propositions made, because the proceeds of the book were to go for the benefit of the Southern Field. They talked the matter over at different times, and proposed different methods, that the publishing house might have the profits from the book. I heard the statements made, and saw the different persons engaged in this work. The transactions caused me intense anguish of spirit. I saw that if they could not obtain the profits they would kill the sale of the book. The poverty of the workers in the Southern Field did not call out their sympathy and their co-operation. Instead, they worked in a shrewd, scheming, underhand manner, taking advantage of every means to oppress, and thus bring the matter where they wanted it.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 2)
I have written in regard to this matter again and again, but no one has heeded the admonition of the Lord. I have also presented before these men that there was a work which they must do in dealing justly and with equity. I showed them that the Lord had written all their transactions in a book, and that if those who had acted a part with pen or voice in bringing about such unjust dealing, and wanted that record sponged from the books, they must repent, and confess, and make restitution, else they would meet their work in the judgment with all its results of evil—the consequences of thus turning away from the Southern Field the means which the Lord designed should start the work and help to sustain it. All the good that money might have accomplished, if the men who planned in regard to the Gospel Primer had not intercepted it by their covetous spirit, they will have to account for.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 3)
Those at the heart of the work should have acted a noble part, saying, We will bring that book from the press free, as our donation to the Southern Field. We will co-operate with the workers in the hardest field. If they will break the ground, we will pay them as much as we pay our missionaries in any foreign country.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 4)
This the Lord has given to me to present to you in the office at Battle Creek. This matter must be righted. You need not consult Edson White in regard to it. By your own devising, you drove him to confusion and perplexity and distress. This testimony is before you, and you need not ask him what will make the matter right with him. He has long carried a sense of this injustice. Those who have diverted the means that should have come to the Southern Field will not be clear until they make full restitution. Make thorough work in this matter, for you have an account to settle with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 5)
It is such transactions as these that have brought the displeasure of God upon the men at the center of the work. It is such fraudulent transactions as these that have removed the wisdom and the blessing that would have rested upon the conference and the publishing house. The Lord moved me by His Spirit and instructed me to make an appeal for the Southern Field. I learn that eleven thousand dollars were raised for this object, but not one dollar of it has come to that portion of the field for which the appeal was made. I ask in the name of the Lord that this money be accounted for. Between the Pacific Press and the General Conference Association it has been diverted into other channels.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 6)
I have been instructed to bear the message from the Lord to these institutions that the Lord holds them accountable for it. The Lord would have those who handle His work use no common fire in their censers, but the sacred fire of the Lord’s own kindling, which demonstrates that the divine and human agencies are co-operating. To those who have taken unfair advantages, thinking they were excusable because it was for the cause of God, the Lord says, “I hate robbery for burnt offering.” [Isaiah 61:8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 7)
Zechariah writes, “Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, a flying roll. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.” [Zechariah 5:1-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 8)
This great roll, twenty cubits in length and ten cubits in breadth was the measurement of the porch of Solomon’s temple. In this roll is written the name of the wrongdoer unless he repents of his wrong. The Lord’s eye is upon every transaction, and His judgment will come upon those who do wrong. The ninth chapter of Ezekiel should be studied in connection with (Ezekiel 2:1-10) and the fifth chapter of Revelation.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 9)
Let us make thorough work for eternity. Those occupying responsible positions in our institutions, who have a high estimate of their own labors while they depreciate the work of those who carry the burden in poverty-stricken districts, are not clean in the sight of the Lord. They have not hearts of tender compassion. They do not co-operate with the workers in the barren fields. If a favor is asked of them, they refuse to grant it. They do not have it in them to take in the situation of their fellow workers who struggle on under discouraging circumstances and with small wages. The Lord will bring every soul of them into trying circumstances. He cannot prosper the selfish, uncourteous, ungenerous spirit. The Lord estimates the labor done, and He values just as highly the one who labors in hard fields without facilities as those who allow him to ask in vain.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 10)
I am instructed to say that those workers whose needs are disregarded are to receive the sympathy of the people, and in their work to advance the cause of God, they are to feel at liberty to place the situation directly before the people, and receive help to work the destitute fields, to build humble churches and school houses, where the sheep and lambs of the Lord’s pasture may be cared for. The money to carry forward the work is to come directly to those fields, lest it find lodgment in some place where responsible men in their human wisdom shall feel justified in diverting it for their own purposes.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 11)
The Lord is not partial in His plan of working. He does not design that just a few shall break into new fields, while the rest hold themselves aloof, manifesting little interest to hold up the hands, to encourage and grant favors to those who are working in hard fields. The Lord is not pleased with the spirit that prevails among the managers of the Review and Herald office. It is approaching to the same hard, lording spirit that Christ had to meet among the Pharisees. Fall on the Rock, fall on the Rock, my brethren. You need to be imbued with the Spirit of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 142, 1899, 12)
Lt 143, 1899
Managers of the Claremont Sanitarium; South African Conference Committee; Wessels Family “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 24, 1899 Previously unpublished. + To the Managers of the Claremont Sanitarium, the South African Conference Committee and the Wessels Family:
I have written largely to South Africa, setting before you the will of God concerning John Wessels. Brother Wessels was willing to come to our help in Australia, but influences were set strongly against his coming. The call to come was counterworked by his friends and relatives, and as a result his means was invested in a large building in Cape Town. Thus the money which was needed so much to help advance the work here was diverted.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 1)
God is not pleased with this turning away from the counsel of the Lord to the will of men. By this working, we are placed for two years in most unfavorable circumstances; and now we are losing, we fear, the third year because men will consult their own wisdom instead of doing that which the Lord has planned.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 2)
We are praying for means to establish a sanitarium in this country, and the Lord has poured upon us the spirit of intercession that He would provide the facilities. Light was given to me to solicit help from our friends in South Africa. I was shown that John Wessels had means which would be a blessing to us, and which would bring blessing to him if he would employ it in the work in this part of the Lord’s vineyard.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 3)
God instructed me that He had need of the means elsewhere that were being invested in buildings in South Africa, and that this money should be used where it would serve in His cause to the highest advantage, carrying forward the work that needs to be done in medical missionary lines. The institution which we were to build in Australia was to be as the right arm to the body. It was a positive necessity if we would teach the people the right methods of caring for the sick.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 4)
This request was made by God to the people in South Africa to test them, for they had already sufficient facilities to meet the necessities for this time. A larger outlay of means in that field would not advance the work of God as it would in places where there was nothing with which to do medical missionary work in connection with the proclamation of the third angel’s message. And this was not all, there was great danger that the Wessels family would become more and more wedded to the world, and would regard lightly the obligations they were under to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 5)
There was danger that they would expend their means to gratify self and to please the sight of the eyes. There was danger that they would forget their Pattern, who for their sakes became poor that they through His poverty might be made rich. Their moral taste needed to be cultivated. Before every outlay of means they needed to stop and inquire, “Am I doing as Jesus would do? Am I following in His footsteps?” Christ says, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] This is the only path of safety for you, my brethren and sisters, whether you live in Africa, Australia or America.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 6)
When we were sent to this missionary field, we found a great dearth of facilities with which to work; and in 1895 I was shown that it was the first duty of the sanitarium in America to act a generous part in helping to establish a sister institution in this field where we could not depend for help on our church members. Sanctified eyesight would have led the managers of the institution in America to discern Bible principles and help in this field, where there was nothing to give an active working arm to the solemn message to be proclaimed. It was the duty of the managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, in the place of creating so many buildings there, to see that the work was advanced in Australia, where we had not the donations they had received in America to make a beginning, but where the Lord had seen fit to send us with the last message of mercy.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 7)
These principles I tried to lay before the people in America, as the Lord had presented them to me. I sent my appeal to the last General Conference, and something was done. A few thousand dollars were sent. But it was very little in comparison with what might have been done. The managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium have known our wants. They had kept before them, under the special instruction of God, that this place was to be the center for a work just as necessary and fully as important in character as the work done in Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 8)
Had these men followed the principles of the gospel, in the place of continually laboring for the establishment of sanitariums in America, they would have seen how essential it was that they divide their abundant facilities, and aid the work in this new world. They would have done the work which the Lord required them to do five years ago. Without pressing or urging, they would, like Job, have searched out the cause they knew not. It was God’s purpose that the Australian sanitarium should be established years ago, as the right arm of the third angel’s message, but although they have had the Lord’s plans laid distinctly before them, the sanitarium managers have given us very little help.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 9)
In America and many other places the medical missionary work is firmly established, but in all Australia we have not one sanitarium building to give character to our work. We have erected a country hospital in Cooranbong, but this is heavily in debt. We cannot pay our workmen, and the building is yet to be finished. Our brethren pledged one thousand pounds for the Sydney sanitarium at the conference some weeks ago. This was the extent of our ability. But we would not mention the Health Retreat we were building, lest by placing two objects before the people, we should lessen our chances of obtaining money for the sanitarium. Yet we are in great need of this building where we can take our sick. We have had to bring suffering ones to our own home for treatment, for we could not visit them in their own poor cottages.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 10)
I can only keep pleading like the importunate man of the parable, who went to his friend for food to supply the needs of the belated traveller. The man appealed to tried to excuse himself from answering the demand made upon him, but the persistency of his friend forced him to comply with the request. This case represents the work God has called me to do. I shall continue to plead until my request is attended to, until the large investments where the work is established shall cease, and the destitution of this country and other missionary fields is relieved.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 11)
I now place this matter before you in South Africa, and I ask you to consider it, and ask yourselves, why did you hold John Wessels there to follow out your mind, when the Lord indicated that He had work for him to do in this place, where men and means are so greatly needed. That delay has bound up in buildings the means which should have been invested in more needy places. It is not for the advantage of men, or for the glory of God for men to make such mistakes.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 12)
In our last letters we presented before you the best course to be pursued. The Wessels family should separate and settle in different localities. While there are so many in South Africa, they will not find there the best spiritual atmosphere for the life of the soul. God sees that which human beings do not discern. He saw that the means which He had entrusted to advance His work was being bound up in buildings and worldly enterprises. Like the man with the one talent, these brothers were afraid to employ their money in carrying forward the Lord’s work. They bring only the one talent to the Lord, whereas, if they had that faith which works by love and purifies the soul, they would have traded diligently with their Lord’s goods, and would have brought in their returns by winning souls to Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 13)
It means very much to every soul how he uses his Lord’s goods. “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.... And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.... Many shall be purified and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” [Daniel 12:1, 3, 10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 14)
I speak to those who would lay up treasure in heaven. Christ left His heavenly home, His high command, His kingly crown and royal robe, and became poor, that through His poverty fallen man might obtain eternal riches. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough that the disciple be as his master, and the servant as his lord. “Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth,” Christ says, “where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 15)
“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, the whole body shall be full of light. And if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” [Matthew 6:19-23.] “Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 10:33.]
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 16)
Christ calls upon every soul whom He has purchased with His blood to become a co-worker with Himself. Through self-denial and self-sacrifice he must win the royal crown, and the life which measures with the life of God. God has given directions which are for our present and eternal good. We must be willing to deny every inclination of self.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 17)
The Lord would have done a great work with the means which has been used in South Africa to gratify self and for pride of appearance. Jesus did not do this, when He left His riches and honor and clothed His divinity with humanity, and does it become those who are bought with a price to make a display and gratify the carnal desires? Heaven is worth everything to us, or it is worth nothing. God calls for the means which is being wasted, and which should be used in carrying forward the work of the Lord, in lifting the standard of truth in places where the message of mercy has never been heard. Every soul converted is His instrumentality to convert other souls. Thus the talents, kept in active exchange, accomplish the work of establishing Christ’s kingdom in the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 18)
Those who have no love for God and for the truth are heaping up to themselves treasures for the last day. Of this class the Lord says, “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the miseries which shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” [James 5:1-3.] But to His faithful stewards of means, He says, “Be patient therefore brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient: establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth near. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold the judge standeth at the door.” [Verses 7-9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 143, 1899, 19)
Lt 144, 1899
Wessels, Henry NP September 24, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I shall continue to write to you until I see you standing on the Lord’s side. You are not safe in your present surroundings. You are wasting the opportunities and privileges which you should improve.
(14LtMs, Lt 144, 1899, 1)
I wish for the sake of your brother Andrew you would refrain from making crooked paths for your feet. If you were left to manage your barque alone, you would certainly be shipwrecked. You have not the physical and mental vigor which rightfully belongs to young men, if educated and trained, and which ought to be yours. Your energies have not been wisely improved. By using the oars steadily, in the fear of god, with fresh, unwasted energies, you could manage your barque. You have good ability, and if you cultivate the weak points of your character, they will become your strong points. Plan courageously, and work harmoniously.
(14LtMs, Lt 144, 1899, 2)
I am entrusted with a message to you. Adhere to the strictest principles of temperance. Make the most of the capabilities and powers entrusted to you. Cultivate now, in this your day of opportunity and privilege, that habit of looking in simple trust to God, and then say, I am making my own record for this life and for eternity, and I will do my best.
(14LtMs, Lt 144, 1899, 3)
Cultivate the habit of lifting your soul to God for strength to employ your talents to His name’s glory. Remember that you must give an account of every talent lent you by God. You are in no way pleasing Him when you dwarf your manhood and become a weakling. Put your highest energies to the task. You are altogether too superficial, but you need not be so. And above all things you need to have your sensibilities quickened to appreciate eternal realities. There are heights and depths that you have never reached.
(14LtMs, Lt 144, 1899, 4)
I would advise you to come to Australia. Ask the Lord in regard to this. He will teach you if you want to do His will. You have not yet lost the power to develop a good character, but you must behold Christ and imitate His example. For Christ’s sake wake up and be in earnest. Your selfish love of indulgence is robbing you of the richest experience. You need an earnest, intellectual experience. Your mind must rally its best and highest powers. If you are inspired with a sense of your responsibilities to God, which should be above every other consideration to you, you will win in the battle of life.
(14LtMs, Lt 144, 1899, 5)
Lt 145, 1899
Irwin, G. A. Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia September 8, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 15MR 114-117. Dear Brother Irwin:
A warning has been given me in regard to our people. I have been instructed that they are certainly in danger.
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 1)
God declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” [Exodus 20:3-6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 2)
Should we not make investigation in regard to the matter of illustrating our books so largely? Would not the mind have a clearer, more perfect ideas of angels, of Christ, of all spiritual things, if no pictures were made to represent heavenly things? Many of the pictures made are grossly false as far as truth is concerned. Do not pictures so far removed from the truth give voice to falsehoods? We want to be true in all our representations of Jesus Christ. But many of the miserable daubs put into our books and papers are an imposition on the public.
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 3)
With this plain “Thus saith the Lord” before us, will we, claiming as we do to live by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God, be clear if we spend the Lord’s money in multiplying faces?
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 4)
Some things have been presented to me which I must set right. In my own home, one after another, pictures have accumulated. I see the same in every home to which I go. Is the Lord in this matter? Does not the charge in the twentieth chapter of Exodus prohibit this multitudinous picture-making which will continue to increase unless there is a decided reform, unless the people of God shall see that they are becoming idolaters? What shall be done in this matter?
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 5)
I have light that to spend so much money in photographs is a species of idolatry. Thus means is consumed which should be used in missionary effort rather than in producing pictures which are not essential.
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 6)
I take my position to no longer run the risk of displeasing God in this matter. I think that if in this our day of test and trial each one of us would study the words Moses was commanded to speak to the people, there would not be in the temple courts those who are in positions of sacred responsibility, yet are weaving into the web of sacred things threads of selfishness, using common fire in the place of the sacred fire of God’s own kindling. May the Lord’s Holy Spirit work upon human hearts and bring conviction to human minds. Those things of apparently little consequence attract the mind and eye, and absorb the attention at the very time when the attention should be given to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 7)
The question was asked, What does the care and anxiety, the delay in completing the books, and then sending them out weighty with cuts, amount to? The preparation for these attractions costs too much to be continued. The expense in more than one line was opened before me, and the necessity for delay to obtain tardy improvements of illustrations. I am burdened in spirit to say to my brethren who are engaged in book making, You are gathering to yourselves heavy burdens. The transformation in our book making has not brought with it a corresponding transformation of character.
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 8)
The almost endless succession of wearisome research and delay and anxiety, and the great expense in increasing facilities to multiply illustrations, is simply leading in advance in a species of idolatry. Harmonious spirit and action are not brought into the work, but instead rivalry and strife. The purse is strained to meet the demand. Irrespective of the outlay, pictures must be obtained to meet the tastes of canvasser, publisher, and author. Spiritual rest is not secured by us because men do not yoke up with Christ to learn His meekness and lowliness of heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 9)
While angels are near, ready to make impressions of the highest value on minds, many, as they read on the Sabbath, are attracted by the pictures. They talk of the faces and the scenery. The mind is occupied by matters which are not of the least consequence in our service to God, which make impressions that close the door to spiritual things. We do not show, by keeping free from all cheap, common things, which cannot benefit our souls or the souls of others, that we realize that time is of the highest consequence to us. Too often our experience is of a character that renders it of no value. Man is dwarfed spiritually in proportion as he invents unimportant means and instrumentalities that occupy the time and the mind in carrying them out, making work and business in religious lines take the place of genuine devotion. The process is easy, but what have you? A religious theory, without the Saviour’s endorsement, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” [Matthew 25:23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 145, 1899, 10)
Lt 146, 1899
Sisley, W. C.; Jones, C. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 25, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brethren:
Before this reaches you, you will have received my letter in regard to illustrations for our publications. I hope that the Lord will impress the minds of the managers of our publishing houses that it is time for us, before building a tower, to sit down and count the cost. We have no blame to attach to anyone, for we all have been trying to make The Desire of Ages and other recent publications attractive, so that they will sell readily, because the people need the truths which these works contain. But now light has come regarding the dangers and difficulties which attend these efforts, and I see that it was not wise to incur so much expense by crowding these books with such a large number of illustrations. By doing this we have tied our hands, so that we cannot sell the books as cheaply as we would like to have done. I shall be more cautious in the future.
(14LtMs, Lt 146, 1899, 1)
What alarms me most is the spirit of rivalry in our institutions. I will request you to read the accompanying manuscript at a meeting in which the managers and foremen of the offices which you represent are all present.
(14LtMs, Lt 146, 1899, 2)
Yours truly.
(14LtMs, Lt 146, 1899, 3)
Lt 147, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 25, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PM 215-216. + Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I cannot sleep tonight, for I am heart sick, and my soul is weighed down with a nameless burden. We are living in the most important period of this earth’s history, and the large work to be done is presented before me. There is no time to be lost. Many places close about us have not yet heard the third angel’s message. The banner has not been uplifted, calling the attention of the people to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 1)
We have been commissioned to advance. When I inquired how we should do this, I was instructed, Present your situation before the brethren in America, and ask for means. Call for help from the churches in every place, and ask them to bind about their supposed wants. Some are investing the Lord’s money in buildings, thus patterning after the unfaithful servant, who hid his lord’s money in a napkin in the earth. These need to consider and be afraid. What are they doing with their Lord’s goods? Are they heeding the divine command, “Sell that ye have, and give alms”? [Luke 12:33.] “Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, ... but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven” [Matthew 6:19, 20], by investing your means in the work of the Lord? No; their money is expended to gratify the inclination for things which are unnecessary. These souls need to study the twelfth chapter of Luke.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 2)
Christ lived not to please Himself, and He says to his followers, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] That cross cuts across every tendency to wrong, whether it be hereditary or cultivated. In His life and His plans for reaching the people, Christ teaches us how we should follow Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 3)
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” He says, “and all these things shall be added unto you.” [Matthew 6:33.] “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding; that when he cometh, and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom their lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” [Luke 12:33-38.]
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 4)
We shall have strong temptations to invest our money in the erection of unnecessary buildings, and for personal advantage; but this should not be done now. At this time our money is needed to sustain the missionary work in many places, and thus extend the knowledge of the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 5)
I have been shown that the abundant picture making for our periodicals and books is growing into an unsanctified ambition; and the dangers of rivalry are increasing to an alarming extent. The books we are sending out to the world are costing too much. Extravagance in illustrations costs time and money and creates worries which can and should be avoided. The Lord would have us keep the eye single to the glory of God. This infatuation for illustrations is not in God’s order; it is the pulse of the world, and this is beating strongly in God’s people at the present time.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 6)
In every line of the work economy must be practiced. All unnecessary expenditure must be avoided; for God is testing His people. There are missions to be opened in new fields. Men of God’s appointment are to be raised up to step in their lot and place, and sound the grand, testing message for this time. The Word of the Lord must come to the people. The trumpet must give a certain sound. This is a life and death message, and it must not come uncertainly from the watchmen who stand on the walls of Zion.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 7)
Speaking concerning this time, Christ said, “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed.” [Luke 17:26-30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 8)
The world is soon to meet God over His broken law, and its binding claims must be set before the people. May the Lord help His people to do their God-given work with fidelity. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.” [Isaiah 58:1, 2.] God calls His people to press together, to be a unit. This is their strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 9)
“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to be humble.” [James 4:6.] The apostle Paul exhorts us, “Be kindly affectioned one toward another, with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another;”“submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.”“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” [Romans 12:10; Ephesians 5:21; Philippians 2:3.] Let the church heed these words, for they are for their present and eternal good. The church must maintain her sacred, holy calling, keeping separate from the world; for unless the church itself is respected, it is powerless to influence. God has placed His message in the church, and His voice must control the members.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 10)
Again I entreat my brethren to send us the fruits of their self-denial in freewill offerings; for we are directed by God to advance in new territories. “The night cometh, when no man can work.” [John 9:4.] Christ came into our world to save it from ruin by connecting it with the infinite God, for this was the only way. Christ’s followers are to be channels of light to this apostate world. Who will follow the example of Christ, the great Teacher?
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 11)
There is need for close searching of heart in regard to every investment of money. Those who have not hitherto separated themselves from the Spirit and influence of the world, have not been learners in the school of Christ. They rob God in using His time and talents in following the customs and practices of the world. God calls for the whole being to be surrendered to Him. “Ye are not your own,” He says; “for ye are bought with a price.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] You are His by creation, and doubly His by redemption, and He calls you to earnest service.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 12)
“What,” Christ asks, “could be done in my vineyard more than has been done in it? And I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” [Isaiah 5:4, 2.] The fruit Christ requires is faith, patience, love, forbearance, heavenly unity, and meekness. These clusters of fruit ripen amid storm clouds and darkness as well as in the sunshine. There is no place in God’s work for dyspeptic religion. Practical godliness will strengthen the whole man, and make him complete in Christ. We need that faith which works by love, and purifies the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 147, 1899, 13)
Lt 148, 1899
Managers and Foremen of Publishing Houses “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 24, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in MM 199. + To the managers and foremen of the: Review and Herald Publishing House
Battle Creek, Michigan, U. S. A Pacific Press
Oakland, California, U. S. A. London Publishing House
451 Holloway Road
London N. Echo Publishing Co.
North Fitzroy, Melbourne, Victoria Christiania Publishing House
Christiania, Norway Hamburg Publishing House
Hamburg, Germany Dear Brethren:
I am alarmed by the spirit of rivalry which is coming into our publishing houses. It is most manifest in our oldest printing offices, but the same spirit is working elsewhere. This spirit, wherever manifested, is displeasing to God. If it is allowed to exist, it will grow and strengthen, and as it grows and strengthens it will crush out the missionary spirit. It will grieve the Spirit of God, and lead to such a course of action as will drive away from the institution and its workers the ministering angels sent to be co-workers with those who cherish the grace of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 1)
Any efforts which are made by the managers of our institutions to get the advantage over another, whether they be openly made, or secretly and in an underhand manner, are grievous in the sight of God. It is not the Spirit of God which prompts these efforts. It is the spirit of Satan. This spirit is working like leaven. Some plans and enterprises have been entered into that are displeasing to God. All strife for the supremacy shows that the spirit of selfishness is not purged from the hearts of the men who manifest it, and those men at the head of our institutions should remember that God will not serve with their sins.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 2)
The Lord forbid that the leaders in our institutions should study how to gain the advantage over one another. Let them ask, How much, not how little, can I do to expel the spirit of selfishness which has existed for so long, and is still cherished? Nothing is more evident than that there are those who have a dyspeptic religion. Their religious experience is sour. Those who in the past have reached only the lowest standard they thought they could reach and yet be personally safe, who have not thought it wrong to selfishly gain money or supremacy, need entire conversion. They need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, that they may be cleansed from all defilement. Let the heart be emptied of its selfishness.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 3)
Some take sides against reformatory methods and practical godliness. Earnest soul-humiliation does not come naturally, and to many heart-consecration is seemingly unknown. O, when will those who keep the standard at its lowest point, fear and tremble for the safety of their own souls? The result of this low-gaged piety is that those possessing it do not value aright the souls of those engaged with them in service.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 4)
I wish that for one week managers and employers could change places. Perhaps managers would then come to their senses, and act more like Christian gentlemen. Those in positions of trust cannot place on anyone else the work which God has given them to do for the souls of the men and women connected with them, and especially for the youth, whom they are to mold and fashion aright as far as lies in their power. This they are to do by being themselves sanctified to God soul, body, and spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 5)
In our institutions I have heard surly, repulsive answers to questions asked. I have heard him put into the voice to give sharpness to the unsanctified, unholy spirit working within. Some who are connected with sacred lines of work speak hasty, ungentlemanly words when crossed in any way. Even thou those who crossed them may have made a mistake in ignorance, with no intention of doing harm, they are humbled by the most severe denunciations, notwithstanding the fact that they are linked with Christ as His purchased inheritance.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 6)
Those who talk thus need to have their lips touched with a live coal from God’s altar. They need to hear the words, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” [Isaiah 6:7.] Unless the hearts of those in positions of trust are cleansed from defilement, the lips will utter perverse things, and those under them will receive harm, when they should be treated as students in a school, and patiently taught, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 7)
All arguments, all prayers, whatever may be their fervor, are as sounding brass when not accompanied by the Spirit of Christ. Those who cherish selfishness cannot by arguments, by exhortation, by warnings or reproof, lead those connected with them to higher attainments, to better actions, to greater faithfulness, because they have not themselves the warmth of Christ’s love in the soul. If those who know the truth, who teach the truth, are not transformed, if the truth does not make them spiritually upright, their work is of no value in saving souls from sin. The gospel is a system of practical truths, designed for the uplifting of men in a fallen world, in a degenerate age. If practiced, these truths will work great changes in the character.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 8)
The apostle Paul declares, “Ye are our epistle, known and read of all men.” [2 Corinthians 3:2.] Christ is our efficiency. The lives of His followers are to be an exposition of the sacred truths of His Word. This is an illustration which is much more effective than any illustration which an artist can conceive. As we hold forth the Word of life, we have the strongest motives to be spotless, holy, self-denying Christians. The piety of those who believe in Christ is the world’s measurement of the power of the gospel. God calls upon us to show before heaven and earth that we shine as lights amid the moral darkness of this earth. He says, “Ye are the light of the world.” [Matthew 5:14.] The solemn responsibility is laid upon us of doing all we can to save the souls of those with whom we are brought in connection.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 9)
Let every one who has named the name of the Christ, in faith in Him as a personal Saviour, depart from all iniquity. It is the truth lived that is a powerful, attracting illustration of the character of Christ. The gospel lived in every department of our work is an influence that will save souls from perdition. This is the fruit Christ requires from His husbandmen. This will do more to make the truth effective than all the sermons and illustrations that can be given to the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 10)
Let us make large calls for the bread of heaven, for our heavenly Father loves to impart with generous liberality. If we ask Him, He will certainly give us His grace abundantly. When in every branch of the work there is seen an unfaltering determination to develop the self-denying principles of a spotless life, when the straight and narrow path is followed with firm steps, the eye constantly fixed on the Sun of Righteousness, God’s people will bear the marks of Christ’s character. By their patience and tender sympathy for the youth and for those who have been deprived of the advantages they have enjoyed, they will represent Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 11)
As upon the Jewish nation, light has been shining upon us from the Word of God. You who have had great light and many opportunities have no excuse for not letting your light shine forth to others in good works. Never should those who know the truth, who understand God’s claims, set their standard at the lowest point. The standard should be elevated, so that the light of a Christlike example will draw perishing souls across the gulf to lay their burden of sin at the cross of Calvary.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 12)
There is no excuse for any soul to walk with tottering steps, swaying to the right and to the left, too feeble in moral principle to make straight paths for his feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. Those who walk thus misrepresent the sacred character of the truth, which is heaven-born, and therefore perfect. The Lord calls upon those who come near Him in service in any of our institutions to put off the old man—their imperfect traits of character—and put on the new man—Jesus Christ, who gave His life to make it possible for us to be complete in Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 13)
To those who are handling sacred things I would say, A Watcher is constantly with you, noting whether you handle with pure, clean hands the things which relate to your high calling in Christ Jesus. O, take heed without delay. Take not one step in business deal that you would not take if you were dealing with Christ in person. I have the word of God that there are those among us who are more guilty of negligence and double-dealing and petty tricks in trade than many upon whose pathway the light of present truth has never shone, but who are a conscience unto themselves. Some who do not claim to be Christians would not do a mean, selfish, unfair action. Professed disciples of Christ, who have a name to live and yet are dead as far as vital godliness is concerned, are a stumbling block to sinners. Their rasping, harsh, uncourteous spirit is working against the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 14)
You who are occupying responsible positions have often been in as great danger and as guilty of as great trespasses and as great a departure from true principles as the ignorant and undisciplined youth whom you treat so harshly. You have greater light, greater knowledge, better advantages, than the ones whom you would unsparingly correct. In their new position, the youth in your care are as children, and they need educating. This work should not be done in an impatient, fretful, murmuring spirit, but in the Spirit of Him who pities their ignorance. Remember that the way in which you, with your advantages and privileges, deal with those who have not been thus favored, and who have everything to learn, Christ will deal with you. It is high time that we awoke out of sleep, and began to emit light as those who claim to be connected with the One who is the source of all truth, justice, and righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 15)
Everyone who is subordinate to the law of God is under Christ as a learner. From the Word of God those at the head of our institutions are to learn day by day how to speak as Christ would speak, and how to educate aright those who are in their employ as learners. The apprentices are to be affectionately treated, encouraged, and advanced. They are God’s property. Let those who are over the young workers put themselves in their place and consider what kind of treatment they would think right and just were they apprentices, in order to keep their courage good, their temper sweet, their self-respect increasing. As God’s appointed agents, watch for souls as they that must give an account. Let the law of kindness be on your lips.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 16)
Paul writes, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain.” [Philippians 2:14-16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 17)
Reformation is called for by the Watcher. When the work is accomplished that should be accomplished in the minds and hearts of those brought together in our institutions as Christian workers; when every phase of the work is done with an eye single to the glory of God; when murmuring and strife are put far away; when the upward lines of advance that Christ and conscience point out are not disputed, then the Holy Spirit will have a chance to work on the hearts that need converting. As matters now stand, those who should be educators are sometimes fickle and impatient, given to murmuring and faultfinding. Day by day they deal out these objectionable attributes to those connected with them. They are far from being harmless, blameless, and without rebuke.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 18)
How much do men who are not themselves under God’s control, although professing to be Christians, really contribute to the efficiency of the gospel in their business relations with those who are not converted? There are many against whose names on the record books of heaven will be found written, Not producers, but consumers. They do not bear fruit to the glory of God. The Lord cannot co-operate with them. They are stones which take up room in the building, but emit no light. They cannot shine as living stones, because they do not receive light from the chief Cornerstone. Can they afford to trust their souls any longer to such uncertainty? Christians are either under Christ’s rule, heeding His instruction by doing the work they are supposed as God’s followers to be doing, or they are under the control of the enemy. They are either doing positive good or incalculable harm. Their influence is either a savor of life unto life or of death unto death.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 19)
Christians are to be lightbearers, saying to all with whom they are brought into contact, Follow me as I follow Christ. They are to be examples of piety, representing Christ in word, in spirit, in action, in all business dealing with their brethren and with strangers. They are to show that their actions are a copy of the actions of their great Pattern. All this Christ enjoins upon His followers. They are to show the superiority of heaven’s principles over the principles of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 20)
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16.] True Christians will always shine as lights in the world. They are lightbearers, working upon a higher plane of action than those who are not Christians. Their purity and uprightness in every action is a source of illumination. They impart what they receive, making known the duties and privileges of a Christian. The refining, ennobling principles of the gospel are brought into every phase of life.
(14LtMs, Lt 148, 1899, 21)
Lt 149, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 25, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 1MR 231-232. + Dear Brother:
I received your letter dated May 30, 1899. I am sorry that I cannot see you, and converse with you, for I think I could relieve your mind. I did not suppose that you would understand the things written to the sanitarium as addressed to yourself. You, individually, have not been presented to me as selfish and covetous; but I have been shown that there was too much reaching out in medical missionary lines, that this work was swelling to such large proportions that there was danger of making the General Conference bankrupt, as it almost is now.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 1)
The erection of the Boulder Sanitarium has called out large sums of money from the General Conference, and in order to run this institution, there will be continual calls for means. This move was not a wise one. It is not the way of the Lord to draw so largely from the treasury for enterprises which the world can and will sustain if called upon to help. There are few wealthy men among Seventh-day Adventists; for the most part they are poor, and if the men who have been foremost in this movement had put their talents to work to secure the support of worldlings, they would have acted a far more sensible part.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 2)
Unwise management has often been manifested by those who have erected school buildings and sanitariums, when the General Conference was already involved many thousands of dollars in debt. Had these men possessed sanctified eyesight, they would have seen that the money used in these enterprises was needed in foreign fields. These matters call for careful consideration. There are fields all white to the harvest, and yet the standard of truth has never been lifted in them, although the need has been kept before the people. The vineyard takes in the whole world, and every part of it is to be worked. God’s workers must view matters sensibly, and with eyes anointed with heavenly ointment see things afar off in destitute fields as well as in America. When they do this, they will be impressed with the work that is needed to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 3)
The words which I have addressed to the sanitarium managers I have not addressed to you personally, Dr. Kellogg; but you have come in and taken to yourself all that was spoken to the sanitarium as an institution. Stand from between me and the managers of the sanitarium, and let the appeals of God come direct to them. Your name has been mentioned, because if I had written to the managers and not to you, you would have felt that everything should have come to you. I supposed that you would lay these matters before the sanitarium managers, that your sensible, intelligent mind would see our necessities, and that you would all unite in binding about the means which is being absorbed in different enterprises. I supposed that you would send us some of this means to help in the work which is dragging so heavily.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 4)
I asked nothing but what was perfectly just and reasonable. The medical missionary work is just as much a necessity in this part of the world as it is in America. If we had one quarter of the money here that you have in Battle Creek, we could place those who have received an education in medical lines where they could work to good advantage. The General Conference, at the solicitations of Dr. Kellogg and A. R. Henry, established an institution in Boulder, which cost, I am informed, eighty thousand dollars. Twenty thousand dollars would have erected a sanitarium here, and the brethren in this field would have given to the extent of their ability to furnish the building. This would have placed us several years in advance of where we now stand.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 5)
The Lord does not work with partiality. There is a work to be done in Australia which you have neglected in order to multiply your advantages in America. God says to you Bind about your spreading interests. Share your facilities with those who need your help in establishing the work in the needy portions of the vineyard. This is a the message God gives me for you, who are pushing the work so heavily in one line to the neglect of other fields which stand ready to be worked. There are not funds enough among Seventh-day Adventists to sustain so large a work. The workers in other portions of the world need the means, that they may prepare to work still other parts.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 6)
It is God’s design that those fields which have abundant facilities shall share their advantages with more needy fields. This is the principle ever to be observed in all our institutions. God requires that there shall be less planning and devising for buildings in Battle Creek, and that the means shall flow into fields where there is nothing to rely upon, where the work is carried on under great disadvantages for want of facilities. But the spirit of selfishness has been manifested Into the fields where there is already an abundance of facilities, the workers have gathered every possible resource. Again I would say to those who have influence, Do the work that has been neglected. Here there are very few who have means, and they do not know the blessing of imparting what they have received. But they are learning, and we expect them to do according to their ability.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 7)
You told me that you had furnished the Gospel Wagon from your own pocket. You need not have done this, Dr. Kellogg. It was not a wise investment. I was shown that some of the young people connected with this work would be spoiled, and in their turn would spoil others. Their example was not a sanctified, humble, self-denying example, but a hurtful one. Your money has gone forth to do many such things, which the Lord’s voice was saying to you, Who hath required this at your hand? Medical missionary work is not to stand between me and the work to be established in Australia, which is a world in itself.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 8)
We need means with which to make a beginning. We desire to keep the medical missionary work as the right arm of the body, as a part of the gospel ministry in every place where a church is established. I have been at work with all the power of influence I possessed to make a beginning. I am borrowing money, and giving my note for the same.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 9)
The Health Retreat in Cooranbong is now being finished. This is not a large building, but it is the best we can afford. It is neat and plain. We cannot do the plastering until we obtain the means. When the plastering is finished, we shall furnish a few rooms where we can treat the sick. We will wait for means to build the verandahs and furnish the rest of the building.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 10)
The sanitarium in Sydney is full to overflowing, and if our Retreat were finished, Dr. Caro would send the patients here. But we have used all our means and can go no farther. Yesterday we went over to the building and called the workers together to consult as to what could be done with the orchard connected with the hospital. W. C. White and I consented to take the work in hand, and send our hired man with a plough to attend to the land. We have a large debt still unpaid, for at the last conference, when money was being raised for the sanitarium, we would not bring the hospital up for consideration. This required great self-denial, for the sick and wearied ones have to be cared for at our home. But the Lord knows all about this matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 11)
Our sanitarium must go up at once. We are looking for a site, but land is so high that we cannot purchase, for we have only the limited sum raised at the union conference. The word of the Lord comes to us, Advance; but to obey seems like going into the Red Sea. As yet, I have received but very little from my books. I was heavily in debt at both offices, and therefore have nothing to draw upon. To build our church in Hamilton, Newcastle, I donated two hundred and fifty dollars, but after hiring two hundred pounds for the land, we refused to go any deeper in debt. The tent had to be kept up through the winter until we obtained means to build.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 12)
John Wessels is here, and he is pleased with the place. We hope to have his help in erecting our sanitarium. He is receiving interest from his money, but the principal is tied up in buildings recently erected in Cape Town. Although an earnest appeal was made to him two years ago to come and help us build a sanitarium, he was persuaded to stay in Cape Town. At that time he had his means, but after he decided to remain, he invested them in buildings there. He is now trying to get his money, but there seems to be little hope of his doing so. The war that is threatening there makes it almost an impossibility.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 13)
I will leave this matter with you now, Dr. Kellogg. We shall do all we can, and leave what we cannot do with the Lord. I write in haste.
(14LtMs, Lt 149, 1899, 14)
Lt 150, 1899
Men in Responsible Positions in the Review and Herald Office “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 26, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PM 59-60, 157-158, 213-214; WM 25-26; 9MR 372.
I address the men in responsible positions in the Review and Herald Office:
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 1)
I cannot sleep past twelve o’clock p.m. I must relieve my soul of its burden. I am continually burdened, night and day, because there are men in the office who are not exerting a fragrant influence. They need to be melted over. Their spirit, shown by their words and works, is exercised to the injury of souls. Unless the converting power of God is felt in the human heart, the office will need to be cleansed and purified as Christ cleansed the temple courts. There is so much of the rubbish of self, so much that needs the transforming grace of Christ. The converting power of the Holy Spirit is needed upon the tongue, upon the brain. The faculties of seeing and hearing need to be renewed, changed, transformed. The angels of God look with sorrow upon men who know the truth and yet are not assimilated to the truth by the sanctification of the Spirit of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 2)
Do not for one moment entertain the idea that a tender, courteous spirit, revealed by kind words, by patience, by perfect control of self, is a species of weakness. Said one of Christ, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” [Psalm 18:35.] Every day let the sanctification of the Spirit of God flood every soul. When the souls of all the workers in the Review and Herald Office, high or low, are flooded by this sanctification, the words spoken will be Christlike. They will not cut and bruise and wound the souls that Christ has purchased with His own blood.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 3)
The Lord does not approve of the spirit that is circulating through the office. Better, far better, would it be for those who suppose themselves to be in authority, dealing with human minds, to first place themselves under Christ’s discipline, and heed His call, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] The very thing that ought to be done is not done. The yoke of restraint and obedience to Christ is not worn. When this yoke is worn, and then only, will you learn Christ’s ways and Christ’s methods. You will learn how to educate and treat every soul of the heritage which he has bought with the price of His blood.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 4)
Your religious activity is in vain; your service is unacceptable and unappreciated by Him who in 1899 is measuring the temple and the worshipers thereof. The Lord Jehovah’s presence is to be recognized in every room of the office, as His voice was recognized by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. The Lord comes to His own place in the Review and Herald Office, from whence should go forth the blessings of the light from His presence, imbuing with His Spirit every worker who is doing Him service, that not a trace of Satan’s attributes shall be revealed in the look of the eye, the hearing of the ear, the words spoken, or the attitude taken.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 5)
Those in authority are to say by their demeanor, I am a teacher, an example. That which I have seen Christ do, by the eye of faith and the intelligence of my understanding as I have read the precious lessons that fell from His divine lips, I am, as a learner of His meekness and lowliness of heart, to reveal to all with whom I am brought in contact. This will be the best illustration I can possibly give to those who are connected with me as apprentices, who are to learn how to perform pure, clean, unadulterated service, free from the common fire, the worldly theories, and common maxims which are prevalent in business houses.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 6)
All the beautiful things of art cannot bear comparison with the beauty of temper and character which is to be revealed by those who have to do with sacred things. All business transactions connected with God’s service must be as clean and valuable in the sight of God as the frankincense and myrrh, which in pure, uncorrupted faith were offered to the infant Saviour by the wise men of the east. His glory was manifested to these men, who, guided by a star, came to worship Him at His birthplace, the manger of an inn. It was according to the plan of redemption that Christ should be born in this humble place, for He was to pass through every stage, step by step, of the temptations and necessities of human life, that He might sanctify every department through which the fallen human family must pass and show them that there is no necessity for man to continue in sin.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 7)
In Christ’s meekness and lowliness of heart there is no cheapness, no common, earthly taint. All His work was done with pure, clean hands. He came in humiliation to give brightness and joy and peace and love and affection to all His heritage by becoming one with them. He partook of all their poverty and inconvenience that He might give them peace, contentment, and joy, and step by step lead them upward. The world’s Redeemer is inviting all to bear His yoke of restraint and obedience, that in sharing His humiliation, they may learn the lesson of His meekness and lowliness of heart. Thus they become heirs of the kingdom of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ to an immortal inheritance. They will be a joy to the poor and a comfort to the oppressed.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 8)
Christ took a position which was on a level with the poor, that through His poverty we might become rich in beauty of character, and be, as He was, a savor of life unto life. By becoming poor, He could sympathize with the poor. His humanity could touch their humanity and help them to gain the perfection of right habits and a noble character. He could teach them how to lay up for themselves in heaven imperishable treasures. The Commander in the heavenly courts, He became one with humanity, a partaker of their sufferings and afflictions, that through the representation of His character in its unsullied purity, they might become partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust. And Christ was a joy to the rich, for He could teach them how to sacrifice their earthly possessions to help to save the souls perishing in the darkness of error.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 9)
Christ’s work was to make men wise, not in worldly intrigue, not in sharp dealing to obtain the advantage of their fellow men, but to make them wise unto salvation, that they might win others to the beauty of holiness. Christ did not come to make men selfish, self-important and self-centered, to teach them to strive for the highest place, to hunger for supremacy over their fellow men. He said, “Lo, I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of me,)” to unfold mysteries which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. [Hebrews 10:7.] I come to earth to live the life of God, to keep His law, the transcript of His character. Those who shall take the kingdom and possess it forever must work the works of God, as I have given them example. They must bring joy to those who mourn. They must heal the sorrows of men, bind up their wounds, and bring hope to the desponding. They must break the yoke of oppression and say to the sinner, Believe in Jesus Christ and thou shalt live. I am come to take away sin, for I gave My life to ransom the world. Will those who claim to be My servants act contrary to My example, and give the world a false representation of My character? Look to Me every day. My power is sufficient to uphold, to strengthen, establish, and make you complete in Me. “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.]
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 10)
Worldly honor is of no value in the sight of God. The pure heart is more precious than treasures of gold and silver, more valuable than diamonds. The Lord is revealing that when He removes His shielding, restraining power from satanic agencies, then that power which men serve and worship in the place of God will be their destruction. He says, “I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 11)
“Vanity shall take them, but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; and shall say, Cast thee up, cast thee up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling blocks out of the way of my people. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” [Isaiah 57:12-15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 12)
God has declared in His Word that our only hope is in Him. He is our stay, our staff. We can have no strength only in His strength. There is a work to be done for every institution in our borders. There is need of conversion from the principles which have been coming in. Be determined to obtain the victory and to hold the victory. Let there be a turning and an overturning, until every unrighteous principle is expelled. The living God will not justify any evil thing. These words were spoken, “Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; but truth has fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter; yea, truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it.” God walks through your business rooms, He is present in your council meetings. “And it displeased him that there was no judgment.” [Isaiah 59:14, 15.] See Isaiah 59:16-21.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 13)
Nothing is hidden from God. The instrumentalities that should work with an eye single to the glory of God are acting very largely upon the same principles which have in the past tarnished the sacred places of God. The plans of men are scheming and dishonest, not noble and generous and holy and true. When the sanctification of the Spirit of God becomes a controlling power then God will bless His people.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 14)
The Review and Herald and the Pacific Press have been presented to me as cherishing a spirit of rivalry. The admonitions and warnings God has given them to bring about a reform are not heeded. Annoyance is felt, disagreeable sensations are awakened when reproof comes; but the work that needs to be done to cleanse these institutions from selfishness, covetousness, and unfair dealing, is not done. O that the men handling sacred things would sanctify themselves, soul, body, and spirit. You are not fitting yourselves for translation to heaven. Every unholy practice will place you lower and lower in the scale of moral value with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 15)
All the light, all the evidence, that God in reproof has given you has been reasoned away by some, and made to mean something that was not understood. The Lord cannot give you prosperity until you repent and are converted. Every word of warning will one day appear as given to you because of the mercy and love of God in your behalf. God designs that the offices from which our publications go forth shall be living channels of light. Why do you not labor to establish every line of business upon right principles? The Lord warns His instrumentalities in Battle Creek and upon the Pacific Coast to economize, economize. Your rivalry in book making, in illustrations, is bringing expense upon the work. You are constantly planning to lower the prices of the books. This is a mistake.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 16)
Once let down to a low figure, the price of the books will never recover. This is not the way to do. If you desire to place the work on a paying basis, do not lower the prices by special offers, which are called by my Instructor inducements, bribes. God does not want you to do this. These methods He does not approve. Devise means to create a fund by which books can be placed in families who do not and cannot obtain them for themselves. The light given me is that our books are made too expensive. The covers should be strong, but not expensive. The elaborate illustrations in Desire of Ages I could not allow again in the books I shall make. I do not say I shall have none, but I shall not feel free to have so many illustrations that the reading matter which the people need they cannot obtain because the price of the book is so high.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 17)
What you need is to be taught by God to deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together. They come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged: because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.” [Isaiah 60:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 18)
May the Lord give us that wisdom that is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. Let the standard be elevated; let it not trail in the dust.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 19)
I cannot this morning write all that is to be written. I rose early, at twelve o’clock p.m., and I have just called my workers, as it is nearly five a.m., to copy something. More next mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 150, 1899, 20)
Lt 151, 1899
Wessels Family NP 1899 Portions of this letter are published in AH 378. To the Family of Sister Wessels:
I shall not be unfaithful in warning you. The spiritual life of the Wessels family is of more consequence than food or raiment or display. The Lord calls for men and women who are cherishing a Christlike love for the world, saying, “Go work today in my vineyard.” [Matthew 21:28.] Will you respond to the call. The Lord wants all there is of every soul He has purchased. He calls you to come under His banner, and serve in His army. He asks you to shine as lights in the world. There is no place for pleasure lovers or spendthrifts in His work. He calls saying, “Follow me.” It will require integrity of soul and high moral resolve to practice self-denial in all things; but this will bring men and women to the place where they will heed the voice which says, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart.” [Matthew 11:29.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 1)
It is not the possessions of a man, the costly edifice, the decorations, the expensive mirrors and furniture, which determine his character. It is the heart purity, the steadfast purpose. The character built with good and noble deeds is the monument which the angelic host respect—the life, which after death lives in the memory, perpetuated by the good deeds which he has done for others. That pride is worthless which scorns the meek and lowly in heart, which scorns that Saviour who lived not to please Himself. Will men and women stand around your grave, and tell of the good deeds you have done in following in the footsteps of Christ?
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 2)
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen?” the Lord asks, “to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house: when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 3)
“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking of vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of waters whose waters fail not.” [Isaiah 58:6-11.] This is to be our work. We are to be laborers together with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 4)
Economy does not mean niggardliness, but a prudent expenditure of means, because there is a great work to be done. What is true exaltation? It is the meekness and lowliness of Christ cherished. There is no vexing one another, no dissension, no strife, no hasty speech, because the love of God is a living principle in the heart. You may be “a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” [Isaiah 62:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 5)
Brother Peter Wessels is not where he should be. If he were refined and purified—soul, body, and spirit—his mind would be fixed upon Jesus, the Author and Finisher of his faith. God will accept the service of every soul who is receiving the sanctification of soul, body, and spirit. And Christ says, “Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: in whom the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” [Ephesians 2:19-22.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 6)
I want every member of the Wessels family saved unto eternal life. I do not want the mournful words applied to them, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walked in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts, a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face.” [Isaiah 65:2, 3.] The God of heaven pleads with you, saying, “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.” [Isaiah 55:2, 3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 7)
“Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it.” [Isaiah 56:2.] You will need earnest determination to break the spell that Satan has placed upon you, and which is holding you away from God and from the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I know the dangers of the Wessels family, and that is the reason I have written them so much. They will never overcome unless they arouse.
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 8)
“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock: his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity: just and right is he.” [Deuteronomy 32:1-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 9)
The Lord speaks to His people, saying, “The Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them upon her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.” [Verses 9-13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 10)
Thus the Lord represents the care He exercises for His people, and He expects more of them than they give Him. He is reaching out His merciful arm, saying, Come. Begin the great conflict of life by trampling Satan under your feet. Make an alliance, not with unbelievers, but with God. God fearing, devoted, unselfish men and holy angels minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Council with these men, and you will win the crown of life.
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 11)
There is a battle before every member of the Wessels family. They have inherited tendencies which should not be cultivated. The power of the love of God can bring its vital strength into the mind and heart, renovating, purifying, and sanctifying them. When the mind is worked by the Holy Spirit, all deficiencies will be supplied by the power and permanence of the actuating motive.
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 12)
The Wessels family need have no fears if they will trust in the wisdom of God. If the influence surrounding them is of a right character, and predominating interests are uplifting: if their energies are kept in right channels, they will be men who will honor God and help others. When they behold Him who has given them every privilege and every advantage to secure mental and physical vigor; given them power to become efficient in the strength which comes from God, then they are performing the part of the work assigned them by divine wisdom. They are standing in their lot and place, in willing obedience to God’s requirements. The man who yokes up with Christ is a partaker of the divine nature, and will overcome every temptation; for he loves the living oracles of God, which are the wellspring of life.
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 13)
In my last letters, I have said so much, that I need not say more now. The young men who make the Word of God their guide, their daily food, will have strength of character. Their lives will be refreshing and beautiful, because Christ is the source, the wellspring, from which they draw. Of such the Word of God declares, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not whither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” [Psalm 1:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 151, 1899, 14)
Lt 152, 1899
Morse, G. W. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 2, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Morse:
I am awaken at twelve o’clock. In the night season I have been conversing with you. You were stating many things. I listened to your words with sorrow, and then I said, Brother Morse, when I was under the painful necessity of speaking to you words distinct and plain to be understood, do you think it did not cost me great pain of heart? If you had not needed these words, I need not have spoken them. I presented the matter to you as I did for the reason that you could not discern the true phase of the question. You had mapped out the very position you thought yourself and your wife capable of filling, and you aspired and planned to do this work—the desire of your heart. You supposed this was the conviction of the Spirit of God, but if your spiritual eyesight had been perfect, you would have seen that the train of thought born of desire to be in such a position was born of self-planning. The Lord did not plan with you.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 1)
There are tendencies which are the birthright of self-confidence. We should all be very grateful that there is One who is acquainted with every phase of the human character. Character-building is a very important work. One may suppose that he has qualifications for a certain position and work, and because he does not see the matter as God views it, in all respects, he feels deeply injured because he cannot have his own way and carry out his own plans.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 2)
The Lord sees all in regard to means and ways and qualifications. That which would pass along tolerably well at the present moment would lead you to entertain the supposition that you could be the right man in the right place, able to do a certain work in connection with other individuals, to accomplish the work required without friction, and to fall into every line to help to compose a harmonious whole. The Lord sees every phase of the matter from the beginning to end, in its various developments. He sees that if it were established according to the ideas and supposed convictions of human judgment, the consequences would not be sound and healthful, producing the best results for the individual worker and those connected with him in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 3)
Tendencies may be faintly developed at first, but as circumstances occur, developments will be made which are not calculated to make the impression upon human minds that is for the best, the most healthful interest of the institution. This influence is traceable to the birthright of the individual, which has been considered by him as a benefit which he must congratulate himself on possessing.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 4)
The experience of the past years you have often referred to as an assurance that your plans and aspirations were as in the mind and will of God. But the practical test is upon you just now. The Lord would reveal that all your plans and devising, which you suppose will place yourself and your wife in a desirable position, are too strongly tinctured with selfishness to be of heavenly birth. You are working to choose a position for yourself rather than submit your will to the Lord to be placed where He sees it will be for the best good of all with whom you are connected. You are now being tested. The tendencies and preferences of every man cannot always be indulged; for there would be constant danger that results would follow that would be an injury to the man himself and to those with whom he was associated in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 5)
God understands whether you are adapted to the situation you have longed to fill, and He says that the result would not be good and saving, either for you or for others. No greater evidence of your being mistaken in your ideas as to your position in the sanitarium could I have had than the development when the message came to you that you were not fit for the place, neither was your wife the best qualified healthwise or in special traits of character to be connected with the management of the sanitarium. It involves a great deal. Tact and ingenuity are required. One will have to be constantly on the alert to meet prejudice and to overcome the difficulties that any circumstances may create. Your management would bring a sword, and not peace.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 6)
You, my brother, do not discern but that you have the very best gifts for the place. As to your experience, I cannot deal with that. I have only to say that the sanitarium is not the best place for yourself or your wife. In regard to the minute particulars of your past life, I have nothing to say now. The present moment requires action. Something must be done. The trial must be made of men for the place. Those who stand as managers in the sanitarium must prosecute their mission as those who realize that they must give account to God as manifest in His sight. Their labor brings them in connection with others who also carry heavy burdens and who daily need spiritual enlightenment. The blessed fruits of the gospel tree are to be manifested in most thorough consecration, in holy lives. Every true worker for the Master is to be as a city set on an hill, that cannot be hid. But if a man places himself in a prominent position, the Lord will not justify the man.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 7)
There is abundant work you can do for the Master. Anywhere, everywhere, there is work that will bring you far less friction than the place which you think yourself adapted to fill. The Lord, in his great grace and love and care for you has revealed that you would not be an all-round man or your wife an all-round woman in the sanitarium. You would not exert the very influence required for the situation. Others could bear the stress and strain, and would not feel the burden as you have felt it, in such a degree as to greatly sympathize with yourself because you work so hard. There are many things you could do more easily than this, and without so great and grave consequences. At the sanitarium all classes of people have to be met, and it needs an all-sided, all-round man who can fit in without wearing the life away and sacrificing peace to carry forward the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 8)
Wherever you may be, let your light shine. You need not try hard to make it shine. All you need do is to humble your heart before God, and by earnest faith receive the love of God into the soul. Then a natural simplicity will be revealed, and the truth will shine forth in clear, distinct rays. You will shine; there will be a blessed fellowship of Christian love, in words, in earnest prayer, in good works.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 9)
The Lord has given to every man his work. If he is placed among the irreligious, he may feel that this is not his chosen position, but if in the providence of God he is placed there, there he is to live the truth in all humility and meekness, having faith in God, and in word, in spirit, in action, lifting up the standard of the gospel everywhere. Thus his light is shining. If his motives, words, or actions are misunderstood, misrepresented, he takes no offense, but pursues the even tenor of his way. He will do righteousness and sin not. He is kind and thoughtful, humble in his opinion of himself, always trusting the mercy and love of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 10)
That man may have no special call to preach, but he is ministering every day of his life. He is holding firmly the standard of righteousness. The inner life shines forth outwardly, and he stills the strife of tongues.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 11)
To profess to believe the Word of God is one thing, to live the Word of God is another thing. When we live the Word, self will not be struggling for recognition. Self is hid with Christ in God. The genuine Christian is working out his own salvation with fear and trembling. This fear is the result of sanctification of the Spirit. He makes close examination of self, lest he shall deny his Lord by word, spirit, or gesture. He will see and choose God’s ways and God’s will, leaning upon the Lord Jesus. Such a Christian is unconsciously carrying forward a vast, sublime experiment before the world, before angels, and before men.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 12)
My brother whom I love in the Lord, I have to say to you, Do not cherish so large confidence in G. W. Morse. Humble yourself, and you will have a deeper piety and a more pure and holy activity. You will not be continually stretching yourself beyond your measure. Christian experience will be found pure and unadulterated when it puts self out of sight. It is not seeking the highest place. This is the experience which you need. While you may increase in faith, in hope and knowledge, let self be humbled, and the most sound and valuable traits of character will then be cultivated.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 13)
The narrow horizon of our piety as laborers together with God needs to be enlarged. We need to be vitalized. Then in walking humbly with God we shall read His Word with a sense of the sacredness of the truths, privileges, and duties which we little now suspect to be found in our Bibles. There is a great work to be done for all the people of God. Their experience is to be like that of Isaiah. A coal taken from the altar must be placed upon their lips. Then they are clean, and words of self-exaltation will not be spoken. There will be a decided effort, not for rivalry, not to exalt self, but to harmonize with others, to reveal that we individually wear the yoke of Christ. We heed the words of Christ, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29, 30.] Self sinks out of sight, and Christ is exalted.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 14)
We want now a larger, richer experience, an experience which is not imagination, not born of self, an experience in reverentially learning of Christ His humility. We need to learn what it means to humble self and wear the yoke of Christ and lift His burdens. Every converted soul is to reveal, not the attributes of self, but the attributes of the One who was meek and lowly in heart. This is essential for individual piety. The gospel must be lived.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 15)
My brother, I have the tenderest sympathy for you because you need it. You need the peace of Christ. Your affections and your faith must entwine about Christ. You need to be converted, that you may not let self appear, but beholding Christ be changed into His image.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 16)
You must not thrust yourself, your wife, your son, so thoroughly upon your own notice. There is need of a change in your thoughts, and then your feelings will change. You will not inhale the atmosphere tainted with your own breathings, but that atmosphere which is purified, refined, without any taint of selfishness. Then you will reveal that the windows of your soul are opened heavenward, and the pure, health-reviving Spirit of heaven is creating an atmosphere which is a savor of life unto life. Self will be put out of sight. You need, O so much, and your wife and your son need, the deeper conversion, the attainment of a living faith in Christ Jesus. You need the abiding sense of the forgiveness of sins through His blessed atonement. You need entire sanctification through the Holy Spirit. This work can never be wrought out by a substitute. Each must have an individual experience. Then we shall be God’s witnesses.
(14LtMs, Lt 152, 1899, 17)
Lt 153, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 4, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
Last Tuesday morning we left Cooranbong for Hornsby. Dr. Caro wrote for us to come on the noon train to Hornsby Junction, and we would find horses and carriages to take us to a location ten miles from Sydney, which was thought to be favorable for a sanitarium. When the train from Newcastle reached Dora Creek, W. C. White, Sara McEnterfer, and Brethren Starr, Daniells, and Gates, and myself entered, and went on to Hornsby. We arrived upon the ground at dinner time and ate our lunch, which we had prepared for the occasion, spreading it on a tablecloth on the ground. The night before, I was awakened at twelve p.m. to write some things to Brother Morse in regard to his work and position in the sanitarium. On the cars I lay down and slept and was refreshed. I then was prepared to enjoy the simple food that was abundantly spread before us. Brother John Wessels had brought his large portion, and Sara ours. Brother Radley brought a good supply of oranges. While we were eating our lunch I read some of the communications I had received from America.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 1)
Dinner over, we felt refreshed for the investigation of the land, which comprises thirty acres situated in a most desirable location. The ground is not all level. There is a good building site on high ground. Then the land gradually slopes into a ravine. We thought this an advantage, for the drainage could be easily secured without a great outlay of means. I saw no swamp land. All the land is suitable for cultivation. I do not think we could find anything better if we should spend much time and money in searching.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 2)
Thirteen acres of the land is laid out in an orchard, which contains an excellent variety of trees—apple trees in full bloom, orange trees full of blossoms; lemons, peaches, quinces. This beautiful place has been neglected, and some of the fruit trees are dead. These would have to be replaced. But we think the others could be restored. If an experienced gardener took hold and replaced the dead trees with good ones, and pruned the others, a great improvement would be seen.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 3)
The ground seems to be surrounded by a large amount of land similar to the Avondale Estate, but not so heavily timbered. With some work done on it, the place at which we are looking would be as pretty a one as we shall ever be able to find. The price is six thousand dollars, and we have no hope of securing what we should have for a sanitarium for less money. The climate seems excellent. Places just across the road cannot be purchased for less than one hundred and fifty pounds per acre. This land is offered for forty pounds per acre. We can appreciate the value of the thirteen acres which have been cleared and set out with fruit trees, for we are obliged to pay thirty and forty dollars per acre for clearing.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 4)
And what a place this would be for the sick to come to receive treatment! A more favorable location could not be secured. At present we do not need more than thirty acres. And if later on we should need to enlarge our borders, more land can be purchased. If we go farther from the city we cannot obtain the advantages necessary. We must have water and we must have gas. This place is only half a mile from the two stations, both connected by rail with Sydney. All the dwellings close by have the city water laid on, and this we could have by laying pipes for a short distance. Gas is also laid on close up to it.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 5)
There is only a little building of two small rooms on the place, put up for the one who gathers the fruit in its season. One of our brethren is at present on the premises, with his wife. He has been there only one week. They have rented the place. He has purchased two acres of the uncleared land for forty pounds an acre, but he says he will let us have it back, if we wish, for the same price that he gave.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 6)
Brother Radley says that this is a very cheap property. He says we would have to cut down only one quarter or a half of the trees in the orchard.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 7)
Well, I think I have given quite a full account of this place. I shall write more about it when I learn more in reference to the terms of purchase. These may be such that we can obtain possession of the land at once. One thing I did not mention. The well mettalled roads give opportunity for beautiful drives in almost every direction. The land stands a half or a quarter of a mile back from the main road, and a road will have to be made to it. This road is now being formed.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 8)
If we are required to pay the whole price now I do not know how, in our present poverty-stricken condition, we could secure this place for our sanitarium. But if the Lord, who sees the end from the beginning, is pleased with the place, He can open the way before us. We all agreed without a dissenting voice, that if the way opened for us to purchase this place, we must obtain it, and at once arise and build. The money now being paid out for rent should be invested in a building that will be worthy of the cause it represents. We will wait and hope and pray for guidance. The Lord can make impossible things become possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 9)
All the buildings in the vicinity are very tasteful in appearance. We did not see one cheap looking house anywhere. And no houses can be built near, for dwellings are already erected at a good distance from the place where the sanitarium will be located. On the opposite side of the road are large orchards, leading up to the residences of wealthy people. So that whoever should come to the sanitarium would have no cause to be disgusted with the surroundings.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 10)
If we can secure this place I shall say that I am more than satisfied. We want it. It is surrounded by the houses of the higher class which, however, are not too near. We are within two hour’s ride on the train from Cooranbong, and within ten miles of Sydney. Thus we are within easy distance of the city, and yet in the very heart of the country. I am deeply impressed that we should have this place. The owners have a business in Sydney, and they wish to sell this property. We want to purchase and commence our work at once, for we are far behind.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 11)
For weeks Brother John Wessels has been searching everywhere, and he says that the land he has seen is so expensive that we cannot afford it. This place has all the advantages we ask, and is all that any one could desire for the price.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 12)
Well, may the Lord guide us, is our prayer. We see that real work must be done, not only among the poorer class, but among the higher class. We are to labor in the highways as well as in the hedges. I believe that wealthy people are subjects for our attention as well as the poorer people. Their souls are of value. The warning message must go to them. If we secure this place, we are certainly in the highways. In this way God may give us more decided access to Sydney. Our working field is enlarging. We must lift the standard in new places. When we have established a church in one locality, the word of the Lord comes to me, Advance; go forward; enter new territory; proclaim the gospel message in the highways and in the hedges. The light, the precious truth for this time, is to be given to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 13)
We want converted men and converted women to unite with us in the work. We do not wish to connect with our institutions one man or woman whose heart has not been purified and sanctified through the truth. A godless, Christless, selfish life would be of no advantage to us in any way. In this part of the Lord’s moral vineyard we want men and women who carry with them in word, in spirit, in all the transactions of life, the light of a godly example, showing that Christ is an abiding guest in their hearts, teaching, leading, and guiding them. These can be a power for good in religious instruction and persuasion. They are men and women of prayer. By wrestling alone with God, they obtain victories, and then they go forth to impart to others that which they have received from the Source of all power.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 14)
The Lord has called, and He still calls, for those who are apparently blind to their deficiencies, the self-complacent ones, who plan and devise how they can best situate themselves. God helps the spiritually blind to see that there is a world to be saved. The truth is to be made manifest to those who know it not, and this work calls for the self-denying grace of Jesus Christ. Thousands who are now spiritually useless should be digging up their buried talents and putting them out to the exchangers. Many have written for themselves their resolves to do as little as possible, and these have sealed their resolutions for the judgment of that great day when every talent will be required by God, that He may see how much each one of His servants has gained by trading.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 15)
Those who think they will surely reach heaven while they follow their own ways and imaginations might better break the seal and re-examine their title to the treasures of heaven. The men and women who feel at ease in Zion might better become anxious about themselves and inquire, “What am I doing in the Lord’s vineyard? Why am I not yoked up with Christ, a laborer together with God? Why am I not learning in Christ’s school His meekness and lowliness of heart? Why have I no burdens to bear in the service of Christ? Why am I not a decided and earnest Christian, employing all my powers in laboring for the salvation of the souls who are perishing all around me?”
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 16)
Saith not the Word, “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building”? [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Shall I not, with my Saviour’s help, build a character for time and for eternity, and promote godliness in myself and in others through the sanctification of the truth?
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 17)
Come, my brethren and sisters, and seek conversion of soul, body, and spirit. Unfold your napkin and begin to trade with your Lord’s goods. In so doing you will gain other talents. Every soul entrusted with talents is to use his talents to benefit others. Who in the great day of final reckoning will say, “I was afraid, and went and hid thy money in the earth; lo, there thou hast that is thine”? To such the Lord will answer, “Thou wicked and slothful servant, ... thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.” [Matthew 25:25-27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 18)
Man is only required to do according to his ability. But his ability will surely grow if it is exercised. Wake up, brethren, for your own souls’ sake, wake up. Without the grace of Christ you can do nothing. Work while you can. Be not deceived into thinking that your lot in life is to be constantly favored, that you can shirk the path of self-denial and self-sacrifice, which Christ bids all share with Him. You will gain a valuable experience in being partaker of the self-denial and self-sacrifice of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 19)
Selfishness and unbelief are spoiling many lives. The church is being made weak by the inefficiency of those who should wear the yoke of Christ and lift His burdens. God has need of persons of genuine experience. Shall Christ have in His army crippled soldiers, each with some spiritual defect; soldiers who must seek the easiest place lest the rough paths hurt their slippered feet? Brethren, we are on the battlefield of service. When the trumpet call is heard, Advance, do not stop to nurse your little infirmities. Forget that you have them, and move on. Where are the active soldiers, clad in all the armor of God, who are prepared to do aggressive warfare? Where are the soldiers who are ready to lift up the standard and bear it through the battle under their Captain’s orders?
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 20)
I am giving you the message in the name of the Lord. Put on the armor. Let there be no cowards or compromisers to reduce the strength of the Lord’s forces. Earnest engagements must be entered into, for the Lord is coming. Away with the ease-loving indolence that holds so many from the work. Unearth your buried talents. You are under obligation to God to be active, diligent workers. “He that will come after me,” Christ says, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] Let not church members refuse to see their responsibilities and unite in earnest work for God. Let them go forth to labor, carrying their colors with them. In every business transaction, let them reveal a considerate spirit, not an oppressive one.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 21)
The injunction of the great Teacher is, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” [Matthew 7:12.] These words are as apples of gold in pictures of silver. Brother Haskell, is it not our duty to impress this precious principle, not only on the large companies assembled, but also on those who hold responsible positions? The educators of the youth should set a right example in good works, that the apprentices under them may be taught to bring into their lives the principles of the Word of God. Teachers and leaders in our institutions must be instructed to deal with their ignorant apprentices just as they would wish to be dealt with were the circumstances reversed.
(14LtMs, Lt 153, 1899, 22)
Lt 154, 1899
Carle, Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 6, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 381. Dear Sister Carle:
I thank God that you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to aid us in this time of need. We are making earnest efforts to establish a Health Retreat in this country. The building is finished except for the plastering; we cannot do this until we have means with which to pay the workmen. We are three hundred pounds in debt. Your donation will help us, and I thank you on behalf of all who are interested in the advance of the work on these grounds. The Lord has been helping us all the way along, and we are very thankful for the favors bestowed, which are too numerous to mention.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 1)
God commended His servant Cornelius for his liberality and devotion. He is recorded as “one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.” This God fearing man “saw in a vision, evidently at about the ninth hour an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said unto him, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.” [Acts 10:2-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 2)
Cornelius was not conscious that he had done anything worthy of commendation. He had been moved by the Spirit of God to co-operate with the disciples of Christ. He was not even accounted a disciple of Christ, but he had faith in God according to the light he had, and he was reaching out for more light. The Lord saw that this man would do honor to the persecuted church in Rome, and He placed him in connection with the apostle Peter, who could instruct him. This is God’s way of working. Daily prayers to Him for light and knowledge will be answered.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 3)
When Cornelius received the mission, he did not understand its meaning; but one thing he did know: he knew that the Lord had heard his prayers and recognized his offerings. And today when men, prompted by love for God, impart to others that which they have received, their works come up for a memorial before God. By sending us this one hundred dollars, you have laid up treasure in heaven. You have put out your money to the exchangers, and the talent will increase. The Lord who blessed Cornelius will bless you, my sister, and He will bless the means which you have given with a willing heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 4)
The experience of Cornelius is the experience of many in our world who, having but little light and few privileges, live up to the light they have. As we present the truth to others as the Spirit of God shall lead, we shall find many who will receive the light and advance with the light. This was the experience of the disciple Peter. As he preached Christ to Cornelius and his company, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues and glorify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” [Verses 44-48.]
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 5)
This work God has appointed shall be done in Australia. We are trying to strengthen the work in every line as we advance. Although it has limited facilities, the medical missionary work is growing rapidly. This branch of the work is to the gospel message what the right arm is to the body; therefore we are anxious to receive the Lord’s means that we may establish a sanitarium and a hospital. We have found a beautiful spot of land for our sanitarium, and if we can have the money which is in the hands of God’s people, we shall erect a building where the patients can come and hear the truth for this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 6)
In seasons of sickness and trial God places men and women in connection with His instrumentalities, that they may not only have relief from physical pain, but that they may receive spiritual light. The great Physician works not for the afflicted body alone, but by His pardoning, sanctifying power He heals the sin-sick soul, thus removing the first great cause of all the suffering. We thank God that there are some hearts softened by divine power to feel the tenderness of Christ for perishing souls. We thank Him that some have eyes to see our needs, and hearts and hands willing to help us gain a foothold where we can exercise our God-given restoring facilities for suffering humanity.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 7)
We shall continue to pray that offerings may come from America to this far off land. We are interested in every field of labor, but we feel intensely for Australia. This is our appointed place, our lot in the Lord’s vineyard. When we open up the work in one field, and gather out a company, we consecrate them to God, and then draw them to unite with us in building a humble house of worship. Then when the church is finished, and dedicated to the Master, we pass on to other fields.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 8)
Distinct and plain the word has come to us, “Go forward” [Exodus 14:15], and just as soon as the warning message has been given in one place, and men and women raised up to continue the work there, we pass to the unworked parts of the Lord’s vineyard. The Lord is the great Worker. We are His servants, who have accepted the invitation, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] In lifting the burdens of Christ we find rest.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 9)
Be of good cheer, my sister. Remember that Christ is your friend and helper. Put your trust in God. Close the windows of your soul earthward, and open them toward heaven. Look to Jesus, who is your sympathizing friend. Take hold of Him, by faith, and He will give you peace and rest. He wills not that one soul shall perish, but that all shall come to Him. Then rest in His love. In simplicity of soul say, I believe Christ loves me; I commit the keeping of my soul unto Him as unto a faithful creator. Look to Jesus, and by beholding Him you will be changed into His image. May the peace of God be upon you, my sister, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 154, 1899, 10)
Lt 155, 1899
Wilson, Elsie “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 6, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 441. My little Sister Elsie Wilson:
I thank you for your precious offering. It is a small sum, but it is more precious in the sight of God than a large sum given grudgingly. If all the little children would present their dime to the Lord as you have done, little rivulets would be set flowing which would swell into a large river. The Lord looks with pleasure upon the little children who deny themselves, that they may make an offering to Him. The Lord was pleased with the poor widow who put her two mites into the treasury, because she gave all that she had, and gave it with a willing heart. The Saviour thought it of more value than all the large gifts of the rich men who made no sacrifice in order to give.
(14LtMs, Lt 155, 1899, 1)
Sister White appreciates your words: “This is all I have; but I want to help Sister White,” and the Lord is pleased. God is made glad when the little ones become laborers together with Jesus who loved the little children and took them in His arms and blessed them. He will bless your gift to Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 155, 1899, 2)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 155, 1899, 3)
Lt 156, 1899
White, J. E. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 12, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 17MR 129-132. + Dear Son Edson:
Be careful how you move. The last move you made in reference to your boat resulted in injury to yourself. Your course of action must not be a temptation to those who would excuse their neglect of the field where you have worked so hard. Do not give them a semblance of excuse for selfishness and hardheartedness. Do not lay a stumbling block in their path. This is the work of the enemy, and he is a wonderfully skillful worker. You are now to seek the Lord as never before. “Make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.” [Hebrews 12:13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 1)
My son, do not become discouraged. Look to Jesus, and trust in Him. Keep the eye single to the glory of God. Hide self in God. Do not, I beseech of you, participate in this mania for illustrations. If you will depend upon God, and walk humbly before Him, He will be your helper and your God. The Holy Spirit is freely bestowed upon every soul who will exercise faith in God. Edson and Emma, you are very precious to me, but you are even more precious to the One who gave His life for you. “Walk before God, and be ye perfect.” [See Genesis 17:1.]
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 2)
I sometimes think it may not be long before I lay off the armor, but I am not concerned about this matter. I want to work while life lasts. I see a great work to be done near where we are located. In the city of Maitland, a beautiful place twenty-seven miles from Cooranbong, our next New South Wales camp meeting will be held. The roads to Maitland are steep and mountainous, but they are being improved, and will soon be quite passable. At the close of our camp meeting in Toowoomba, Queensland, and in Maitland, meetings will be carried on in Newcastle, where a neat house of worship has been built. Hamilton is a large suburb of Newcastle. Adamstown and Lambton, suburbs of the same city, are waiting be worked. Mr. Arnott, the manufacturer of the Arnott’s biscuits, or crackers, resides in Lambton. The homes of many of the wealthy are in this suburb.
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 3)
I should have placed Wallsend before this last mentioned suburb. Wallsend, which is nineteen miles from Cooranbong, is divided into three parts—West Wallsend, Young Wallsend, and Wallsend proper. Some time ago Sara McEnterfer and I drove to this place. Part of the road had been newly worked, and for some distance it was hard travelling for the horses; but passing this, we had a good hard road for the remainder of the journey. We passed Cockle Creek, a little town which must be worked, and a little later came to West Wallsend. Two or three miles further on was Young Wallsend, and a drive of another five miles brought us to Wallsend proper. Three and a half hours from the time we left Cooranbong we were at the mission at Wallsend. When the roads are finished, we shall be able to make the journey in three hours.
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 4)
In all these places there are precious souls who must be searched out and labored for. There is no rest for us in this warfare. Before I left home to make my first visit to Queensland, the people in these towns along the line were presented before me as sheep having no shepherd. After the important meeting at Brisbane, we entered Newcastle, where a greater interest was manifested than we have seen at any camp meeting in this country—indeed I might say in any country. One week ago we were driven out to the suburbs surrounding Newcastle, and I then saw the settlements which had been presented before me, all waiting for the third angel’s message. These are wicked places, but God has precious souls in all of them.
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 5)
I have been instructed that these places must be worked. Those who understand the reasons for our faith are not to excuse themselves from earnest, interested labor. “Go work today in my vineyard,” the Master says. [Matthew 21:28.] None will be excused from doing their utmost to extend the knowledge of the truth. The word has come to me, “God’s people are not to be consumers, but producers ” We have a great and grand truth to proclaim. We are not to lose our spirituality in doing nothing; we are to labor to save perishing souls from ruin. All heaven is at work to save the souls ready to die. Will we co-operate with the great Master Worker and heavenly beings? Will we go out into the wilderness of sin and draw souls to Christ? The great Shepherd of the sheep will teach us how to work, how to hunt for souls, and the Holy Spirit will be our efficiency.
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 6)
We have no time to lose. The message is for the world. “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” Christ says. [Mark 2:17.] Let the trumpet call be given. While some give the heaven-sent message to the large assemblies, let others go from house to house and open the Scriptures to the people, and angels of God will give the people ears to hear and hearts to understand.
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 7)
The worker who labors in humble dependence upon God, seeking His counsel at every step, will be guided by heavenly wisdom. Let them not trust in their own feeble efforts, but trust in God and pray to Him in faith. Ever remember that “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” [Matthew 11:12.] We need to cultivate that persevering faith which will hold fast to the promises. Humble yourself, but exalt God. Empty the soul of selfishness and sin and lay hold of God’s power. Then you can claim His promise, “Ask, and ye shall receive.” [John 16:24.]
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 8)
Bear in mind that if we commit iniquity, if we cherish deception and falsehood, if we deal unfairly in order to bring gain to ourselves, the Lord cannot hear our prayers, and we shall remain weak and unsatisfied. Cleanse the heart of self and hatred, and let love for souls rule—even for those souls who have dealt with you unjustly and dishonestly. They need all the pity you can give them, for they will receive according to their works.
(14LtMs, Lt 156, 1899, 9)
Lt 157, 1899
Irwin, G. A. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother Irwin:
I am up this morning at a quarter to one. The American mail goes out this morning, and we are most earnestly engaged in trying to get all in the mail that we should.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 1)
We gratefully receive the help that comes from America, for we need it. For some time I have not received one penny of the royalty on my books. If I had, it would relieve the situation. I have taken on my own shoulders the account held against Edson by the publishing house in Battle Creek. I did not say, as I should have done, that I could only pay up the long standing account when our necessities were not as pressing as they are now. I am not willing to have all my royalty withheld, because I need it, but I will work off the debt at the Review & Herald as I can.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 2)
While I am in this missionary field, I have to be a constant provider of means, and our work here must not be hedged about because I am empty-handed. I wish you could look into this matter, and see why I receive nothing from Battle Creek. Is it on account of that debt of long standing. Or have new debts been incurred, and if so, for what? I cannot seem to understand. Neither have I received a penny from the Pacific Press.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 3)
We have been trying to finish the Health Retreat, but could not get the plastering done for want of means. The donations you and Elder Haskell collected will help us to go forward.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 4)
We are instructed by the Lord to work in new places, to add new territory to the Lord’s heritage. We are to establish memorials of truth in every place where our camp meetings shall be held, in the shape of humble houses of worship. This work takes means, but there is to be no halting. Open new fields, is the word from the Lord, and add to your workers. Educate young men to labor, and tarry not. Educate, educate, educate.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 5)
In the newly made churches converted men are to be appointed as officers. Humble workers, both men and women, are to take hold of the work. There is a deep-seated necessity for work in every line. There are to be no ornamental, adorning spirits in the church. Appoint wise men and women to minister in Word and deed in the new churches. Never allow the interest to flag. Bring life into the church. Plan and devise methods which will bring a deep and living interest into the new churches, so that all will feel it a sin to let the interest wane when we have such sacred, solemn truths from the living oracles to repeat over and over and over again—the necessity of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the sanctification of the members of the church, so that they will be living, growing trees of the Lord’s planting.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 6)
We must tread in the narrow path, ever advancing. The world is our field. Camp meetings are the most powerful instrumentalities we can have if they are properly conducted. The trumpet must give a certain sound—the message which the Lord Jesus gave to John. The first, second, and third angels’ messages are to blend as a complete whole. This message is not to lose its force or power, but is to increase in intensity under the movings of the Holy Spirit, until the whole earth is filled with its light and power. The Spirit of God must come upon the messenger. Then His power will be felt in every camp meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 7)
I am instructed to say that our work is not yea and nay, but yea and amen. The third angel’s message is the trumpet call which all the world must hear, and all whom the Lord uses in His service must work to prepare a people for the great crisis before us. This is our work: “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sin. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God.” [Isaiah 58:1, 2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 8)
We have no peace and safety message to give. We are near, very near, the end of the world’s self-indulgence. Selfishness and pride is to be thoroughly purged from the people who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists. If we seek the Lord in humility, He will hear and answer our prayers. “Thou shalt call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.” [Verses 9, 10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 9)
Souls are starving for the bread of life, thirsting for the water of salvation. In every camp meeting set souls to work for others. Let there be short discourses right to the point. Not one half of the long discourses now given are retained. Short talks and earnest prayers, offered in the Spirit and in faith, will bring life and vitality into the meetings. Personal labor and prayer for the souls who are ready to die will bring ministering angels to your side. We need less sermonizing and more decided, personal labor. The truth is precious, and the Holy Spirit alone can make it efficacious.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 10)
We need to stir up the gift that God has given us, to lay hold of perishing souls and draw them to Christ. Heaven is full of light, and provision has been made that this light shall shine in clear, distinct rays upon our souls, and from us be reflected to others, that the world—dead in trespasses and sins—may be convicted and converted by the Holy Spirit’s power. Ministers and people who have a knowledge of the truth, will you receive the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power? Will you open the door of your heart, and let heaven’s light in. God grant that this year may be the most wonderful we have ever experienced.
(14LtMs, Lt 157, 1899, 11)
Lt 158, 1899
Lindsay, Kate “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 12, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 19MR 145. Dear Sister:
I have written much this morning, to Dr. Anthony and his wife, Brother Bicknall and his wife, Brother Harmon Lindsay and Mother Wessels, and I now address you. When are you coming to Australia? We need your assistance. We ask you to come just as soon as possible. You can help us much with your experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 158, 1899, 1)
I am sorry for the difficulties which exist in the sanitarium, but the Lord understands all about it, and He will work to set things in order.
(14LtMs, Lt 158, 1899, 2)
We are doing everything we can to advance the work in Australia, and we greatly need the help you can give us at this time. I want you to write at once, and tell us what you can do to help our young women here. You could educate them as no man could do. I send you a most hearty invitation to come to Australia just as soon as you feel you can leave the Cape Town Sanitarium. We shall not consent to have you pass us by. We need your experience in our sanitarium. We must have help.
(14LtMs, Lt 158, 1899, 3)
I must now close this short letter.
(14LtMs, Lt 158, 1899, 4)
With respect and love.
(14LtMs, Lt 158, 1899, 5)
Lt 159, 1899
Lindsay, Harmon “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 11, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 9MR 372. Dear Brother Harmon Lindsay:
The letters received by Brother John Wessels are of a character to confuse him. If it was wrong to hold Brother Wessels when he should have come to Australia, where is the consistency of calling him to return. John Wessels is not God. He cannot deliver you, and if it is his duty to be in this country now, he would be no help to you in Africa. Why do you not call upon the Lord, and believe that He will hear your prayers, and answer, Here I am? God is to be your dependence and your trust. It is not in the power of man to be always joyous and free from temptation. Christ does not promise that the Christian’s service will be without trial and conflict, but He says, Lo, I am with you always. I will never leave or forsake those who trust in Me.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 1)
Brother Harmon Lindsay, you have had your talent done up in a napkin quite long enough, and as a result you have become spiritually weak. Humility is a precious talent. It is one of the attributes which every Christian must possess. Christ says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 2)
Meekness and lowliness of heart is a Christian virtue, but it is no virtue for a man to demerit himself, and entertain a worse opinion of himself than is profitable. The soul of man is of such value that nothing can compare with it. He should always remember, I have been bought with a price. The price paid for man’s redemption marks the value God places upon him. The love of God, the value of Christ’s life, is placed in the scales, and nothing, not even the whole world, can balance them.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 3)
There are some who offend God by measuring their capabilities and attainments, by overrating their powers and knowledge. They are proud of their abilities, because they belong to them. Self is exalted, and swells to large proportions. Man talks of all he has done to advance the cause of God, but he is no more in favor with God than is the worst sinner.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 4)
When a man submits to the yoke of Christ, and learns the lesson of meekness and lowliness of heart, he is a fit subject for the kingdom of God. As he studies the Word, his mind expands. “The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.” [Psalm 119:130.] The more he advances, the more he learns, the more his illumination increases, and he discerns that it is his duty to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that is working in him, to will and to do of His good pleasure. When he turns his face to the Sun of Righteousness, he is humbled as regards himself, but he sees more clearly the value of his own soul, which is proportionate to the value of the offering made to save the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 5)
The offense against the law cannot possibly cease until the penitent sinner lays hold by faith of Christ’s righteousness. He accepts this, that he may be freed from all blemish. This is the antidote for all sin. He casts himself, just as he is, into the scale, with the death and intercession of the Son of God in the other, and claims pardon. The death and intercession of the Son of God is placed in the one scale, and the sinner’s defective life in the other.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 6)
Man must ask forgiveness for sin with earnest, fervent prayer. Thus he reveals Christian humility, which is of great value in God’s sight. When man gives himself wholly to Christ, he can resist the devil in and through Christ Jesus. Through faith and trust in God under trial, he is made meet to enjoy the inheritance of the saints, when every overcomer shall wear the crown of life in the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 7)
Brother Harmon Lindsay, for a long time you have been losing your spiritual activity. If you now make a full consecration to God, you may be cured. The churches are filled with lifeless members. The soul through which God cannot breathe the breath of life is a spiritual corpse. What can be conceived more terrible than a form of godliness without the living energies which constitute life? He who does not submit himself to God’s authority, who picks flaws in the lives of others, who is unbelieving, faultfinding, altogether selfish, without love to God or his fellow man, without piety, without humility, is dead while he appears to live.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 8)
Brother Harmon Lindsay, wake up. Let the breath of heaven circulate through your soul. Consecrate yourself to God daily, and He will shine through you. If you take up your appointed work, you will see and understand. Study how you can execute that work in a trustful, happy state of mind. You have a stewardship, and God loves you, and does not want you to make a failure. Die to self, and live unto God the new life, and you will be safe. You have had more than one talent entrusted to you, but for some time back you have been a very dull student. To some only one talent is given, but that one talent, if traded upon, will gain another talent. These two, put out to usury, will gain two more. The four, working on the same principle, make eight. Thus you are to trade upon your Lord’s goods. Humble duties, faithfully done, bring honor to God. Let no man feel that he is not sufficiently qualified to work for God. Let him go to work and become qualified by using what he already has, with a determination to improve. In whatever line our work is, we are to improve.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 9)
Brother Lindsay, I have a most earnest longing of soul that you shall do right just where you are. Give your whole soul to the work. Annie Wessels Lindsay, I am instructed to call upon you to stay up the hands of your husband. You do not need John over there. Harmon Lindsay, wake up and strive. When Edson White has been in a hard place, he writes to me, Mother, your letters came to me, and in every one you charged me solemnly, Do not fail nor be discouraged. That has saved me from many a failure. Brother Lindsay, I do not want that in the heavenly record it shall be written of you, Weighed in the balance, and found wanting. Christ is intensely desirous that you shall succeed just where you are. Suspend your labors? No; call upon the Lord to help you, that you may not only be a consumer of God’s grace but a provider, a living channel of light. What is happiness but the exercise of the energies of the soul in behalf of perishing mortals? Your growth in wisdom has a relation to God. You must be about your Father’s business. There is a call for qualified persons in the various activities of life. Let none be drones in the hives of workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 10)
The Lord has taken John away because his efficiency would not give place for others to put to the tax every spiritual sinew and muscle. Your time, my brother, has for a long time, been spent in doing little. Pray, Brother Lindsay. Ask that you may receive. Shoulder your God-given responsibilities. Fill your time with labor, and win back that which you have lost in capability. No one has a moment to spare. Make God your trust.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 11)
Bring all the kindness possible into your family, yet be firm to serve God with heart and soul and mind. Take Annie with you. If she would consecrate her life entirely to God, she would be a channel of light. I cannot see how it is John Wessels’ duty to go back to Africa, when the light I had was that he should come here. Had he followed the conviction of his own soul, he would have come when he first decided to leave, and we would now be two years in advance. I am sorry that this is not so. If you will seek the Lord, and humble your heart before Him, you will have wisdom and strength and grace to overcome. Much love to all.
(14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, 12)
Lt 160, 1899
Wessels, Sister [A. E.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 3, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Mother Wessels:
I have a few words I wish to say to you. Your son John hears that you do not think he has moved right in coming here. Dear sister, I know better than this. He has followed the counsel of the Lord. He made a mistake in remaining in Africa the year that he should have been here.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 1)
Please remember that while the Lord indicates what is the duty of His children, He never compels them. To the young ruler who came to Him with the question, “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” He said, “Keep the commandments.” The ruler said, “All these have I kept from my youth up. What lack I yet?” Jesus answered, “Go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor; and come, follow me; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.” [Matthew 19:16, 17, 20, 21.] When the ruler heard these words, he turned sorrowfully away, for he had great riches.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 2)
Jesus loved this young ruler, and He invited him to follow Him. But the ruler made an idol of his property. Did the Lord compel the young man? No; He always leaves the one He invites to make his own choice. When the Lord makes known His will in regard to His people, He never says, You shall do this, or you shall not go here or there. He lays the matter out before them, and leaves them to decide whether they will obey or refuse.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 3)
For two years the work in Australia has been greatly hindered, because the Wessels family and the elders of the church in Africa interposed themselves between God and John Wessels. More than one year ago Brother John should have placed his feet in the path of the Lord’s choosing. When God inquired, “Who shall go for us?” John should have answered, “Here am I; send me.” [Isaiah 6:8.] The delay was not of the Lord’s devising. It was human judgment that interposed. If you had been close to the Lord, you would have been moved by His Holy Spirit. But human reasoning and devising deprived the work here of John and the means which was needed to advance the work of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 4)
My dear sister, you are certainly in danger of misplacing the Lord’s means. You will meet with loss by investing your means in worldly schemes, in building houses. Thus you bind up your money, so that it cannot be returned to the Lord for the advancement of His glory. You may use your means to help your children to engage in worldly business, and you helped Philip to engage in business, when you knew he would dishonor God by breaking the Sabbath every week.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 5)
If at that time your means had been invested in the cause of God, Philip could not have entered into business so confidently as he did, and then lost all. The Lord could not bless him. He has commanded us to keep the Sabbath, but the dear precious soul for whom Christ gave His own life was aided by you in his worldly schemes. You and Brother Lindsay entrusted him with your money to place in worldly business. Those who helped Philip in this shared the sin of his transgression. God cannot prosper transgression. If Philip had not had that loan, if the Lord had received His own goods to advance His truth, souls would have been saved, and you would have laid up treasure in heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 6)
I am sorry that in some of your children you have unwise advisers. They do not counsel you to keep the way of the Lord. Had Christ said to you, “Go, sell all that thou hast, and come, follow me, and ye shall have treasure in heaven,” you would have glorified God in obeying. [See Matthew 19:21.] But by leaguing with others in a wrong way you are taking steps in the same path with them.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 7)
Peter Wessels is binding up money in worldly business lines. The Lord needs that money to advance the work in Africa and in Australia, that souls might be added to the believers in the truth. These could impart to other souls of their variety of talents.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 8)
I want Peter and Philip to see this letter, for Peter should understand that he must seek the Lord with all his heart, and be purified and refined in his moral tastes. These men have capabilities, and if they consecrate themselves to God, He will be their counsellor, and they will return to God His own.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 9)
Christ our Saviour was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He followed His round of duty day by day, seeking to save souls. His soul went out in tender regard for the weary and heavy laden and the hungry, fainting souls. Whole nights He spent in prayer in behalf of the tempted ones. He knew that in leaving John the Baptist to die in prison He was severely testing the faith of the disciples. His heart went out in pitying tenderness as He saw their tear-stained faces. Tears were in His own eyes and voice as He said to them, “Come ye apart with me and rest awhile.” [Mark 6:31.] Only a short time did He have with His beloved ones, but O, how precious to them were those few moments. Then He was sought for again by the multitude, and the sick and suffering who were calling, O, take me to Him that He may heal me. Supposing that He had gone to His usual place of retirement, they followed Him there.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 10)
Christ and His disciples were partly concealed from their view; but can He leave these suffering ones to seek in vain? No; He steps out before them, and every face is lighted up. The people crowd and press about Him. His purpose to gain one hour of rest was frustrated. But in the depths of His pure, compassionate heart, the good shepherd of the sheep took them all in. He was interested in all, He loved them all in their human misery. He healed the sick and instructed the ignorant, relieving the necessities of all. He began to teach them many things, and they were all ready to listen to the words that fell like sweet music upon their ears.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 11)
With healing the sick and feeding their souls with the bread of life, the day wore away, and He dismissed them to go to their homes. Did He then seek some comfortable place for repose? No; He went into a mountain, and among the trees poured out His soul in earnest, heartfelt prayer. He went often to the mountain alone that He might pray for these poor suffering, sinful souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 12)
If we are diligent in prayer, if we will cast our helpless souls on God, if we will come to Him confessing our sins, we shall find peace and joy in believing. The Lord loves to help us. He has ascended to the Father, that He may pour rich currents of grace upon all who believe.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 13)
Philip Wessels, Peter Wessels, will you both come into line? Will you come up to the help of the Lord? Will you all help Dr. Anthony all you can? Cleanse the soul temple. Let the families who believe the truth humble themselves by confession, and love one another. God calls you to be co-laborers with Christ. The family of Philip Wessels, of Peter Wessels, of Mother Wessels, God calls you to consecrate your souls to Him. Make thorough work, and God will come in and work in your behalf. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,” He said, “and I will give you rest.” [Matthew 11:28.] Make no delay. God wants Mother Wessels’ sons to take hold in earnest. No great and good thing can be realized unless successive steps in the right direction are made. Come out of the fog, and leave the darkness behind.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 14)
Christ will never say to anyone who comes to Him for help I am discouraged with you. No; He gives His whole mind to the subject of each, as though this was the only thought He had in mind. And such tenderness, such deep interest He reveals for the welfare of every soul. He wants your confidence, and He wants your faith in Him as a personal Saviour. Forget your petty grievances, and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He calls you to come. He invites you to take His yoke. Philip, Peter, the Lord calls you to come to His side, to work in His cause and honor His name. Be not impatient with me because I plead for your souls. There is a whole heaven of blessings for you if you will let God bestow upon you the endowment of His Holy Spirit. Let every soul be converted anew. Your help is in God. Turn your face toward the Sun of Righteousness. Plead with the Lord with heart and soul and voice. Make thorough work for eternity, and you will have the full blessing of God. I leave this with you, and may the Lord work with you by His Holy Spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 15)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 160, 1899, 16)
Lt 161, 1899
Bicknall, Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Bicknall:
I cannot sleep, and I commence my writing at half past one o’clock. I feel burdened in regard to your case. I understand that you have stated I have written to you to hold your position where you are. Will you please send me a copy of this communication, for I cannot remember writing any such words? But, my brother, when you know that you are not wanted in the position you now occupy, it is certainly your duty to leave that position, and not follow your own independent judgment. You must take in the situation, and not be stubborn in this matter. Under the circumstances it would be altogether wise for you to withdraw yourself and receive counsel. Cannot you reason from cause to effect, and see that by the determination you manifest, you are bringing in a state of confusion which will destroy your influence for good?
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 1)
I am sorry you have taken the position you have, and that you use the testimonies to sustain you in your own way, thus destroying the influence these testimonies should have on the minds of those with whom the Lord would work. The Lord never has inspired you to do this. I am very sorry indeed, for you are giving positive evidence that you are not the man for the place, that you need the converting power of God upon heart and character.
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 2)
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.... Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently; being born again: not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth, and abideth forever.” [1 Peter 1:14-19, 22, 23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 3)
The burden of the Lord is upon me to speak words of counsel to you which I should have no occasion to speak if you were walking humbly before God. Do not at any time or in any place imperil the cause of God by your firm, determined will. Let that will be merged into the will of God, and you will be safe. When you set that will against the will of your brethren, it is a powerful will exercised in the wrong direction. We are nearing the great day of God. The Lord requires you to listen to the counsel of your brethren.
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 4)
You greatly need the softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God upon your heart. “Make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man can see the Lord; looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” [Hebrews 12:13-15.] Will you, my brother, consider the influence of your words and actions upon the souls of others?
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 5)
God calls upon all who are teachers of the truth to be humble men, for the Holy Spirit can work men who are meek and lowly in heart. When you have learned of Christ, you will reveal the meekness and gentleness of Christ. You must give evidence to all men that you are taught and led by God. What good can you accomplish by striving to hold a position which you are not best adapted to fill? It may be all true that you think your measurement perfect, but is it thus? From the light given me of the Lord, I know that you do not understand yourself or discern your own unfitness for the position. You have been on trial, but you have not given evidence that you are in the right place.
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 6)
The Lord proves and tries men. He permits them to come into places, that through test and trial they may reveal certain traits in their character which they should see. If they are not self-conceited, they will see that they cannot fit into every position in which they may be placed by circumstances or through lack of judgment. If a man does not go on from strength to strength, increasing in adaptability, all his work in connection with his brethren will bring constant jars and serious consequences. Others can see his defects, which he is too blind to discern. Shall the whole firm of workers suffer because of the deficiencies of one? Or will that one have enough of the grace of Christ to accept the views of his brethren, bearing the burdens of the institution, and place himself in another line of work? Will he submit gracefully to the decisions of men who have as much discernment as he, and, where the judgment of his own case is concerned, much more?
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 7)
I submit this to you as it is, my brother and sister. Receive it, and act upon the light given.
(14LtMs, Lt 161, 1899, 8)
Lt 162, 1899
Anthony, Dr. R. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
I am writing to you at an early hour. I could not sleep past half past one o’clock. I have written four pages to Brother Bicknall, and will now write a few words to you and your wife. I am so sorry that you are afflicted. You have, my brother, a responsible place to fill; but you are becoming discouraged. Do not, I beseech you, let the enemy fulfil his will concerning you. He has worked upon the diseased state of your wife’s disposition, knowing that in this way he can cut away from your life the peace and joy and comfort you might enjoy as a family.
(14LtMs, Lt 162, 1899, 1)
My brother, your wife’s course of action is killing the love of her out of your heart, and if she is not converted and transformed in spirit and temper, the wicked one will continue to use her as his agent to destroy your usefulness and your life. She is not worked by the Spirit of God, but by the enemy of all righteousness. You love your children, and the grave difficulty of separating yourself from the one you have married, drives you wild.
(14LtMs, Lt 162, 1899, 2)
Your health is not failing under the burdens of the work, but under the strain of the worry and anxiety caused by the one through whom Satan works to spoil your life, your peace, and the healthful, wholesome influence of your spirit. But, my brother, do not despair. You have your Saviour, who gave His life for you. Tell the Lord all about it. Lay your burden upon Him, and believe that in some way He will work for your deliverance. The temptations are very great, but Jesus lives. Place your hand in the hand of Christ and hold fast. He will hold you and sustain you, helping you to endure the bruises of suspicion and jealousy which have been encouraged and fostered so long.
(14LtMs, Lt 162, 1899, 3)
May the Lord help you to make correct decisions. Do not leave the sanitarium until the Lord releases you. Cling to the Mighty One, for He is your only hope and helper. Your wife is not a Christian. When she is converted, the whole mind and heart will be changed. Look to your Helper; look as for your life, and you will live and see the salvation of God. You cannot give up your responsibilities in the sanitarium. You must stand for the present at your post of duty, as true as steel to principle. Let not the suspicious temperament of your wife lead you to inconsistent actions. Put your trust in God, and He will work for you, and bring you out from the furnace as gold seven times purified.
(14LtMs, Lt 162, 1899, 4)
I write to you as a mother. Preserve your integrity. Let not Satan triumph. Bind up your life with God, and He will take charge of you.
(14LtMs, Lt 162, 1899, 5)
In haste.
(14LtMs, Lt 162, 1899, 6)
Lt 163, 1899
Magan, P. T. Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia October 21, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in SpM 151-153. Dear Brother Magan:
W. C. White has sent me a copy of his answer to your letter. I think he has answered you wisely.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 1)
I am much troubled in regard to writing cautions to my brethren in regard to the management of the work and in regard to bringing in reforms, for they mingle their own ideas with the light given. Will my brethren not cease to make appear as one the instruction given and the inferences which they draw from this instruction?
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 2)
The carrying of the indebtedness of the school in Battle Creek by the General Conference is plainly stated to be wrong. The conference has no funds with which to do this; and the missions in foreign lands need help which they do not receive. This is the game Satan has been playing to bind about the work of God. Through a disregard of the positive directions given by the Lord in various lines, he has sought to bring in his own methods. By human suppositions men have made the instruction given of God of none effect. They have interpreted the plain words of the Lord to mean something after man’s wisdom and not after the wisdom of God. Then they have gone straight forward with their own suppositions and plans.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 3)
Light has been plainly given that those who minister in our schools, teaching the Word of God, explaining the Scriptures, educating the students in the things of God, should be supported by the tithe money. This instruction was given long ago, and more recently it has been repeated again and again. Only a few months ago it was plainly defined. Will my brethren use that which has been given them by the Lord just as it is, or will they mislead minds by following their own human devising, making it still harder for those who have been reproved by the Lord, when it is hard enough for them to receive correction?
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 4)
Light was given in regard to the unfair dealing which had been shown in the matter of royalties. This matter could have been arranged in quietude, without giving publicity to the evils corrected. But great publicity was given to the matter, and this brought in claims for royalty which were born entirely of selfishness. People came forward to press their claims who were grasping for a chance to secure that which was not really theirs, while the real wrongs, which should have been made right years ago, were entirely neglected because of a spirit of bitterness and prejudice of which the actors should have been ashamed.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 5)
When those who had been misused and deprived of their just dues were advised to pass the sponge over the account, it was for them to say they would do it. It was for them to say they would forgive the wrong done them, leaving the matter with the Lord. It was not left for those in authority to take the sponge and erase the figures. I was shown that this also was a test which would reveal hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 6)
As has been stated before, wrong actions were taken in regard to The Gospel Primer. Certain selfish men in positions of responsibility took a decided course in the wrong direction, and Elder Olsen allowed them to follow this course. Thus was done a work which demanded restitution. This work robbed the Southern Field of the means which God designed should go to it; and this money, both principal and interest, should be refunded. Not one penny of the money used in the publication of The Gospel Primer, should have been charged up against it. This should have been given as a donation. And the other books that shall be prepared for the Southern Field should be published gratuitously.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 7)
Other dishonest, intriguing actions were done in a secret, artful manner. People were turned away from their rights. Some of these things have never been adjusted. Men were inspired by the suggestions of the great adversary of souls to turn aside the counsels of God for human inventions. God declares, “Neither will I be with you any more until you put away all these unholy things from you.” [See Joshua 7:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 8)
At the last General Conference a work was started which God desired to have carried to every Seventh-day Adventist church in America. But Satan came in with the sons of God, and the very work that ought to have been carried forward, by those who ought to have been worked by the Spirit of God, failed of completion. The high expectations were without proper results.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 9)
The influence which began to work at the conference was genuine, but the enemy interposed himself and spoiled the work by the deception he had prepared. The faith of many was dead, being alone. There was a large work to be done in cleansing the temple and the courts thereof, but this work was not done. The life and power of God cannot be manifested until there is seen that faith which works by love and sanctifies the soul. As far as the work went, it was done with earnestness, fervor, and true zeal. And so far God’s blessing was given. But in the case of a large number, especially those in responsible positions in our institutions, the work of the Spirit was quenched by a deception of the enemy. There was a reaping of that which had been sown. These things need to be studied.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 10)
In regard to the school work, God does not want it to die, but live. But actions directly contrary to a plain “Thus saith the Lord” have been taken. The indebtedness of the school work has been increased by the erection of buildings in places where there were already buildings enough. The money thus used should have been invested in the erection of schools in new localities, thus distributing the light and gathering in a class of students who would not otherwise be reached. The knowledge of the truth should have been extended to places where there are no memorials to tell what truth is.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 11)
God would have His Word and His wisdom demonstrated. Truth has been so covered with the rubbish of error that it cannot shine forth in its native purity and brightness to illuminate the surrounding darkness. God would have His directions followed to the letter, that truth may be rescued from the companionship of error. He calls for all the talents with which He has endowed men. He calls upon His servants to receive from the Holy Spirit His sanctifying power, that the light may shine forth in clear, distinct rays amid the constantly increasing moral darkness, which is becoming as black as sackcloth of hair over our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 12)
Brother Magan, do not let fiction come into the school to be regarded as truth. The gloomy region of doubt can only be expelled by the clear, bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Watch, saith the Master, Watch unto prayer. If you would make truth a reality, search the Scriptures with much humiliation and with earnest, fervent prayer. Then you will be able to understand practically the meaning of the words, “Ye are the light of the world. A city set on an hill cannot be hid.” [Matthew 5:14.] Why? Because it is above the mist and fog. So God’s people shine because they above the mist and fog of unbelief and spiritual malaria. “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Verses 15, 16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 13)
Truth is not to be brought down to a level with common things. God does not leave truth to be a matter of speculation. He raises it on high, and places His signature upon it, showing its royalty and surrounding it with all His sacredness and sanction. Truth is to stand in its own elevated nobility, for Christ is the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 14)
Then how careful should every teacher be not to put forward as truth the imaginations of the human mind. What is the chaff to the wheat?
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 15)
God help Brother Sutherland and yourself, that neither of you shall place unimportant and frivolous matters, the imaginations of men’s minds, in the same chapter with sacred truth. Your influence would soon be of little value if you emphasized the theories and advocated the plans and ideas that were brought to us from Battle Creek by Miss Ellis. The thought that a young and inexperienced teacher could call together young persons of less experience than herself, and in a few months give them a training that would fit them to go out and establish church schools, was not safe or wise.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 16)
The proposition that these young and inexperienced teachers could lay aside at once all the books that their students have been accustomed to use, and teach all studies from the Bible, according to the plan which she might introduce, would be expecting too much. It would be too sudden a change for both students and teachers. Some of her theories presented to the children, intimating that they ought not to destroy mosquitoes or other insects that were preying upon them, were not beneficial, and would lead to unprofitable questioning and condemnation.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 17)
Inferior things, which in past ages have been suggested as worthy of attention, should have no place in the advocacy of truth. The placing of fables on a level with truth is an invention of the enemy to belittle the faith. The thought that we must not destroy the insects which prey upon trees and plants is not based upon a sound foundation. Such ideas ought not to be presented by those who have weighty and unpopular truths, the acceptance of which is of great importance.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 18)
But I have only a little time in which to write. As regards the debt on the Battle Creek College, I think that W. C. White has written wisely. It is your privilege to present the case to the churches and ask them to help to lessen this debt. Then devise methods by which the school may be made self-supporting. This could have been accomplished in past years by increasing the rates of tuition. Here at Avondale the tuitions at first were too low. Embarrassment was brought upon the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 19)
We need to move solemnly and intelligently, under the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. God has not forsaken His people; but His people have not followed the light given them. Had they obeyed His instruction the sure result of obedience would have been seen, for heavenly agencies would have co-operated with human instrumentalities.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 20)
The work would have extended and enlarged, and God would have been glorified. Our people are asleep, upon the very borders of the eternal world. In our publishing houses the increasing expense of book making is consuming means which should be used to produce and impart solid instruction, and to multiply the agencies for the extension of truth to places where there are now no memorials of His truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 163, 1899, 21)
Lt 164, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia October 20, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in GH 12/1899; 8MR 10-14. Dear Children Edson and Emma:
I received your letters last evening, when Sister Herbert Lacey arrived from Cooranbong. I have spoken to our people this afternoon with much freedom. The wagonette came for Sister Graham, Sara, and I, and we just got under the tent when the rain came down in torrents. For thirty minutes big drops poured down upon the tent, accompanied with thunder and lightning. The congregation sang hymn after hymn. It was of no use attempting to speak. At the very first lull they had me speak, before the prayer, fearing that the heavens might give us another downpour.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 1)
I spoke for one hour with freedom upon practical Bible religion. There was a goodly number of our own people, no outsiders. Then prayer was offered with the Spirit. Elder Daniells prayed. Then Elder Tenney spoke for a short time. He spoke well. I was obliged to leave because I was in a perspiration. After speaking I have to take a cold sponge bath and change all my clothing, to prevent a chill.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 2)
We find that the cars leave this place for Sydney on Sunday at twenty minutes to one o’clock. On other days they leave at eleven. I decided to arrange to speak Sunday forenoon, then take the cars which will arrive at Newcastle at seven a.m. Monday, and at Dora Creek ten a.m. I usually speak in the afternoon, but I made this arrangement in order to get off the mail after seeing W. C. White. No mail leaves this place on Sunday, although the cars go, therefore I should fail to get my mail in at Sydney in season to reach the steamer unless I take it myself. I have spoken six times at this meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 3)
Letters received from Elder Starr state that a nice park in Maitland is offered to us free for a camp ground. A large house has been rented at one pound a week to accommodate the workers. Letters received from Brother John Wessels tell of seventy acres of land, thirty in orchard, forty in woodland, a few miles out of Sydney. It is a high piece of ground, beautiful scenery. They are looking at it as a location for our sanitarium. I have been called to look at two sites. I shall make the third trip the first of the week, as soon as the mail is closed.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 4)
My health is very good for me. But I have to be extremely careful, else I am overdoing, and exhaustion follows. I got off a large mail for America, then a large mail for Africa, and just about collapsed; for I used up all the strength I had in getting off the American mail, and the very next day had to write all day and next morning to get off African mail. W. C. White came in after the mail had gone. We had a praying season, and I decided to attend the camp meeting. I felt that the Lord would sustain me. We took a first class car, which I seldom do, and we came through all right. I thank the Lord with heart and soul and voice for His mercy and His sustaining power. This is the second spell of exhaustion I have had within three weeks. I see so much to do. I want to use my pen all I possibly can, and get out all the light possible, so that if I am called suddenly I shall have done all I possibly could do to let light shine to others.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 5)
I do not know that I have written to you that it is your duty as far as possible, to attend the camp meetings without waiting for an invitation. Keep your soul in the love of God, and make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. Keep your taper kindled from the divine altar, and then let your light shine to others. Let your confidence be wholly in the Lord. Learn meekness and lowliness of heart. You need to put your entire trust in Jesus Christ. He is the only safe Teacher. The great question now is the salvation of the soul. If you walk with Christ, you learn wisdom by communion with Him, as did Enoch.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 6)
It is the privilege of every soul to reach the highest standard. Stop at no low standard in your experience. Beware of admitting any worldly or selfish motives whatever in the settlement of the great question between God and your soul. The Lord requires all that there is of you through constant improvement of every talent, that you may make a success in the formation of Christian character. By faith let the Holy Spirit instruct you, that you may not only receive but impart the heavenly grace.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 7)
All is to be surrendered to Christ. There must be no reservation. God expects more of us than we give Him. It is an insult to Jehovah to claim to be Christians and yet speak and act as worldings. We cannot yield the smallest place to worldly policy. We need to be sanctified every hour through the belief of the truth. It is not safe for one day to neglect putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. We can make no compromise. We want not to make extra efforts for a more tasteful development of Christianity. We want Christ formed within, the hope of glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 8)
Catch the divine rays of light from Christ, and you need not try to shine, for you will reflect His image, which is formed within. You cannot help shining. Others will see the Christ side of the character revealed. There is a great deal of rough work to do, but the grace of Christ will be revealed in spirit, in speech, in experience. The salvation of souls is the grand object to be kept before us, and mental and spiritual improvement will be seen in all our ways, habits, and practices. They will be fragrant with the atmosphere which surrounds Jesus Christ. We all have now, and ever have had, the sympathies of the divine intelligences. Heavenly beings co-operate with us in the battle as we advance against fallen angels and fallen men to press the battle into new territories, even where Satan’s seat is.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 9)
Young men, who have little experience in the self-denial that Christ practiced, will be constantly urging the necessity of a more tasteful development of Christianity than we are wont to meet with, even among those who have long known the truth. I agree that there is need of sanctified refinement. There is need of an emptying of self and an opening of the heart to an abiding Christ. But my heart has been much pained by the introduction among us of certain forms that ape worldly customs and fashions. In connection with the most precious sentiments of truth there is brought in an outside polish, a regard for that which is called taste, which has little of the true element which works by love and sanctifies the soul. That quality of refinement which is esteemed by the world is of little value with God. In every day life we must have an abiding Christ, who is working constantly to conform all our attributes to the image of the divine.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 10)
That surface religion talked of so glibly by the tongue that prates of the beautiful, I have learned the value of to my sorrow. Many who with flippant words are ever ready to speak of elevation and refinement do not act as if they had any practical knowledge of that which their tongues express. Their poetical religion is not the religion that will stand test and trial. I have learned to my sorrow that they have little respect for true Christlike piety, little desire for the sanctification of the Spirit of God unto true holiness. To exalt a theory which will exalt self is their great ambition. To conform to the divine plan does not suit their frothy ideas.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 11)
O what deceptions are upon those who are looking for the beautiful and poetic in their speculation! They hear not the voice of the One who gave His life to self-denial, to humiliation, to suffering and a cruel, ignominious death to make it possible for human beings to keep the law of God. They can do this only by heeding the invitation, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] These are the lessons the great Teacher has given us. We are to take His yoke of submission, restraint, and obedience, in meekness and lowliness of heart. Those who are yoked up with Christ will find rest and peace.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 12)
Exhibitions of self, strife for the supremacy, putting the false in the place of the true, will be developed in a certain class. In theory they represent the God of the beautiful, the divine Author of the material world. They observe the beautiful representations in His operations and plans, and they weave into poems a sentimentalism that tells for nothing in making their own character-building symmetrical. Their work is not in harmony with the plan of God for fitting men to unite with the angelic family and to become children of the heavenly King. All these soaring ideas God counts as nothingness. There is a supposed inspiration which is modified by hereditary taste and by education and temperament.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 13)
Let us hear what Christ has to say. “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] To follow in the footsteps of Christ is to practice true godliness. All who are partakers with Christ of His humiliation and self-sacrifice will be constantly learning how to lay upon the foundation stone gold, silver, precious stones, not the material represented as wood, hay, and stubble, which will perish in the fire of the last days. We want true sanctification, true wholeness to God. We would not encourage the soaring element in the makeup of character, but we would encourage true solidity. What is the chaff to the wheat?
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 14)
The world is not to be saved through the divine songs and melodies of even the angelic host in heaven. These angels have their appointed work to do on earth. They find a world in gross darkness as to what constitutes sin, which is the transgression of the law of God. Darkness, vice, deception, prevarication, dishonesty, exist among those who profess godliness. And there is a call made, “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, as a people that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God.” [Isaiah 58:1, 2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 15)
What have God’s people to learn? “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.... Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.” [1 Peter 5:6; James 4:8.] There is work, solid work, to be done for every soul that shall stand in the great day of the Lord. “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and, behold, all things are become new.” [2 Corinthians 5:17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 16)
The one in whose heart the grace of Christ abides is daily undergoing a transformation of character. He is preparing for the higher school, where all characters blend in a perfect whole. The divine harmonies of the heavenly intelligences would be out of place in the world. They would not be understood. For the world knoweth not God nor Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. Sin and violence are in the land.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 17)
In transgression of the law of God, fallen men with their sinful tempers, appetites, tastes, and attributes have arrayed themselves in hostility to God. They resemble the inhabitants of the Noachic world. He who would be an effective co-worker with God in His broad vineyard must do most diligent, earnest, hard work. He must meet the people where they are. If they will not come to the gospel feast to which the call of Christ invites them, then God’s messengers must accommodate themselves to the circumstances, and bear the message to them in house-to-house labor, thus extending their ministry to the highways and byways, giving the last message to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 18)
It is of no use for men to purchase large volumes of history, supposing that by studying these they can gain great advantage in learning how to reach the people at this stage of earth’s history. As I see the shelves piled up with ancient histories and other books that are never looked into, I think, Why spend your money for that which is not bread? We do not need ancient lore to tell us the things we must know now, just now.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 19)
The sixth chapter of John tells us more than you can find in these books. There is a history in this chapter. Christ says, “I am the bread of life.”“Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This (myself) is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread is my flesh that I will give for the life of the world.” [Verses 35, 49-51.] Read on to the sixty-third verse.“It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 20)
The motive of those who study these many books is not so much to obtain light or spiritual food. It is an unsanctified ambition to become acquainted with philosophers and theologians, a desire to present Christianity to the multitude in learned terms and propositions.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 21)
God calls for these who would be laborers together with Him to yoke up with Christ. “Learn of me,” said the greatest Teacher the world ever knew. “Take my yoke upon you,” and come down to learn My meekness and My lowliness. [Matthew 11:29.] Your intellectual pride will not aid you in the work of communicating with souls perishing for the bread of life. Your devotion to the study of these books is taking the place in mind and heart of the practical lessons you should be learning from the great Teacher. The multitude are not fed. The Holy Spirit is not dependent on the work of human agents. They want to work themselves. Very little of the money invested in piling up volumes for study and research, which is wearying to the brain, furnishes anything that will make one a successful laborer for souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 22)
The men who have devoted their lifetime to common work need words as simple as Christ gave in His lessons, words which are easily understood. Christ said, “I came to preach the gospel to the poor.” [Luke 4:18.] Our brethren who are teaching the truth for this time need a deeper insight into the lessons Christ has given. We cannot do better than to heed the words Christ has spoken: “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] At every step we advance in any service for Christ, self-denial and the cross lie directly in the path.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 23)
The words of the living God are the science of all education. The studied phrases designed to please the taste of the supposed-to-be refined, fall short of the mark. Our ministering brethren need to eat the bread of life. This manna will give them spiritual sinew and muscle; then they will not be as weak as babies when any crisis comes. Baptized with the Holy Spirit, they will be prepared to meet all classes of men. The candlestick will be placed where it will give light to all that are in the house.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 24)
The piety, the spiritual energy, of the church is sustained by feeding on the bread which came down from heaven. The rich and the poor alike meet together, and take sweet counsel of God. At the feet of Jesus we are to learn the simplicity of true godliness.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 25)
We need now to strip ourselves for the race, to harness ourselves for the battle. The time of trouble is upon us. Let the ponderous volumes of history, and the variety of other books, be exchanged for the simple lessons of Christ. He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” [Matthew 11:29.] Why do not all who believe in Christ do all that He told them to do? Why do they worry and perplex their souls with reading that will not do one-twentieth part for them that Christ’s words will do? Much reading is spoiling some of our ministers, so that they know not how to feed the flock of God with spiritual food. God help us to understand what it means to learn of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 164, 1899, 26)
Lt 165, 1899
Belden, F. E. Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia October 22, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PH151 81-82; 4MR 13-16; 8MR 336-337. Dear Nephew:
Your letter, with others, was re-mailed to me by W. C. White, and reached me Sabbath, yesterday. This morning I was up writing long before day. I did not know that the mail is to go on Tuesday, the 24th. We can send no mail from here to Sydney in season to meet the boat. I must see W. C. White, and consult with him in regard to the propositions you have made in relation to books, and other letters demand attention. I have spoken here five times; and now I told Elder Daniells that I would speak in the forenoon of Sunday if he would consent to my taking the cars for home on Sunday noon. This would bring me home Monday noon. Then I could look over all letters with W. C. White, and send my mail to Sydney Tuesday morning. Brethren Daniells and Tenney decided that this was the best thing to be done. So I shall speak at half past ten, and then have plenty of time to go to the station, and shall be on the way home this afternoon.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 1)
Your letter relieved my mind. You have touched the keynote. It is indeed the searching of the Scriptures that brings the Holy Spirit to open the understanding, that we may see wonderful things out of God’s Word. The Word of God is to be eaten, as a hungry man would eat food. It is thus that we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. Just as soon as we surrender our will and way to the will and way of God, the Holy Spirit will take the human agent, and mold and fashion him as a vessel unto honor.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 2)
When we are emptied of self, the vacuum is supplied by the power of the Holy Spirit. You are certainly now working on right lines. Be assured that the enemy will plan to throw you off the track. Things will arise that would naturally provoke you, but you must be patient under provocation, that you may secure the triumph of the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 3)
Seek to cooperate as a laborer together with God, that you may consummate the grand purpose for which Christ came into the world—to save all who would receive Him as their personal Saviour. The Spirit of Christ will be revealed in those who do Christ’s service. You will see the need of perfecting self-control, and you will do this if you wear the yoke of Christ. The work of God has no need of overbearing men, and harsh, unkind spirits to carry it forward. True zeal will be tempered with the meekness and lowliness of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 4)
A decided testimony will often be required; wrong should in no case be vindicated. The Spirit of the Lord is needed, O so much, in the Review and Herald Office. Christ would not have us pass over wrongdoing, but He calls upon His followers to represent His character. They are required to walk in the light of His example. At whatever sacrifice of ease or reputation, whatever may be the outcome, we must maintain the reformatory principles of practical godliness, for this is the gospel of Christ. Every one is to help the next one, and on and on proceed to push the triumphs of the cross of Christ, extending the territory of His kingdom. Close not the lips, refuse to keep silence when sin and ungodliness are seeking the mastery. Our vigilance should be keen, and we are to be awake to exterminate every evil work. But the way in which this battle is carried on will make every difference in the result. Our own spirit is to be subdued, self is to be hid in Christ. In all reforms Christ alone is to appear.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 5)
God calls for the spirit of unvarying kindness and love. Nothing is ever gained by harsh denunciations and bitterness of spirit. To be harsh in trying to correct wrong is committing sin in reproving sin. Reformers are not destroyers. They will never seek to ruin those who do not harmonize with their plans and assimilate to them. Reformers must advance, not retreat. They must be decided, firm, resolute, unflinching. But firmness must not degenerate into a lording spirit. God would have all who serve Him firm as a rock to principle, and meek and lowly of heart, like Christ. Then, abiding in Christ, they can do the work He would do were He in their place. A rude, condemnatory spirit is not essential to heroism in the reforms for this time. All selfish methods in the service of God are an abomination in His sight.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 6)
Those who have positions of authority in our institutions are to be upright, pleasant not only to those who are accounted ladies and gentlemen, but to the patient, toiling workers as well. The softening, subduing influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart will lead us to make life pleasant to the toiler. Those who are to represent Christ must be like Him in character.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 7)
We should be kind and courteous to all, but especially are we to be pitiful and tender toward the unfortunate, as are the African race. God calls upon Christians, high or low, to represent Christ in their treatment of the colored people. God calls for His workers to consecrate themselves to the cause of justice and reform. But in every work there is a right way and a wrong way. In dealing with the colored race there are some who think it right to treat then as if in all respects on an equality with white people. This cannot be done safely. It is not right to say that no distinction should be made in the association of the two races. Let the colored people be treated as human beings. Let then be uplifted. The youth should be educated to become missionaries among their own people.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 8)
This should not, however, exclude the ministration of the white laborers whom God may send to work for the colored race. Special attention should be given to the education of laborers, both white and colored, for the work to be done in the South under judicious managers. But let no person lead you to believe that the work can be carried on as if there were no distinction to be made. White and colored children are not to be associated promiscuously in the Southern States. You cannot more effectually spoil the colored children of the South than by leading them to think that they are to be placed in every respect on a social equality with the white race. Untold evils will be the outcome. Our way would be hedged up, our work be placed in jeopardy. Lives would be sacrificed without gaining the least advantage.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 9)
The age in which we live calls for decided reformatory action; but wisdom must be exercised in dealing with the race that has so long been degraded and abused. That which is now undertaken cannot be carried forward as it might have been had the white churches at the time of the abolition of slavery acted as Christ would have done in their place. They should have begun for these degraded multitudes the work of uplifting, seeking to correct the degrading habits taught them by the example of the whites.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 10)
As a nation we have been guilty of a great wrong. In the Judgment the charge of neglect will fall with heavy weight upon those who claim to be Christians, but who have left millions of people, men, women, and children, to become more and more depraved. In comparison with the great need there has been very little outlay of means to improve them by teaching them the knowledge of God. After being deprived of their rights, and for generations treated like cattle, they have been deprived of the means of bettering their condition. Virtually, they have been left in heathenism, when they might have been helped to educate and elevate themselves. Their color has closed to them almost every possible avenue to improvement. There have been exceptions, but as a people they have received little labor, and have had little inducement to mental or moral improvement. God will soon take this matter in hand. He will judge the nation for their neglect and abuse of His creatures.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 11)
The colored people have had before them the example of commonness and adultery. These evils are all through our world, but when the poor, wretched, ignorant race, who knows scarcely anything of purity and righteousness, do commit sin—sin that committed by white people is scarcely condemned—colored people are tortured to death whether proved guilty or not. And the nation that permits this bears the name of Christian. God says, “Shall I not judge for these things?” [Jeremiah 5:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 12)
It will be much harder to help the colored people now than immediately after their emancipation from slavery. Then was the time to show that freedom was given them that they might have the advantages of education. Among the colored people, as among the white people, there is need of special instruction under judicious teachers who can discern how to plan the work. Some have talents of no ordinary character, and they need to be removed from the society they are in, and placed in good surroundings. Every effort should be made to encourage conscientiousness, to show what it means to do service for God. Patiently, in the spirit of Christ, these people should be educated to do a work for God as missionaries to their own race.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 13)
God will endow men with capabilities for this work. They will learn that “the entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple.” [Psalm 119:130.] There is evidence that God is at work among the downtrodden race. We want the evidence that God is at work among professed Christians, who have the advantage of a white skin. Would that they might respond to the Lord’s favors, and reveal that they have the advantage—of far higher estimate in His sight—the advantage of a pure, white soul, a soul washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 14)
The love of God perfected in the human soul will be revealed by the sanctification of soul, body, and spirit. The love of God is fulfilled in him who loves God with all the heart, and his neighbor as himself. This is the whole duty of man. The gospel is satisfied when this victory is achieved. The Word of God labors from age to age to make man more practical. The Lord does not despise the day of small things, but He requires growth in every good work. Advancement must be made. And how many who commenced under difficulties and had to work under disappointment have lived to see the work established.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 15)
There is a variety of talents used in the Lord’s work. God uses whoever are converted and sanctified to His service—the ignorant outcast, the heathen, the European, the slave. These are Christ’s by creation and by redemption, no matter who they are. There is no caste in heaven. All who believe in Christ as a personal Saviour, whatever their position, whether they be high or low, rich or poor, black or white, are Christ’s, bought with a price. If converted from sin to holiness, they are members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, His well-beloved brethren who will walk with Him in white because they are worthy. Those who are now looked upon as lords, great men of the earth, will be glad, when their intelligence shall see what is the only source of true nobility, to go to heaven and associate with those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, even though their skin is as black as coal.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 16)
Angels of God are sent to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation. Angels are co-workers with God’s servants in preaching the gospel to their poor brethren. If all would heed the instruction given in the Word, there would be a development of high intellectual attainment and true spiritual refinement of sentiment and manners, for all these things follow in the great result of the renewal of the soul by the grace of Christ. The character is transformed and renewed after the divine similitude.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 17)
I can write no more now. With love and deep interest for all your family.
(14LtMs, Lt 165, 1899, 18)
Lt 166, 1899
Irwin, G. A. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 24, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 52. Dear Brother Irwin:
I have written to Elder Haskell a very short, imperfect history of our visit to Queensland. I will now write you a few words. I find that I am tired after my journey to Queensland.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 1)
Brother and Sister Herbert Lacey and their sister Margaret are to remain in Toowoomba to follow up the work. Brother and Sister Lacey will be free to labor from house to house and give Bible readings. I shall try to help them all I possibly can by urging them to do the work thoroughly and solidly. Brother Lacey did excellent work in Newcastle. He likes Toowoomba and the people there. The people are very kind, and it is a mystery to us why they did not come out to the meetings.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 2)
Brother Starr writes us that he has secured a very nice park in Maitland free of charge for the camp meeting. This is indeed a favor. The meeting commences one week from next Thursday. We shall take our horse and phaeton to Maitland, that we may have it to use while there. I have sent letters to Edson and Frank Belden, which you may see.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 3)
Now, my brother, there are some things which, as president of the General Conference, you are the proper one to attend to. Who has charge of matters concerning the Battle Creek school? If the conference assumed the responsibility of building the addition to the College, have the reasons put forward for erecting this addition been considered? I understand it was built with the view of providing accommodation for ministerial institutes. This was directly contrary to the light given me. I was instructed that ministers taken from their fields of labor and held in a series of meetings in Battle Creek would not be so well prepared for the work as if they gave themselves wholly to consecrated labor in the destitute fields where the standard of truth is to be uplifted. If they studied the Word of God with a teachable spirit, praying and watching unto prayer, and working as well as praying, angels of God would open their understanding to perceive the truth in its beauty.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 4)
The time devoted to fitting ministers for their work would be much better employed in seeking to take the knowledge of truth to those who are in darkness, without God and without hope in the world. In such labor there is a variety of minds to deal with, and God will bless His servants greatly as they look to Him for wisdom, believing that the Holy Spirit will come to those who are hungering and thirsting and begging for the bread of life to give to their neighbors.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 5)
Trials will come, but these are to educate the worker to look to Jesus. Trusting in his heavenly Father, he is to go forward, working out his own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in him, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure. Christ said of some, “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” [John 5:40.] Let us all who have a knowledge of the truth obey the words, “Go work today in my vineyard;” and thus obtain greater knowledge. [Matthew 21:28.]
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 6)
I ask, Did the conference make themselves responsible for the debt on that last addition to the College? or did they retain that portion of the building they wished erected to accommodate their own purposes? Is there not part of the College building which belongs to the conference, the debt on which the conference should carry? Will you inquire in regard to this? Did the conference pay the full amount of their share in the indebtedness of the school, or did it put its burden on the school? Again, should not this unnecessary building, which the school does not need, be made use of in some way by the conference, thus relieving the school of the burden it should never have created, but which, in direct opposition to the counsel of God, it did create?
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 7)
If Dr. Kellogg uses this building, who is responsible for seeing that the rent is used to help to lessen the debt on the school?
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 8)
The light given me by the Lord is that wise men, men with financial intelligence, should visit our schools in every country, and keep an account of their financial strength or financial weakness. This matter should not be left to ministers or committee men, who have not time to take this burden. The teachers are not to be left with this responsibility. These matters of school business call for talent which has not been provided. In the case of church schools, men of financial wisdom should look over the accounts once, twice, or thrice a year, to ascertain the true standing of the school, and see that enormous expenses do not pile up.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 9)
The workers in this new field, Australia, are not to follow the tread of the leaders in America, who have neglected to exercise clear-sighted judgment. This is the reason of the discouraging state of things that now exists. The teachers are discouraged. Some way must be devised, if possible, for teachers to take lower wages without distressing themselves. Let there be positive self-denial in every line.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 10)
Ministers have been brought in to carry responsibilities which they were in no way fitted to bear. Lay these responsibilities upon men who have tact, men who can give themselves to business, who can visit the schools and keep account of the financial condition, who can also give lessons in bookkeeping. The work should be inspected several times each year. Let the ministers act as counsellors, but lay not on them the financial responsibilities.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 11)
In localities where believers are few, let two or three churches unite in erecting humble church school buildings. Let all share the expense. It is high time for Sabbathkeepers to separate their children from worldly associations and place them under the very best teachers, who will make the Bible the foundation of all study. If authors have the knowledge and temperament to enter some of these open fields as educators, they can, by so doing, inscribe the truth on the tablets of the soul. By giving wise instruction to parents and children they will make a record in the heavenly courts that angels will rejoice to read. Practical work among fathers and mothers will be a ministry that God will bless. The Bible is the grandest, the most truthful, elevated, and ennobling story book that can be presented to human minds.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 12)
The Lord would have painstaking efforts made in these lines. True missionary work done by teachers who are daily taught by God would bring many souls to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Children thus educated will impart to others the light and knowledge received.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 13)
But I must stop right here. God bless you, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 166, 1899, 14)
Lt 166a, 1899
Irwin, G. A. NP October 24, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 52. Brother Irwin:
I have written this [Lt 166, 1899] as fast as my pen could go over the paper. I will add a few words. I did not expect any of it could be copied, but if you can study this out that I have hurriedly written—I believe that you can—you will help matters in this trying time. God help you to set things in order, if possible. The light was given me eighteen years ago that there would be great losses because there was so little close, thorough instruction given to students in bookkeeping, keeping accounts. The Lord would have nothing go at haphazard, and the results show, as today, mountains of debt, and no way to get out of them. If the advice had been followed—that the Lord has given—to have bookkeeping taught and practiced, there would be at this time men of wisdom that could stand in the position to go from place to place, review all account books, and then instruct in the school, interest the scholars, and make this a portion of the students’ lessons.
(14LtMs, Lt 166a, 1899, 1)
I hope that you will not become confused, but there is certainly a way out of all our difficulties. We may get out of the woods. I do not know as W. C. White will get off the very things essential in this mail. I am trying to plan, and I feel free, although I have had no special light that I should do this—with the exception of a mind and will to do it—to give royalty on the book now coming out on the parables, to be used in all countries, to be translated into other languages, and help them in foreign countries, to help them in the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 166a, 1899, 2)
Lt 167, 1899
Anthony, Sister [R. S.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 12, 1899 Previously unpublished.
I have a few words to say to the wife of Brother Anthony. The Lord is soon to come in the clouds of heaven to take all who have perfected Christian characters to the mansions He has gone to prepare. But those who retain objectionable traits of character, and prefer to cherish thoughts which create unhappy feelings are sowing to the flesh, and they shall of the flesh reap corruption. As they entertain thoughts which are unholy and unsanctified, they sow the same in other minds.
(14LtMs, Lt 167, 1899, 1)
My sister, you will not, cannot be happy in sowing the seed which you have been sowing through your life experience. The only hope for you is to humble yourself before God. Cut away those traits of character which have been so long cherished that they are brought into use as readily as the right hand and the right eye. Unless the attribute of evil surmising and jealousy which result in a strengthening and confirming the most disagreeable disposition, are crucified, those who cherish them will lose their lives with these idols of self-indulgence.
(14LtMs, Lt 167, 1899, 2)
I now bear testimony that you are guilty of causing your husband great unhappiness which is ruining his health, spoiling his Christian experience, and making his life a burden. Will you now seek the Lord while He may be found? Will you call upon Him while He is near? “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” [Isaiah 55:6, 7.] My sister, if you will be as diligent and persevering to seek your own soul’s salvation as you have been to make your husband’s life unhappy, you will surely make a success. Will you now turn square about and repent and be converted? Then the Lord will forgive your sins. He says, “A new heart will I give you.” [Ezekiel 36:26.]
(14LtMs, Lt 167, 1899, 3)
You have no time to lose, my sister. Read the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah. What is the promise to those who seek the Lord, forsaking all their disagreeable ways, and taking hold by faith of the good word of the Lord? “Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” [Verses 12, 13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 167, 1899, 4)
For Christ’s sake, my sister, root out the thorns and briers from your character, which are so annoying to your husband, and let the fir tree and the myrtle tree be revealed in their beauty. You can overcome if you will. But you must fall upon the Rock, and be broken. I leave these words with you. Open your heart to receive them, and may the Lord bless you and your children that you, being blessed by the Lord, shall be an example of righteousness. It would be a sad thing to have your children practice your imperfections of character. God help you now, while the sweet voice of mercy is heard, to respond to the call, is my earnest prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 167, 1899, 5)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 167, 1899, 6)
Lt 168, 1899
Mountain, A. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 25, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 660-661; 6MR 47; 7MR 391. + Dear Brother Mountain:
I have read your letter written to Brother Hickox. I know you to be a very kind man, tender-hearted, pitiful, and courteous; but as I read your letter, I saw that you need light on some points. When to your certain knowledge a brother has made a mistake, and has suffered in consequence, and lies under the burden of financial difficulty, then is the time when you should make every effort to help him out of the ditch into which he has fallen through his own lack of wisdom. It is not best to give him the impression that all eyes are watching him to find something to criticize.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 1)
I read that it was thought that Brother Hickox’s board for the time he was in Wellington should not be charged to the conference, and this amount was deducted from his salary. Why was Brother Hickox in Wellington? On his own business, or for the advancement of the cause of truth? I understand that Brother Farnsworth stopped Brother Hickox’s work, and requested him to make tents for the conference. Brother Hickox writes to me: “We did as we were directed, both of us working day and night. We were put to extra expense to do this work; for we were compelled to stay at an hotel for one week, and I thought it only reasonable that the conference should pay this expense. I did not do this work expecting extra pay, nor do I now wish it; but I thought it only just that we should be saved this extra item of expense. The conference has cut down our, or rather, my, wages, for they never gave my wife anything for her labors. We have never asked anything, and if the money is not to be had, we do not complain at the reduction.”
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 2)
Brother Hickox says that he has paid his own travelling expenses, and that this is the reason he has not paid his tithe. I wish now to speak to Brother Farnsworth. Before I sent for Brother Hickox to come to Australia, I was shown his case, and I saw that the management of it was not such as to give him courage and confidence. A narrow course of action was pursued, which showed lack of appreciation and real, sanctified wisdom. Such closeness in calculation, such injudicious movements could just as verily be placed to your own account as to his. I saw that when the spirit of criticism and suspicion came in, a course of action would be pursued toward the one supposed to be erring that would give him no chance for his life, and that if Brother Hickox was to be preserved to the cause of God, he must be placed for a time in connection with us, that we might know how to treat his case.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 3)
I was shown that we must act discreetly, tenderly, wisely with this brother, and the Lord would give him courage; and that in time he would prove an acceptable laborer in the cause of God. His past errors were not unpardonable, but we must immediately change his associations, else his courage would be sapped, and he would have no strength to resist the temptations which would arise. The Lord laid upon me the burden of sending for Brother Hickox. This conference will pay his expenses from New Zealand.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 4)
Rather than be idle, Brother Hickox labored with his hands to settle a rent bill. His painting the house or fence for Sister Teasdale was a matter to be commended, not condemned. For his work Sister Teasdale allowed him a certain sum on the rent of the house. What offense was there in this? I answer, None. And if any of the brethren are tempted over the matter, tell them that God says, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” [Matthew 9:13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 5)
If a minister, during his leisure time, engages in labor in his orchard or garden, shall he deduct that time from his salary? Certainly not, any more than he should put in his time when he is called to work over hours in ministerial labor. Some ministers spend many hours in apparent ease, and it is right that they should rest when they can, for the system could not endure the heavy strain, were there no time for letting up. There are hours in the day that call for severe taxation, for which the minister receives no extra salary, and if he chooses to chop wood several hours a day, or work in his garden, it is as much his privilege to do this as to preach. A minister cannot always be preaching and visiting, for this is exhaustive work.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 6)
The light given me is that if our ministers would do more physical labor, they would reap blessings healthwise. After his day’s work of preaching and visiting and study, the minister should have time in which to attend to his own necessities. If he has only a limited salary, he may contrive to add to his little fund. The narrow-minded may see in this something to criticize, but the Lord commends such a course.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 7)
I have been shown that at times those in the ministry are compelled to labor day and night and live on very meager fare. When a crisis comes, every nerve and sinew is taxed by the heavy strain. If these men could go aside and rest awhile, engaging in physical labor, it would be a great relief. Thus men might have been saved who have gone down to the grave. It is a positive necessity to physical health and mental clearness to do some manual work during the day. Thus the blood is called from the brain to other portions of the body.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 8)
Did any one feel a burden for Brother Hickox when he was tent-making in Wellington, any distress that he should thus work day and night, and receive little or nothing for his labors? Will you consider this thing, my brethren? I greatly feared that the enemy would work the ruin of Brother Hickox, and for this reason we sent for him. We can now help him where he needs help. If our ministers are to receive the treatment that Brother Hickox has received, I must make an open protest. I would not, could not, sustain it. When a minister has performed his ministerial duties, he must have time for his family responsibilities. He is not to be watched, and criticized if every moment of his time is not employed in the special work of preaching and visiting.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 9)
I have also been shown that the women who labor with their husbands should be paid for their time. God says, I hate robbery for burnt offerings. We are to have bowels of compassion one for another. When a man has been humiliated by his mistakes, and is in need, his brethren, with the love of Christ in their hearts, are to come forward and help where they can.
(14LtMs, Lt 168, 1899, 10)
Lt 169, 1899
Hickox, Brother and Sister [A. S.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 25, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Hickox:
God says, The erring ones may be recovered, the broken bones healed. I love the Lord, for His providences are so nicely arranged. In His providence God said to me, Call Arthur Hickox to be under your special supervision. God loves him, and wants to make him strong. He has had a strong, self-willed spirit, but I will heal him if he will place himself and his family in My care. By watchfulness and stern endeavor he may obtain the overcomer’s reward. If he will obey the dictates of an enlightened conscience he will have the advantage that Christ has secured for all the toilers who believe in Him. He must walk humbly with God. Let him and his wife look up, and encircling their children, say, I will not fail nor be discouraged. His Word shall be my guide, my instructor, my safeguard.
(14LtMs, Lt 169, 1899, 1)
God will do much for all who will wear Christ’s yoke and learn of Him. The Word of God is the bread of life. It teaches men how to simplify life’s complicated experiences. It is an educator, endowing all the simple-hearted followers of Christ with the wisdom that comes from the Author and Finisher of our faith. Great possibilities are wrapped up in your little family. A continual self-denial and self-sacrifice is bound up with the Lord’s plan of diffusing true religion, and for the moral discipline of both Brother and Sister Hickox as God’s blood-bought heritage. Christ was made perfect through suffering, and it is through much tribulation that we shall enter into the kingdom of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 169, 1899, 2)
Every soul must now be wide awake. God’s work will call more and more for men of keen, clear, spiritual eyesight. God has called Brother Hickox away from his own country and relatives because he could best mold and fashion him in this way. Brother Hickox is not to bind himself up with worldly enterprises.
(14LtMs, Lt 169, 1899, 3)
Carrie and Arthur, the work of God is to be carried forward amid peril and cross-bearing. In God’s pure mercy, affliction and privation have been used to help you both to serve the Master. God chooses men with whom He can work amid affliction, poverty, humiliation, disappointment, blighted hopes. He will make you His instruments for the carrying forward of His work, His great plan of mercy. He has not left you nor forsaken you, but you took a trying path when you took yourselves out of the hands of God to plan and devise for yourselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 169, 1899, 4)
The Lord says, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.” [2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.] You cannot heed the counsel of friends and acquaintances. You must stand free in God. Look your calling fairly and squarely in the face. Take up your work courageously. Hang your helpless souls on Jesus. Gird up the loins of your minds. Put on the armor of righteousness every day.
(14LtMs, Lt 169, 1899, 5)
God bless you and your children, my brother and sister. I love you all in Christ Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 169, 1899, 6)
Lt 170, 1899
Wessels Family Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia October 25, 1899 Previously unpublished. + To the Mother and the Children of the Wessels Family:
I have received the communications that were kindly sent to me by Annie Lindsay and others.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 1)
I wish to write you a few lines to send by this mail. In two hours Brother John Wessels and I will go to look at a piece of land that he hopes will prove to be a favorable place for the location of our sanitarium.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 2)
After the camp meeting at Toowoomba, Brethren Daniells, Salisbury, Morse, and Sister Graham visited Brisbane to complete the organization of the Queensland Conference. On the return journey to Sydney they will stop off at Hornsby junction and meet us, and from there we will go to look at the piece of land in which we are interested. While we are waiting for the train, I am tarrying at John Wessels’ home.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 3)
We have not had time to consider as thoroughly as we desire the propositions you have made, but we are sure of one thing, You are on the right track. From time to time I have had this matter laid open before me. Dr. Kellogg wrote to me of the large donation made to him by two of the Wessels brothers. This was presented to me as a mistake. Wise plans should be laid by wise instrumentalities in the wisdom of God, who sees the end from the beginning. The giving of large sums of money to one person to handle is not after the plan of God. The management of such matters needs more than one man’s mind and judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 4)
However much confidence may be reposed in one man, he is still subject to the temptations of the enemy. Satan will always seek to endanger his soul and lead him to invest the means where he in his human judgment thinks best. By thus giving up a large amount of money to be controlled by one man’s judgment, the work is often limited. To the one handling the means every dollar may be invested in the work which to him appears most essential, but other minds should have a voice in this matter. The money thus used should have a broader range and do a much larger work.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 5)
Again and again one man has taken the large sums of money placed in his hands for the advancement of the cause, and invested it in the work which he himself was handling, because to him this has seemed the proper thing to do. In receiving the gifts, he has taken it for granted that the Lord has chosen him to carry out the plan which to his finite judgment seemed the best; and mistakes have been made, and selfishness has come in. He can only see the work over which he has supervision, though in other parts of the Lord’s vineyard the work which needs to be done is left undone. Some parts of the work receive much attention, while other portions are left untouched.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 6)
The means which has been placed in one man’s hands to use in a way that suited his ideas should, under the counsel of God’s faithful servants, have been employed in establishing the truth in new fields and building up the Lord’s cause in new localities. Thus the work would be strengthened and broadened and the truth go forth to the world as a lamp that burneth. Instead of centralizing the work in one place, let small centers be established and new territory be entered.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 7)
I have much to write on this subject, which I shall try to explain. The Lord has presented much to me in regard to the stewardship of the Wessels family. The Lord would have them understand from past experience that their talent of means is to be carefully handled. It is not to be bound up in worldly business schemes. Each member of the family is to use his means in such a way that he will teach every other member to use the talents, entrusted by God, in such a way as to be a blessing to himself and to humanity. Shall the Wessels family shun their responsibility by placing their talent of means where they can have no control of it, where others will do with it as seems best to them?
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 8)
I am obliged to communicate to the children of Sister Wessels that which I have received. These fatherless children needed divine counsel, and the Lord gave it to them through His own appointed agencies.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 9)
The enemy tempted Philip, the very one who should have been a guide, a solid, God-fearing counsellor to his mother and her children. Had he held fast his loyalty and stood firm to principle, the Lord would have given him a large influence over his mother and brothers and sisters, an influence which would have been as far-reaching as eternity. Plans would have been devised similar in many respects to those now being considered. The Lord would have given His wisdom, and methods would have been devised that would have separated this family from worldly elements and placed them where God’s means would not be used to gratify the tendency to shine in a wrong way, to exert an influence for extravagance and selfish outlay of means for show. This cannot add one jot to their own peace and happiness or to the glory of God. There would have been careful consideration, so that their talents might be invested where they would produce other talents because wisely traded upon.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 10)
Sister Wessels’ family needed Christian culture under the best of influences, and this they were supposed to be receiving; but wrong influences, under the working of the enemy, was the seed sown in Battle Creek, and this seed brought forth its fruit. Expensive furniture, an unnecessary outlay of means, was sapping the faith and piety of Henry, and his example had its influence on the minds of his younger brothers. The needs essential for their eternal well-being in this life and the life to come were not considered.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 11)
Philip’s disloyalty also had its influence. Had he remained steadfast, he would have been the natural guide of his younger brothers; but neither Philip nor Peter have done the work they ought to have done. The candlesticks were terribly shaken. The enemy has worked in different lines to make of none effect the truth of God in their hearts. Had their influence been what it should have been, Peter and Philip would have been a stay, a staff of influence, connected with John, to build up the waste places in the family. They could have bound the family together with a golden web, whose threads of divine texture would have stood the test of trial.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 12)
The money of Philip and his mother and Brother and Sister Lindsay was being bound up in worldly schemes. Philip was dishonoring the Sabbath, God’s great memorial of creation. If Brother Philip had taken heed to the works of the Lord in (Exodus 31:12-18), a different state of things would now exist. God has positively declared what He will do in giving large success and blessings to the obedient, those who keep His commandments, and He has plainly specified what He will do to the transgressors of His law, those who cast their influence on the side of the enemies of God. Every jot and tittle of Philip’s influence could have been exercised to the very best account in behalf, not only of his mother’s family, but of relatives and friends, to bring many souls to the knowledge of the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 13)
The arrangement now being considered, had it been earlier advised and formed, would have resulted in the saving of the souls of brothers and sisters. Those who have left the truth would have remained steadfast. The Lord did not want to lose these souls; His love is toward the whole family. But He cannot let His blessing rest upon those who walk in their own way, who follow the ways of the ungodly and feel no responsibility to give to God the whole of their talents and service, who are not laying up for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 14)
God’s mercy has been exercised toward Philip in not blessing him with increased talents to use in dishonoring God’s sacred memorial, the holy Sabbath. God will not be trifled with. But now in His great mercy He has drawn Philip by the cords of His love, and if Philip will walk humbly with his God, the Lord will fulfill His word in showing him His loving-kindness and tender mercy.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 15)
Because donations have been asked for and accepted from them, the enemy has tempted the family to think that it was their money that was wanted. But it was to benefit them that God asks for their money. By some members of the family means has been used unwisely for the gratification of self, and their investment has brought no returns to God. Far better had it been for those in responsible positions of trust if, instead of accepting the stewardship of large sums of money, they had devised some plan by which this means might have been transferred where it could do good and only good to its family and the cause. It might have been invested in the work of God, so that its increase, instead of being used to gratify pride and pleasure-loving, would have helped forward the interests of the truth in various lines. The Lord would bless the investment if guarded so that selfishness would not be woven into the work to spoil its purity. If the talent of means were thus devoted to God, He would cause it to increase instead of diminish, and the possessor would have more talents to work with.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 16)
Every member of the Wessels family may act a part in the work if they will be converted, heart, mind, and soul, to love God supremely and their neighbor as themselves. There is a way of living very free with the Lord’s money, using it to gratify the carnal desires of associates who have no love for God. The children of Mother Wessels may think they are showing love to their neighbors in helping them to gratify selfishness, but in this they are not honoring God at all. The Lord’s money is melting away, and in the place of doing good it is doing evil, encouraging self-gratification, which only injures the user, lessening his prospect of being a child of God and an heir of the kingdom of heaven.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 17)
Some are at the present time regardless of the Lord’s will and pleasure; but that which they gain in the way of selfish indulgence will prove as the apples of Sodom. They do not study from cause to effect. The Lord will not work miracles to save the transgressors of His law from the sure result of their course of action. He will not interfere to prevent the consequence of their own actions. They will sink into impiety and willful ignorance, and they will reap the harvest in loss of health, of self-respect, and a recklessness that encourages deplorable evils.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 18)
What satisfaction will these careless ones receive in thus dishonoring their Redeemer, fettering their energies for good, and weakening their moral power to resist the suggestions of the enemy? There are individuals in the family who, in the place of putting up the bars against the enemy, are putting up the bars against the Holy Spirit’s striving. They are locking the door of the hearts lest the Lord Jesus shall come in and abide with them. Will it pay? Is such a life worth living? All this may now change, if these souls will repent and be converted, and help one another to resist the devil, that he may flee from them.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 19)
The propositions made are apparently to be an agreement with human agents that are handling the Word of God and seeking to advance His cause in our world. The Lord requires truth in the inward parts. He that seeth in secret will reward every good work openly. The plans that are being devised need to be carefully considered by all parties. No hand should be placed to the signing of agreements that will in any way dishonor God. As far as possible keep out threads of selfishness. These will be revealed unless great care is exercised.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 20)
It is by the combination of all classes and all talents that any association of this kind will prosper in any business transaction. It is the design of Christ to strengthen and edify and bless workers bound up together. There is to be a combination of energies and talents, not all of money, but of mind, of intellect, of experience. All who are doing God’s service are bought with a price, and there can be a combination that will contribute to enlarge and broaden the work. Managers are needed who will feel that they are handling God’s money, not their own. Money is a talent; it is a blessing if wisely used, a curse if used to please and glorify self.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 21)
The Lord will have nothing to do with any scheme which, under pretense of serving God, shall serve self more earnestly, for then there will be an aristocracy revealed which the heavenly universe will not tolerate. Without proper management money is of little use in any place. Let the talent of sanctified intellect be united with the talent of money, and the work will reveal a symmetry that cannot otherwise by secured. There is unity in diversity. Let all understand that it is the possession of wisdom in the investment of money that will make it efficient in upbuilding and sustaining the work of God. Minds sanctified and prepared to use money in a wise way as God’s talent will reveal that this co-operation is of God’s devising.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 22)
Talents of money and of capability, of intellect to use money, will make a combination that will advance the work and cause of God. We are not merely to advance in special districts. One section of the Lord’s vineyard must be considered in its relation to other parts of the vineyard. There has been and will be, if the agents are not sanctified, a selfish management in the absorbing and appropriation of means in some favorite line of work in order to make that line a success. While God’s money is used in one department of the work, other work that God would have done cannot be done. An overplus has been placed in the few things, and other parts of God’s cause and work, fully as essential, are deprived of that which they should have had to advance the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 23)
There are at the present time fields where talent and influence act not at all, or but feebly, because of being deprived of the very means which is needed to strengthen and solidify the work, advancing the great general interest of preparing a people to stand in the day of the Lord. God’s facilities for the saving of the world are not to be used exclusively. They are not to generate a spirit and power that will make a show in one section which will be a hindrance to the general advancement of the work that God designs shall be far more widespread than it has hitherto been.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 24)
Talent, wealth, any prosperous showing, will not give to the work in one locality the credentials of heaven, while the universal work that ought to be done is not done for want of the very facilities which have been provided without stint. The work must be advanced in every place, that each locality may aid other localities to send the message of God on, and on, all over the world. There is to be no religious aristocracy in our work. Nothing is more dangerous or more offensive to God than selfishness in regard to spiritual advantages while so many are laboring to break new fields and to carry the work along, hindered at every point for the very necessities that are so abundantly supplied in a few places.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 25)
The Lord has presented to me the danger of placing in one man’s power and leaving to one man’s judgment the disposition of means. There will be a misinterpretation of the confidence thus reposed in one man and the power to do what he will with large means. And his soul is endangered. He is placing himself upon a lofty eminence, and is all unconsciously acquiring a habit of looking down upon his fellow laborers. This becomes a snare to him and to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 26)
I therefore testify that I have seen that something must be done, that the Wessels family may help to advance the cause of God in some other way than by large donations given out and out, and placed beyond their power to have any voice in its disposition. Plans that have now been laid before me by the Wessels family were largely presented to me after the report came of the donations made to our institutions through Dr. Kellogg. Men of wisdom should be chosen to receive funds from men of means, who will honor God by loaning or investing in some enterprise for advancing the cause of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 27)
The talent of money, by being used, is multiplying talents, and one special line is not advanced to the neglect of other lines of work that are just as essential. We need and must have wise managers, men with sanctified ability to go from church to church as God’s agents to aid the men who have means in placing their money where it will help the cause of God. The owners might receive a low rate of interest, and they would have the satisfaction of knowing that they were really helping the cause of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 28)
It has been urged by some of our brethren that we should not hire means. But some who do not feel that they can donate all they have will invest their money in the cause of God at a low rate of interest. When this is done, they can at any time, if the Lord moves their hearts to willingness, make gifts and offerings to Him. They have something to do this with. But when they give six thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars, to another man to handle for them, they do not do the best for the man nor the best for themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 29)
No man is above temptation, and to make great and repeated gifts to any one man to use as his individual judgment shall dictate is simply despising the individual stewardship, as Esau despised his birthright, and sold it for a mess of pottage. Men are at liberty to make donations to God’s cause and work, and He will bless them in doing this, but let all consider how they use their Lord’s entrusted talent. The Lord will be inquired of. Where there are institutions established that have every facility that is needed, let gifts be donated from these institutions for other places where there is great need of just such instrumentalities, fields that have none of God’s memorials. Then inquire where the fields are just opening, Shall I not invest something in those parts of the vineyard that have never been worked?
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 30)
The Wessels family have done a good and liberal work for Australia. The light I have had is that this family must be bound up with the interests of the cause of God. Their talents of means, of brain power and mechanical power, can be used to work in various ways. Set all there is of them at work.
(14LtMs, Lt 170, 1899, 31)
Lt 171, 1899
Lindsay, Harmon; Lindsay, Annie “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 2, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 2MR 9. Dear Brother Harmon and Sister Annie Lindsay:
I heard yesterday that the mail for Africa leaves today. We have been moving our goods to Maitland for the camp meeting. I have been overworked, and have had an illness, from which I am now recovering.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 1)
John Wessels writes me that the large place in Thurramurra is secured. This is only eleven miles from Sydney, by the shortest route. By another line it is fifteen miles. The matter is settled in regard to this place.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 2)
Do you remember riding from Granville to Pennant Hills? Do you remember, when we halted upon elevated ground, and looked off over the vineyards and orchards and the water beyond, how beautiful the scenery was? Well, the place we have bought is near that upland. I am pleased with the location.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 3)
We had two places in view, but after looking at the first, which was very desirable, we found that it had some drawbacks. A road had been surveyed through the land, and we did not want any land cut up by roads. There were other complications. A poor brother had just taken the place, for a low rent, that he might have the benefit of the fruit in the thirteen acres of orchard. This orchard has been neglected. Had we taken the land, we would have been obliged to replace half the trees.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 4)
John Wessels kept searching till he found the place we have bought. The owner wished to sell out and go to England. In this tract there is seventy-five acres, at eight pounds less per acre than the first place. When the brethren saw the first place, they said, “Do not look any further; this is the place.” But John said, “Do not be too hasty in making a decision.” When he took them to the second place, and they saw the advantages it possessed over the first—its fifteen acres of orchard, bearing abundantly all kinds of fruit, a neat little cottage of four rooms, and woodland—all decided that it would be wise to purchase this place. W. C. White was with the company, and Brother John said to him, “Sister White must see this place.” So last week we again went land viewing, with Elder Daniells, Brother Sharp, and W. C. White. We all decided that the last place found was far preferable to the first site.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 5)
Yesterday John wrote us a letter stating that the bargain was closed. We now breathe freely. We feared there might be some impediment, but the business is now settled. We have prayed much over the matter, and we believe that the Lord has directed. A family is now occupying the house, but they will give us possession in two weeks from the time that we give notice to the vendor.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 6)
The trees in the orchard are full of fruit of all kinds. The old trees that were not bearing have been removed, and new trees set out. This is a good thing, for we will not have to spend much money on the orchard. It is a great advantage to have a place where the fruit can be gathered fresh from the trees, and plenty of it. This is a positive necessity for health reformers.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 7)
There are nine more acres of orchard cut off from the main orchard. This piece of land has been purchased by some man, who, John says, will sell it for seven hundred pounds. In his letter yesterday, John said he was going to settle the question. We must have that orchard. All that divides it from the main orchard is a shoal ditch, made like a deep furrow. There is no fence between. It is essential that we have this nine acres, even if the owner will not make better terms. There are those connected with the sanitarium who must have homes separate from the building. They will want to secure land on which to build cottages. It will not answer for buildings to be crowded close to the sanitarium, for there is always trouble when the families are too near.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 8)
I am pleased with this purchase. I can now see our way out of the woods. The Lord has led and guided us. Shall I not believe it? We have asked Him most earnestly to designate the place for the location of our sanitarium, and this place answers to the description of the place specified to me. Here there is something to engage the attention of invalids, and give them a guarantee against indolence and superficial attainments. There is great danger of men of good qualifications falling into habits of mental lethargy and being content with superficial attainments. Here we shall have plenty of opportunity. This danger is proportionately increased by the lack of incentives to a wise and faithful discharge of the God-given duties which lie directly in the path. It is the work of every human being who has reasoning faculties to make a wise improvement of the talents God has given.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 9)
The Lord is keeping before me the great work to be done in making earnest, determined efforts to save the souls of those who are ready to perish. We have no right to be inattentive and slothful. Improve, improve. Work to reach the highest standard of improvement. We are to press our way into new fields, and create interests where none now exist. We need to be filled with enthusiasm upon this, the greatest subject that has ever been brought before the world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 10)
Press forward and upward, my brother and sister. Do not, dear Sister Annie, lose any opportunity to acquire a knowledge of how to train your little ones that they may become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. This is the mother’s work. No other can supply her place. You have capabilities, my sister. Feel your accountability to God to train your children for eternal life. You do not need the excitement of theaters and plays to while away your time. You have a character to form after the divine similitude. If you will believe with all your heart, you will be worked by the Holy Spirit. Then you will never hunger for cheap, earthly amusement. The grace of God will be your helper, your strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 11)
God loves Annie Wessels Lindsay, and He wants her to wear a crown of immortal glory in the kingdom of heaven. He wants her to teach her children to find Jesus. The story is often to be repeated from the mother’s lips, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. The Lord has instructed me to say to you that as a mother, you are to be a wise, patient, kind steward. You have a sacred work to do in bringing up these little ones in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You have mental powers, but they have not been trained as God would have them trained.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 12)
The girls have come for this letter. I want it copied, for I fear you will not be able to read my writing. God bless you, and save you with His grace, is the prayer of one who loves you.
(14LtMs, Lt 171, 1899, 13)
Lt 172, 1899
Lacey, Brother and Sister [H. C.] NP January 31, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Lacey:
I have just finished reading your letter. I had written you a letter before I received yours, and will now write a few lines more. I will certainly send you freely the tracts you ask for. And from time to time I will send you communications. You must treat me as if I were your mother. Express your thoughts to me, and I will respect what you say. I feel a deep interest in your family, because I know that the Lord has His eye upon you. His watchcare is over you, and He would make you a vessel unto honor.
(14LtMs, Lt 172, 1899, 1)
Be it ours now to make a heart and life surrender of ourselves to Him who hath loved us, to whom be praise and glory. While you are young together, you can help one another to improve in those things which pertain to life and godliness. Seek in every way to increase in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent. Use the precious talent of speech in a way that will help one another to make the precious Saviour your Friend and Counsellor. You will gain a most precious experience if each member of your family seeks to impart a higher tone to the spirituality of the church in Toowoomba. Seek for simplicity and depth of experience. Encourage faith. Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find. Contemplate the goodness, the tenderness, the compassion of Christ, and then seek, yes, contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.
(14LtMs, Lt 172, 1899, 2)
Do not allow the mind to be drawn away from Jesus. Let every worker remember that it is his individual work to represent the character of Christ. As you visit families, dwell upon the merits and love of Jesus, the simplicity of His faith, His practical godliness. Just as surely as you do this, so surely will the ministering angels be by your side. Do not seek to do large things, but in meekness and lowliness point souls simply and directly to the Christ as their only hope. He is the fountain of life, light, and love. These are the three great elements of a true, healthy, influential Christianity.
(14LtMs, Lt 172, 1899, 3)
Live the truth. Exemplify the precious, elevating character of the truth. Contend earnestly for the faith. The Lord Jesus will be a present help if you will trust fully in Him. Remember that the God who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all will freely give us all things that are necessary for our present and eternal good and for the promotion of His glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 172, 1899, 4)
How sad it is that Jesus Christ is kept so much in the background. Keep Him in mind. Acknowledge Him in word and action. By many professing Christians His glory is obscured, His beauty veiled, His honor withheld. “Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Christ, ... and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near.” [Hebrews 10:19, 21, 22.] Yes; draw near as a little household. Open your heart to God through Christ, who has opened His heart to you. By an infinite sacrifice He has placed Himself in a position where He can converse with you, that you may open your heart to Him. He is your Advocate with the Father.
(14LtMs, Lt 172, 1899, 5)
May the Lord bless you, and give you victories every day, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 172, 1899, 6)
Lt 173, 1899
Wessels, Peter Campground, Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 4, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 149. + Dear Brother:
Your last letter was placed in my hands last night, and this morning is the first opportunity I have had to read it. My brother, I deeply sympathize with you. I am sorry you have engaged in worldly business, but I do not want you to suppose that I have any condemnation for you in my heart or mind. I have no feelings toward you but the feelings of tenderness which every Christian should feel for the Christian brother or sister who is striving under difficulties. Keep fast hold of God. Trust wholly in Him, and when the furnace has refined and purified you, He will bring you forth to honor His name. The Lord would have our souls restored to purity and holiness, filled with the virtues and capabilities that are best adapted to a heavenly career.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 1)
Under the Lord’s guidance, every sphere of action, every position in life, every disappointment, becomes the means of the development of Christian experience. I am so thankful as any one possibly could be that in our perplexities and disappointments, a faithful, tender, compassionate High Priest maketh intercession for us. He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities, for He has been tempted in all points like as we are. He knoweth how to succor those who are tempted. He has His eye upon His erring children who repent and love Him, and who desire to serve Him. The Lord’s mercies are over all His works, and He declares, “I will show him my covenant of grace.” [See Numbers 25:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 2)
Money is not our saviour. It is a talent lent us by God. This talent is not to be used for self-gratification, to dishonor God’s name and misrepresent His character, but to honor Him by wisely trading on His goods. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is not a slavish fear, but a fear to dishonor His name. God says, I will show him my covenant. The Lord will become wisdom, sanctification, and righteousness to all who fear and serve Him. The knowledge and wisdom of man becomes foolishness when he takes himself into his own keeping, but when he puts his trust in God, the Lord can and will make him His instrument for the promotion of the sacredness of His pure and holy character, to the highest ends of His divine ministration. God designs every man to reach the perfection of character revealed in Christ’s humanity. He desires to communicate His attributes in the manifestation of His grace, with which the gospel will enrich and beautify His disciples.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 3)
The purifying process is not always pleasant and agreeable, but thus the Lord desires to lead Peter Wessels to the exercise of that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. Lift up your soul unto God in prayer. Let your motto be: “I will not fail nor be discouraged. I will urge my way through the thick darkness: for there is light beyond. The divine presence dwells beyond the mist and cloud; there my faith shall reach Him. Let me fall into thy hands, O God, and do Thou deal with me. Let me not fall into the hands of man.” If you trust humbly in God as a little child, you will not only live the gospel, but teach the gospel.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 4)
The gospel of Christ is the source of all saving life. It is eternal life to all who believe. This is the true science of salvation. It is salvation to all troubled hearts. In faith it is your privilege to point to Jesus Christ, and cry, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” [John 1:29.] Remember that a departure from righteousness never leads to righteousness and goodness and faith. This message, received into the heart and lived in the life, is a message from God, continually saying to other souls, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” [Isaiah 30:21.] This is our argument, our doctrine, our warning, to those who know not God or the truth. It is our encouragement to the sorrowing. It is the rich hope of all who believe, who receive Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 5)
When we ourselves receive the Lord Jesus, and walk in His footsteps, our work is effectual. The sinner beholds the cross and repents. He receives Christ’s pardon for transgression. Then the instrument God has used in this work may step aside, and leave the soul who has been born again to go on to perfection. He has accepted the yoke of Him who said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29, 30.] In wearing Christ’s yoke of restraint and obedience, in looking unto Jesus and learning His meekness and lowliness of heart, there is created in the heart a hatred for every action which would wound the heart of Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 6)
Faith will increase as the believer continues to learn, believing not sophistry or some strange thing that is not truth, but the gospel of the living God, which is His Word unto salvation to all that believe. His doubts will vanish in the clear light of the Word, which is so wondrously and gloriously fulfilled. Jesus will be seen as all-compassionate, full of love, full of tenderness. The believer becomes imbued with the love, grace, kindness, and benevolence that led Jesus to go about doing good. He beholds constantly a loving, tender, compassionate Saviour. The more he beholds Him, the more he longs and prays to be like Him in character.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 7)
The view of Christ involves not only very important but elevating, ennobling truths. None can bear away from the contemplation of Christ a harsh, denunciatory, combative temperament, and the hungering, thirsting, believing soul becomes transformed by beholding. His hard, combative spirit is changed. He loves Jesus, and the current of the love of Christ passes through his soul. Heavenly gratitude feels his heart, and heavenly love becomes a blessed, abiding presence in his life, as he reveals the attributes of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Christ, with His divine grace, abides in his heart. He is a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. No longer does the god of this world blind his eyes. He does not manifest harshness and coldness toward others. He does not make harsh speeches. He does not think evil. He does not reveal a selfish, unchristlike temper, because Christ abides in his heart by faith, and Christlike attributes are revealed.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 8)
Those who do not manifest the grace, kindness, tenderness of Christ, do great harm by claiming to be Christians. We can none of us do Christ a greater injury than to claim to have been blessed with a knowledge of the truth, to talk the truth to others as ministers of Jesus Christ, and then reveal that we are not sons of God, but are harsh, impatient, and not under God’s control. Selfish and self-centered, these know not the science of subjecting themselves to the yoke of Christ. What kind of an impression do they make on others?
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 9)
My brother, the Lord strengthen, bless, and save you. There is advancement for you. There is life and strength and grace for you. Reach up by faith and grasp the hand that will never let you go.
(14LtMs, Lt 173, 1899, 10)
Lt 174, 1899
Lacey, Brother and Sister [H. C.] Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 30, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 149. Dear Brother and Sister Lacey:
We had a restful, pleasant journey home in the cars, although I did not go to the expense of securing a sleeper. Our rest was somewhat broken by the passengers getting in and out of the carriage, but for most of the time we had the compartment to ourselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 1)
On Wednesday evening, we left Cooranbong for Sydney in response to a special message from Brother John Wessels, who wished us to see another piece of land which it was thought would be a good location for our sanitarium. This piece of land is much larger than the one first chosen. Brother Wessels also wished to present before us the communications he had received from Africa by the last mail. The Wessels family have, they think, found a way by which they can unite their interests in the work. They propose to put all their means into the cause of God at five per cent interest. This, you can see, will need careful consideration. We have had a long consultation over the matter with Elder Daniells, Brother John Wessels, and W. C. White.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 2)
On Thursday morning, we took the cars to a station near Pennant Hills, where we had to wait quite a while for Brethren Daniells and Salisbury, who were to join us on their way from Sydney. We took dinner together on the ground, spreading on the ground for a tablecloth, our rug, and a large table napkin. We enjoyed our simple meal, and then looked over the ground.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 3)
We found about fifteen acres of orchard. Many of the trees are full of fruit, and there is a good prospect of an excellent crop of all kinds of fruit. There are seventy-five acres of land in all, and, I understand, we can purchase without ready money except for the first payment. We can have twelve months in which to pay the balance. The price stated is £2,200. The brethren have made an offer of £2000, and we are waiting now to see if the owners will accept.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 4)
Before we took the cars again, the weather turned quite chilly, and the wind blew quite strongly; but we did not take cold. Since coming home, however, I have been completely exhausted. Today I am quite weak, though not so dangerously so as yesterday. Since Friday the weather has been cloudy. On Friday and Sabbath we had some smart showers. Yesterday and today it has been cloudy; but we have had no more rain.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 5)
We expect to attend the camp meeting at Maitland. The Lord will give me strength to do so, if it is for His name’s glory.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 6)
We feel a deep interest in the work to be done in Toowoomba. I feel sure that if all who believe the truth will pray and work, and believe when they pray, a good work will be done there. It is not our feeble efforts that will accomplish the work which the Lord would have done, but by having the help which the Lord alone can give. It is springtime now in the natural world. Shall it not be the sowing and planting time with the workers in Australia? Shall not the seeds of truth be sown in many hearts?
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 7)
We hoped much from the camp meeting at Toowoomba, and we longed to see an interested congregation. We were disappointed, but we remembered the experience of Paul when he had to leave Thessalonica, and was sent by his brethren to Berea. Writing of the results of his work in Berea, Paul says, “These were more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed, also of honorable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.” [Acts 17:11, 12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 8)
We thank God for the kind, courteous spirit which was manifested towards Seventh-day Adventists at Toowoomba. This is worthy of mention. There are many men in Toowoomba to whom the Lord will bring the light of truth. The seed sown may take some time to show signs of life. But be patient. There must be “first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.” [Mark 4:28.] Now is your time to sow in faith and hope. Believe and wait and watch unto prayer. Do not neglect any part of your work. Be true to principle. Be valiant for the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 9)
Do not, my brother, shun the influential. If there are men in responsible positions in Toowoomba with whom you can become acquainted, spare no pains to do so. You must put forth the most persevering, earnest efforts for them. Your endeavors may only be in upright, noble acts, and it may seem to you that you cannot obtain access to hearts. But urge your way decidedly. If a man were drowning, you would not stand by and see him sink beneath the waves because he was a mayor, a lawyer, a minister, or a judge. Neither must you leave their souls to perish. Men who have talent and influence need to understand the Word of God in its purity, that they may labor with a knowledge of what saith the Scripture regarding their duty to their God and their fellow men. Thus, while you do not neglect the work essential to win souls in the humble walks of life, you may win to Christ souls who will fill responsible places in the cause and work of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 10)
This fallen world is in strange hands. Men rule for hire, and preach for hire. In all business transactions there is a strife for the supremacy. If Christ should walk through the streets of our cities today, few would have interest enough to follow Him. Men who act a part in the government of the world have no part with Christ, who has declared, “Without me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] Can they be successful statesmen who have not learned the ways and methods of the great Teacher? The men in high positions of trust should be educated in the school of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 11)
Our largest hope lies in securing the youth for Christ, in teaching them to love God supremely, and their neighbor as themselves. Teach them to seek for the truth as for hidden treasure, and they will go forth to work earnestly for the Master.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 12)
Very few have a true conception of God as the Sovereign ruler of the world. Men do not study the Word of God, yet light is sown for the righteous, and truth for the upright in heart. What strength of character men might possess! The psalmist says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” [Psalm 19:7.] Those who obey the law of God will be controlled by right principles. The purity of their lives will yield a precious harvest. The man who is obedient to God’s expressed commands is a waymark. He has a standard of unsullied purity. His imagination is not corrupted by dishonest practices. His pure, heaven-born principles are a safeguard to the youth. Before him light will spring up.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 13)
The value of a man is proportionate to his fear and love for God. Right will overcome might and money power.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 14)
My brother, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This is your privilege. “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strife. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” [2 Timothy 2:15, 22-26.] “Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” [Titus 2:6-8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 15)
You have a high and holy calling, and if you would have souls for your labors, take firm hold of God in prayer. Let your hold on souls be firm and strong. Let it be seen that you are intensely in earnest. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world: looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” [Verses 11-15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 16)
We have a faith of which we need not be ashamed, and we have solemn serious work before us in laboring for souls as they that must give an account. We need a knowledge of God, deeper, fuller, clearer, than we have ever had. We need to press forward, every day receiving grace and power from the Source of all power. Let me urge you, my brother, to seek for a deeper insight into the truth as it is in Jesus. Be not content with your present experience. Sink the shaft deep in the quarry of truth. Truth, eternal truth, is the treasure for which you must seek with unremitting vigilance.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 17)
Do not rest until all that is superficial in your life is supplanted by a deep, fervent, solid experience. This will make you reliable in every place, because the Lord is your strength, His word your daily bread. Your religious experience will then give you spiritual sinew and muscle to brace your mind against the counterworking influence of hereditary and cultivated tendencies which, if cherished, will always hamper you in your work, and make you weak where you should be strong.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 18)
Brother Lacey, do not be satisfied with your present attainments, for you have much to unlearn, and learn over again. “I have written unto you, young men,” John writes, “because you are strong.” What makes them strong? Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. Thus you are to grow up into Christ, your living head. “For the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” [1 John 2:14.] This battle is to be fought over and over again.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 19)
Finally, my brother, “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.” [Ephesians 6:10-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 20)
You can advance, my brother, if you see the necessity of watchfulness and fervent prayer. You are in an important place. Keep on the watch. Hear what the Spirit shall say unto you, and be obedient.
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 21)
The mail has just come, and I have my work before me for the next mail. God bless you both is the prayer of
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 22)
[Your sister.]
(14LtMs, Lt 174, 1899, 23)
Lt 175, 1899
Wessels, Philip Campground, Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 4, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 12MR 85-86. + Dear Brother Philip Wessels:
I have this morning received and read your letter. Thank you, my brother. You seem to be drawn nearer to me. You do not repulse me, and I thank you. I hope and pray that you and your brother Peter may engage in the work of God, and that He who gives to every man his work will link you, heart and mind and soul, in His cause. I have had great hopes of you, Philip, and I have still great hope that you may stand in your lot and in your place, I pray that you may stand the test and trial, and that you may be entrusted with still greater capabilities. The Lord God of heaven has given you knowledge in regard to your accountability to serve the Saviour, who has entrusted to you capabilities and powers which are to be improved by use.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 1)
Remember, my brother, that you are the Lord’s. He has bought you with a price. You are His property by creation, His property by redemption. He has not left you. I understand the circumstances which have separated you from your brethren. The heavenly universe rejoices to see you returning to your loyalty and allegiance to God. Then, as heaven has rejoiced, all your brethren should rejoice, and should help you with their hearty co-operation. But what if they do not? Then do the best you can. Attend the meetings. Give your testimony freely whenever you can do so. Act out the will of God in meeting and out of meeting. Never, never lose your hold of the Sabbath. There is a work for you to do in the cause of God. Do what you can.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 2)
But it is of no use for me to go over the experience of the past. I know it from the beginning to the end, and for this reason I have held on to you, believing that you would return to the Lord. I know the Lord is not pleased with things that have been done in Cape Town in the management of the work. I know that brotherly love and kindness have not always been the order of the experience, and that there is need of the thorough working of the Holy Spirit in human hearts. These things cause me great sorrow and heartache. The men, who ought to be representing the beauty of the grace and love which dwelt in the great Teacher, are serving self.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 3)
Light was given me that your younger brothers, Henry and Francis, did want to do good with their means. They needed one connected with them as a counsellor to warn them against making large donations to be appropriated by any one man. To loan large sums of money to one man is not working on the right principle. Advisers should have been appointed to receive all such donations, which should have been invested as the very best wisdom of the wisest men should direct, after much earnest supplication to God for light and knowledge. The advice should have been, You are not old enough, young men, to have an intelligent knowledge of the necessities and demands that may arise. Therefore put your money where it shall still remain as your own property. Bye and bye you will better understand how to appropriate this large means.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 4)
One man’s mind and one man’s judgment is not to be trusted in the appropriation of funds. That man himself may be unselfish as far as his personality is concerned, but he may act selfishly in grasping all the donations he can to invest in the work in which he is interested, while the importance of the work of annexing new territory for the kingdom of God is not weighed and measured properly. There is much to be done in opening new fields and lifting the standard of truth in places which have not heard the truth. The work is to be advanced on right lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 5)
The question is to be carefully considered. Am I to take the stewardship of thousands of pounds, and invest this money in objects that will require just as much more money to sustain them? Are there not interests of vast importance in missionary lines that should be helped by part of these donations? Shall I erect in America building after building, as memorials, while my brethren are laboring in fields which are without one standard or memorial? Has God designed that I shall have such large supplies, while others are toiling without conveniences, without the means to advance the work of God in new fields? Shall I erect buildings, gathering to myself all the means I can to do a class of medical missionary work in my part of the vineyard, adding constantly to my facilities, when one half of this money, appropriated more evenly, would set in operation a work which would greatly advance the kingdom of God? While my brethren are laboring without facilities, shall I add building to building because some have confidence in my management?
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 6)
Thus was this matter placed before me. God sent me to Australia. Here I have worked, parting with all I have received in royalties to advance the work. I was instructed by the Lord to say to _____, You are swaying altogether too heavily in one line of work. It is not after the counsel of God that so much means shall be absorbed in America. There are other portions of His vineyard which are to be worked. Call to the men in America, call to Dr. Kellogg, for the help which they should give to build up the work in places where I have sent My experienced workers. They need the facilities which are so abundantly provided in America. Call upon those in South Africa. Let them understand that Australia should have a part of the means which has flowed into America. The donations received should be distributed in accordance with the necessities of the field. If this were done, Australia would stand more evenly with America. We would be able to send forth educated workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 7)
The medical missionary work is to be a hand and an arm to the body. But it is not to become the body, to control every part connected with the body. I am speaking plainly. Selfishness has been fast increasing. This selfishness God rebukes. The light was given me that the Wessels’ money is God’s money, and that the members of the Wessels family ought not to feel it is right to give largely to any one line of work. I have not spoken directly in regard to this matter to the Wessels family, excepting to Henry Wessels. I was shown that after giving away so much in donations, he was tempted by temptations which he could not name if he tried. I have been shown that the Wessels should have the stewardship of their own means.
(14LtMs, Lt 175, 1899, 8)
Lt 176, 1899
Irwin, G. A.; Jones, A. T.; Smith, Uriah “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brethren Irwin, A. T. Jones, and Elder Uriah Smith:
I was awakened this morning, and with a burden on my soul which I now communicate. It is put into the hands of my copyist. It is just coming daylight.
(14LtMs, Lt 176, 1899, 1)
My brethren, that which I am now writing cannot be copied; but I wish you to prepare in some shape to go to the people this matter now being copied. I feel intensely over this matter. It seems as though it would consume me. I want tenfold more power from God, that I may work, and speak the truth as it is in Jesus, in these dark places of the earth. There are hearts longing for the truth, and we want these hungry, starving sheep to be fed. Means has been so limited that [all] who could work to any advantage have not saved themselves. They have been loaded down with responsibilities, one man carrying the weight of burden two or three men should have.
(14LtMs, Lt 176, 1899, 2)
We have not dared to speak of workers, for we could not find money in the treasury to supply them with the necessaries of life. We feel deeply, and it has worn upon our physical strength; but the word comes still, Occupy new fields, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The hungry, starving sheep are bleating for food. Sheep without a shepherd are found in every city, in every locality. God pity these souls. If there are men and women who understand and know God ... [incomplete sentence]. We are in the battle, and we must be clothed with the armor of Christ’s righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 176, 1899, 3)
I have not been able to write except one letter since we received the Bulletin. I have things to say that cannot be said now. I thank the Lord with heart and soul and voice for the words in the Bulletin. Let the good work go forward. Brother Palmer came to me at my home, saying, “We have reached our last resources. Now what can we do?” I said, “Hope in God; rejoice in God; help has come;” and I placed in his hands the special number of the Bulletin. Will you please at the Review and Herald Office bind me, in covers, the whole numbers of the Bulletin? One whole roll of papers has not come—missing numbers. No one has received the Bulletin but me in this place. Bind me up twelve bound numbers. I am not at all pleased with the putting [of] such important work in such form. You cannot read them without the paper cracking and tearing. The form is not improved. I am sorry for this. We keep all the Bulletins very choice. We have much to say. My letters sent have been written before we received the Bulletin.
(14LtMs, Lt 176, 1899, 4)
P.S. Any of this matter I send, leaving out all personal, you are at liberty to use as you see best, the letter to Dr. Kellogg, excepted.
(14LtMs, Lt 176, 1899, 5)
Lt 177, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 2, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
This morning, November 2, at half-past five, we left Sunnyside for the Maitland camp. I have had a week of great exhaustion, and I was fearful my breath would go if I tried to sleep. November 1, I began to improve a little, and the following day I did not lose what I had gained, although it was as oppressive one. But when I tried to sleep, sleep would not come. I did not sleep past half past eleven o’clock. This morning we had everything packed ready to take to the station. Sara and I took Jasper and the phaeton, without the cover, and drove the twenty-seven miles to Maitland. We thought this the better plan. If I went by the cars I should have to drive three miles to Dora Creek, then walk up the long flight of stairs at the station. When we reached Maitland, we would have to procure a conveyance to take us to the campground, and returning all this would have to be repeated.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 1)
When we started, the weather looked threatening, and a fine rain fell now and then. But we prepared ourselves for the weather, and went on. The first eight miles, to Mt. Vincent, was the worst part of the journey. The mountain road was very steep. Workmen are now at work cutting away part of the mountain, which seems to be one ledge of rocks. They are compelled to blast, and it will take months to make a road fit for traveling. As we neared the mountain ascent, Sara led Jasper, and I walked, which was not a very prudent thing for me to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 2)
By stopping often to take breath, Jasper managed to drag the carriage up the mountain. The blasting was going on, and Sara would not advance with the horse. I held Jasper, and she ran ahead to see what prospect there was of passing. She found that by driving without delay we could get over the narrow pass before another blast. Well, we got safely over that danger. The rest of the way was up one hill and down another almost all the way to Maitland. Sara made me up a comfortable bed in the carriage, and I had thirty minutes’ sleep. This refreshed me.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 3)
At noon we came to Maitland. As we neared East Maitland, the rain began to fall, but we did not get wet, except out outside wraps. We found rooms rented for our family. We have a good stable for the horse and a shed for the carriage. Brother Carswell and his wife, Sister Walker and Sister Wilson, have a rented house near us, and it is here that we find conveniences for our horse and carriage.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 4)
The meetings commenced on Thursday evening. On Sabbath morning there was a small attendance, but a larger number came out in the afternoon, when I spoke from (John 14), “Let not your heart be troubled.” [Verse 1.] This passage I linked with (Acts 1), the commission of Christ to His disciples and the promise of the Holy Spirit, and the message of the angels to the waiting disciples. I spoke only a short time, but I tried to impress upon those assembled the necessity of their being educated to believe the Word of God, and to show their faith by their works. Practical godliness was the burden of my talk.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 5)
Sunday afternoon the meeting was largely attended, the tent being full. I spoke from 1 John 3. After I had been talking a few minutes, the brethren saw that something must be done to find seats for those who were coming in. I was requested to wait a few minutes, while the young children passed from our tent to a large square tent erected for the children’s meetings. The vacancies made were quickly filled and still there was a wall of people standing on one side of the tent. I had great freedom in speaking. I had asked the Lord for strength, and He gave it to me. I felt no weariness. I spoke for one hour, and all heard. My voice was as clear as a bell. I never stood before a congregation of more intelligent men and women, or one which manifested better interest. On the Sabbath, because of the weakness of my heart, I could speak only very slowly, but now I felt reined up, and imbued with the Holy Spirit. I was carried above all my infirmities, and I know that an angel of God was at my side to strengthen me. This has encouraged me very much.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 6)
On Sunday night I was troubled with a distressing nervousness, but Sara gave me treatment, and I rested all night.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 7)
Last night Brother Daniells spoke on the nearness of the end of time. The tent was crowded to its utmost capacity, and a wall of people stood upon the outside. These first few days of our camp the weather has been very discouraging. On Friday it rained hard, and Sabbath was showery. In the evening we had some heavy thunder and lightning and some hard rain. But in spite of this, we have had good congregations and a success which we hardly expected. The meetings have been fully advertised, and there will be a good attendance. Dr. Caro is here. He spoke the evening after the Sabbath, but the attendance was small, owing to the downpour of rain.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 8)
I feel very grateful to our heavenly Father for His goodness and mercy and love to the children of men in giving them a favorable opportunity to hear and understand the reasons of our faith. Having our school interest in Cooranbong, only twenty-seven miles from Maitland, and a church established in Newcastle, twenty-five miles away, we are very desirous that a company shall be raised up in this place. You know something about Maitland. I have great hope that souls will be convinced of the truth, and will have moral courage to take their position. In some respects this place is more favorable to an acceptance of the truth than Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 9)
In Newcastle the men worked in the coal mines were convinced of the truth, but they dared not obey, lest their families should starve. Their employers would not give work to a miner who kept the seventh day. You know all about this. But here there are wealthy land owners who could keep the Sabbath. The Lord will work in this district, and we shall have our outposts strengthened. We hope the work in this place will be self-sustaining. Some young men from this district have attended the school at Cooranbong. The biscuit manufacturer, Mr. Arnott, has sent his son to the school. We have great hopes that the truth will get a hold on this place, and a church be established. We believe that the Lord will be our helper and our God, and will work through the agencies raised up in this place to sustain the work which should be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 10)
We are thinking of holding a meeting next camp meeting season at Singleton, a town of some importance on the line to Queensland, not a great distance from this place. Our canvassers have already been there. Brother Goodheart, and Brother and Sister James, who were appointed to work in Singleton, report that quite a number are deeply interested in the truth. My heart rejoices to see people who will hear the truth. We must pray, depending on the Holy Spirit to make the impression. I hope to see a good work done in the right way. May the Lord help us to do the part appointed us. When we ask sincerely, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” [Acts 9:6] let us deal honestly with our own souls, and with Him who has bought us with a price. Let us not move without God. We need the spirit of prayer and supplication, that our souls may be fitted for the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 11)
“I beseech you,” says the great apostle, “by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” [Romans 12:1.] This, Elder Haskell, we must teach the inexperienced ones to do. I fear that there are many in America who have things to unlearn and learn again more correctly. The idle tales which are gotten up might better be cut away from the teachers, for they will do only harm.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 12)
I was broken off in this letter to go up to Brother Starr’s house. Brother and Sister Starr, Mother Sisley, Sister Boyd and her daughter, the workers who labored in the Hamilton mission, and the hired girl, compose the family. Brother Hilliard and his wife and child, and Sister Young from Pitcairn Island, are also living in the same house. It was feared that the smell from the gasometer, which is quite near, would affect my heart. But I have a large room, which is well-ventilated. I am pleased with its largeness. There are boxes and trunks and baskets and bundles in one end. This is the room where things are stored, but it makes a very nice place to accommodate me.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 13)
The people are highly pleased with the meetings. All feel that the impression made is excellent. They say that everywhere these meetings are talked of with great surprise. The Bible is preached, and yet they hear of things which they never thought were in the Bible. While in the meetings the people listen as if spellbound. We feel to say, “Praise the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits.” [Psalm 103:2.] Oh, I am thankful for this! We did want a good impression made, and the Lord has made this for us.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 14)
You will not get much from me this mail, Brother Haskell, for I am weary, and dare not write much. I hope, my brother and sister, that you will be strengthened for the work. Allow nothing to come in to depress you. Carry with you that which it is your privilege to have, a holy boldness. Whatever may be the attitude of others, let it be seen that you know whereof you speak.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 15)
This morning I had a long talk with Brother John Wessels in reference to his family coming to Australia. The brothers wish to connect with John. The mother speaks of Andrew going to London to study and again she talks of his coming to Australia, and she will accompany him. Francis will come, I am sure, if a way is made for him. The brothers propose uniting together to create a fund which they will invest in the cause of God at a low rate of interest. I believe that if the Wessels family will leave Cape Town and come to Australia, they will each find something to do. The best thing that can be done for them is to place them amid better surroundings.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 16)
Again and again the question is asked before the Lord, “What measures can be adopted for the improvement of this class of people? How may their services be secured to the church?” I know of no better field for this family than Australia. If we do not invite them to come here, they will go where they can be together, not in any one line of work, but where they can be within reach of one another. I have written to Sister Wessels to have Andrew come to Australia, and have asked her to accompany him. In this way John thinks their money will be bound up in the cause of God. I am writing to them to be sure and come, for I feel quite clear on this point. I understand that Dr. Kellogg has been trying to have them go to America. I will do my best to have them settle in Australia. John is seeking to get them where he can have an influence over them for good. But he does not have any too great a desire in this line.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 17)
There is too much stirring about for me to write. I have a good hope in the Lord, and I mean to keep close to my Saviour. I will close this for now. I will be pleased to have Edson and Brother Irwin know what I have written to you, for I fear I shall not be able to get off more letters. Love to you both. I desire much to see you.
(14LtMs, Lt 177, 1899, 18)
Lt 178, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 6, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in GH 01/1899; TMK 129; HP 162; ChL 19. Dear Children Edson and Emma:
Here we are in Maitland, the place in which it has been my earnest desire that we should have a camp meeting. Our first meeting was held Thursday night. Meetings were held on Friday night and on Sabbath and Sunday. The meetings on Sabbath and Sunday were very important. Sunday afternoon and evening the large tent was crowded to its greatest extent. Chairs from the family tents were brought in and placed as close as possible to the stand. Then the children were invited to go into another tent, where a service would be held especially for them. This gave room for quite a large number of grown people.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 1)
Before I came to this place I was prostrated for one week. I had difficulty with my heart. I think I taxed my strength too severely by attending the camp meeting in Toowoomba, and then going to Sydney to look at land for the sanitarium. W. C. White could not accompany me to Toowoomba, so Sara and I went alone. I spoke six times during the meeting. After speaking on the forenoon of the last Sunday, I begged to return to Cooranbong. On reaching home, I was called to Sydney to look at a site for our sanitarium. All seemed to have confidence in my judgment regarding locations for our institutions.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 2)
The land at which we had looked just before going to Toowoomba was very a desirable place, containing thirty-two acres. This last piece contains seventy-five acres, fifteen of which is laid out in orchard; the rest is woodland.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 3)
Brother John Wessels, Brother Sharp, W. C. White, Elder Daniells, and Brother Salisbury accompanied me to this place. We spread our rugs on the ground and sat on these while we ate our dinner. It was a cold, windy day. I walked through the orchard, and drove all round the place with the sanitarium horse and sulky. Without a dissenting voice, decision was made to take the place.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 4)
We then went into Strathfield, where Brother Wessels lives. The next morning we had a council meeting with the brethren, and then started for home. A day or two later the American mail went out, and only a day later the African. This was too much for me. I had been in counsel with Brother Wessels upon important matters, and after the mails had gone I gave out, quite exhausted. For one week I could not gather strength. Then I decided to come here with my phaeton. We drove Jasper, the horse we bought from Brother Haskell.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 5)
I have just been interrupted. Brother Starr, Brother John Wessels, and Brother Sharp, who has been selected as business manager and accountant for the sanitarium, have come in to see me. I must talk a few minutes with them. Then Sharp and Wessels go back tomorrow to the sanitarium. Brother Wessels, Brother Sharp, and W. C. White have been making arrangements to give Dr. Rand a better fitting up to work in Newcastle and to give him a hold here in Maitland. There is always a great deal of medical work to do in both these places, and especially in Maitland. West Maitland is built on low ground. It is a very strange looking place. The houses are built right on the ground. When rains fall to any extent, the Hunter River, which runs through Maitland, overflows and the stores and dwelling houses are flooded. Then, of course, typhoid fever, influenza, and all kinds of illness, come. One of our physicians should be located here. A home for our workers must be made in this place. The work must be carried forward until the place has been worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 6)
I cannot tell you how thankful we all are to the Lord for the kindness that is manifested to us by all the people in West Maitland.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 7)
East Maitland is to West Maitland what Oakland is to San Francisco. The houses stand on higher ground, and are built after a more modern pattern. The floods are never high enough to reach this part of the city. But in order to reach the greatest number of people, we decided to hold the camp meeting in West Maitland rather than East Maitland. The next camp meeting will be held in East Maitland.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 8)
I see that the stars are shining this morning. I hope the cloudy, rainy weather is over. We never in any place felt greater need of the help of the angels of God than in this place. The Roman Catholic element is strong, and we know that this element poisons wherever it is introduced. Maitland is near Cooranbong, and we feel an immense desire that it shall receive all the light that it is possible to let shine upon it. And we have a neat little chapel built in Hamilton, Newcastle, twenty-five miles from this place. This is a rich farming district. Between here and Queensland there are large cattle and sheep stations.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 9)
How little we can do in our own power to help the people that are misled by the false theories that are ever kept before them by their false shepherds! Our earnest cry to God is, “It is time, O Lord, for thee to work; for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” [Psalm 119:126, 127.] We are in the midst of troublous times. Catholicism is making sure and decided inroads, embracing in its cruel arms the Protestant world. In disloyalty men and women are making void the law of God, and He will punish them for their iniquity. “The earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” [Isaiah 26:21.] “The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; and will not at all acquit the wicked; the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” [Nahum 1:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 10)
If ever there was a time when those who claim to be Christians should be all that the name comprehends, it is now. Are we following Christ in very reality? As Seventh-day Adventists we must be on watch, guarding every point lest the enemy shall set up his standard among us. There is not one semblance of an excuse for our churches to be indifferent and careless. If ever there was a time when the members of our churches should see if they have oil in their vessels with their lamps, it is now, just now, without a moment’s hesitancy or delay. This is an individual work. We are to look earnestly to our own standing and accountability. While the Protestant world is being led by the wily sophistry of Catholic doctrines, while the mystery of iniquity is gathering to itself the world of professed Christians, what are we about?
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 11)
Are those who know the truth for this time anchored in Bible doctrines? Are our weapons, “Thus saith the Lord,”“It is written”? Is our anchor cast within the vail? Are we individually rooted and grounded in gospel truth, so that we may be established, strengthened, and settled in the faith? Are we, as those who have the knowledge of the mysteries of God, those to whom God has committed the living oracles, loyal and true to our stewardship? Those who are truly converted will reveal, as missionaries for God, what the truth means to them in its transforming efficiency and sanctifying power. If we are weighted with the treasures of eternal truth, we shall proclaim to a world perishing in sin what it signifies to have the sanctifying, redeeming love of Christ in the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 12)
If we are verily and truly united to Christ, it is because truth has taken possession of the soul temple. We see so many who, while they claim to be Christians, show by their lives that they know not God and Jesus Christ by an experimental knowledge. The heart that has opened its doors to Jesus will love pure, cleansing, transforming truth, and will zealously contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Let no man stop short of entire, unreserved surrender to God. Begin the work in the heart. Look away from the course of action pursued by others to Christ. You have a soul to save or a soul to lose, and this is too important a question to be regarded indifferently. One of the most earnest prayers in the inspired Word is, “Create in me a clean heart, O God;” and from One who loved us and gave His life for us comes the great and important assurance, “A new heart also will I give you.” [Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26.]
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 13)
Why are there so many men and women who have and still do occupy positions of great responsibility, who are spiritual failures, who have unsymmetrical characters? It is because they did not and do not, when they know the truth, begin to practice the truth as it is in Jesus. They do not let Him take away their faulty attributes of character, which are after Satan’s order, not after the similitude of Christ. He whose conversion is righteous carries righteous principles into all his life practices. He only is well grounded in the faith who lives by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 14)
There are many who testify daily, “I am not changed in character, only in theory.” The renovating, transforming work must begin in the heart, out of which flow the issues of life. Oh, how then can lip service be regarded as sufficient? If the Lord has ever spoken by me, your mother, I entreat of you, for Christ’s sake, do not stop at any halfway place, but press on, press on. Advance to the perfection of Christian attainments. Leave nothing insecure. Watch thyself with all diligence. Remember that you are responsible not to misrepresent Christ in character. Let us not, by our defects, lead others to practice the same sins.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 15)
My son, not all who stand in positions of responsibility are honoring God by practical godliness. They can gain through faith a conqueror’s crown, but they are not willing to engage in hand to hand warfare with their own imperfect dispositions. They retain attributes which make them offensive to God. Daily they are transgressing the principles of His holy law. If all would only learn the simple lesson that they must take and wear the yoke of Christ, and learn of the great Teacher His meekness and lowliness of heart, they would better fulfill their covenant to love God supremely and their neighbor as themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 16)
Is it not possible for those handling sacred responsibilities to remember that in their several positions of trust they are to manifest exactitude in every respect, as examples of Jesus Christ? Their position as superiors demands this of them. But whether they be superiors, equals, or inferiors, they must begin at the beginning. Christ says, “Take my yoke of restraint and obedience upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest.” [Matthew 11:29.] The heart will then be made right with God through the creative power of Christ. Partakers of His divine nature, they are transformed. Then the whole building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 17)
The world would not be what it now is if professed believers in Christ were receivers of His divine nature. It is the example of men who claim to believe the truth but who do not practice the truth that detracts from the influence of Christianity. They hold the truth as a theory, but unrighteousness surely characterizes their course of action. Many occupy high positions of responsibility, and yet reveal that they are far away from Christ, because they are destitute of Christianity. Please read the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezekiel. Should we not seek to understand the work which God requires us to do? Its results are sacred and awful.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 18)
If one thread of selfishness is woven into God’s service, He is greatly dishonored. Unless those who have a knowledge of the truth are sanctified through the truth, their profession counts nothing, and their condemnation will be proportionate to the light granted them, which they have not honored by walking in the light as Christ is in the light. Truth as it is in Jesus is the creating power of the grace of Christ. Those who claim to have advanced light must reveal the influence of that light in their words, their deportment, their voice, their actions, at all times and in all places.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 19)
The first work of teachers, physicians, directors, is to submit themselves to the yoke of Christ. They must obey the words, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.” [Matthew 11:29.] This is the result of keeping self under the sanctification of the truth. Our first business, and that which should always be made the highest, is to expel from the soul temple everything that will not harmonize with Christ. His Spirit must abide in us by faith. We are to keep the heart with all diligence, “for out of it are the issues of life.” [Proverbs 4:23.] Then pleasant words will be spoken, notwithstanding that temptations are pressing in to occupy the soul temple.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 20)
The devil is not dead. He will seek to awaken jealous and evil surmisings. He will tempt those who are in positions of influence to take certain liberties, to appropriate advantages to themselves, while if those who are accounted as inferiors should take such liberties, they would be summarily dealt with. Here is the rock upon which many who ought to be examples of unselfishness have struck. Some have become examples of greed and covetousness. God has marked them as dishonest and unholy, and He will judge them for taking what should have been given to His needy servants, who are doing hard, faithful work.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 21)
But because of the wrong actions of those in positions of trust, do not let envious feelings fill the heart. They are to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. You only need to pity and to pray for them. The Lord knows every dishonest transaction, and will award them according as their work shall be. The Lord rewards every unselfish action. Pray with heart and soul and voice, “O God, impress more deeply upon my mind and heart the principles of Thy holy law, which is the transcript of Thy character. Let me by faith grasp the exceeding great and precious promises, that I may not in my duty and work fail or be discouraged, but perfect holiness in Thy fear.”
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 22)
My children, you are not to look to others to know your duty. You are not to wait for their invitations to attend general meetings. The Lord will teach you your duty, and will give you His message from the written Word. If you learn of Christ His meekness and lowliness, your spiritual advancement will not be hurt by evil surmising, envy, and jealousy. You are not amenable to any living man. They may place you in hard places, but this is not your sin if you do not place yourself there. God would have you meek and lowly in heart, so that He can safely trust you, and educate and train you by His Holy Spirit to help just where help is needed, to comfort the lowly, the sorrowing, the poor, and friendless. As you do this work angels of God will be very near to comfort those for whom efforts are being made in His name by human service.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 23)
Work, work, work to uplift, but never to depress. Do not worry about your books after you have done what you thought best, with much prayer for guidance. If you keep worrying, the blessing of God will not attend you. You must have faith. Do not be envious lest others shall gain the advantage. The Lord understands all about you. He knows what is for your best good, and what would prove an injury for you. Do not let your lips speak any word that will weaken the confidence the Lord desires your brethren to have in you and your work.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 24)
God has given you warning in regard to these matters. He wants you to give not the least occasion for others to war against you, or to work counter to the work God would have you do. There is work enough to be done everywhere. We must not say or do anything that savors of murmuring or criticism, for when we do this Satan comes right to our side and helps us. He will magnify the mistakes others have made so that you will lose the peace and restfulness the Lord would have you cherish. If you believe that every wrong action, either in yourself or in another, is an offense to God, you will not by word or action give your fellow men opportunity to sin against God. Every soul who does a wrong action to another, the Lord has shown me, will have that act rebound upon himself. Thus God punishes those who engage in any evil work. Be more anxious that the truth with its sanctifying power shall be in your heart, buried in your soul and in the souls of others. There are those who need all the help that you can give them.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 25)
Be not afraid to stand in Battle Creek, if this is the will of God for you, but do not educate yourself to stand as a critic. Take the Lord Jesus as your Counselor. The moment a man feels that he is not dependent on God for the breath he draws and for the watchcare he receives, that moment he will lay aside the yoke of Christ, and cease to learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart. Take the Word of God as the man of your counsel. The Lord has made you His witness. He wishes you to be converted every day, that you may become a channel of light. The truth must take control of the conscience, the understanding, the whole heart. In all that you undertake, not only in explaining the Word to others, in prayer and praise and worship, but in your everyday life, God must be your dependence. The truth will give a religious, Christlike character to all that is worth doing, in business as well as in religious lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 26)
In all your dealings with your fellow men never forget that you must represent the righteousness of Christ. Men are tempted enough by the devil. Let no word or action of yours awaken suspicion or distrust, and turn them away from that fellowship which Christ would have cherished. We must not work against that which Christ is doing for the souls that are tempted and tried. If the sanctifying influence of the truth is kept away from the heart, what good will it do to try to lead men to Jesus? If our profession of the truth produces no beauty in our own souls and lends no softening, mellowing influence to our own character, it is not the kind that Christ would have us receive. Our religion is a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. It is not enough that we be Christians when we feel like it, and at other times allow Satan to take full control of mind and voice and action. Surely such a man’s religion is vain.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 27)
God has given us rules for guidance. These rules form a standard for all His true followers. God’s will must be made paramount in all our experience. Then we will not be false guideposts.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 28)
We have not had opportunity, my son, to carefully consider the letters you have written us. There have been so many things to be considered. One important matter is related to another important matter, and these have driven W. C. White from place to place, from council meeting to council meeting, from Sydney to Newcastle, and from Newcastle to Maitland. Changing about so, sleeping in different beds in different places, he takes cold, and is unable to do that thinking and planning which he desires to do. So we shall have to put off until the next mail the answers to some of your questions. I was sick for one week, and could not have anything brought before me. But we will do our best.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 29)
Brethren Wessels and Sharp took W. C. White to Newcastle yesterday morning to arrange some important matters regarding the work of Dr. Rand there. Dr. Rand is without facilities, without bathrooms, without a horse and carriage to take him from place to place, without instruments with which to work. I have not seen Willie since yesterday morning. When we have new fields to work like Stanmore, Newcastle, and Maitland, it takes much thought and money to help the workers, to keep them advancing and not retrograding.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 30)
Oh, I am so glad, children, that the Lord is not dependent upon human agencies, but that human agencies must be dependent upon divine agencies. What patience the Lord has with His people! We cannot do without God, though He can carry on His work without us. Let us inquire, What is the way of the Lord? Let us not entertain one suggestion of Satan’s framing, but look to Jesus and trust in Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 31)
I must now heed the call for breakfast. I have written this letter, with the exception of two pages, since one o’clock a.m.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 32)
I have a few more words to say. Put your trust in God. Now is the time when each person must seek the Lord most earnestly for himself. You are to feel just as free to go to Battle Creek or any of the conferences or camp meetings and labor, but be sure that you stand in your lot and in your place. Speak the Word when you feel moved by the Spirit of God. The Lord has given to every man his work. The lamps of the soul must be kept trimmed and burning. Every precaution is essential, lest the light flicker and go out.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 33)
The responsibility of each human agent is measured by the amount of gifts he has in trust. All are to be workers. But upon that worker who has had the greatest opportunities, the greatest clearness of mind in understanding the Scriptures, rests the highest responsibility. Every receiver must hold himself accountable to God, and use his talents for God’s glory. He is not to become discouraged in his earnest, sincere efforts to do the work the Lord has given him, You, my son, have not placed yourself where you could accomplish all the good the Lord requires you to do in connection with your brethren. You had that which you could have imparted to them, and they in turn could have helped you. But now do your work with God in view.
(14LtMs, Lt 178, 1899, 34)
Lt 179, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 3, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Children:
Last evening we decided to leave home on Friday morning at five o’clock for the camp meeting. We knew that we would need my horse and carriage there, so Sara and I drove up. As I am nearly always the first one up in the morning, I was to call Sara at four o’clock a.m. I could not sleep past half past eleven. My mind was much burdened, and I wrote until nearly four o’clock. Then I called Sara. We were to take our breakfast in the carriage as we rode. Part of the road was very steep and mountainous. There was an appearance of rain as we started, and we spent half an hour deciding whether we should drive or take the cars at Dora Creek. We deemed it the better plan to drive.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 1)
I am very, very sorry that I cannot find the letter from Brother Shireman. I suppose it was with my other letters, but it is not. I fear I cannot, this mail, take up his question and answer them. But I will say that property that has been created by the Lord’s servant without donations or consideration from Battle Creek is not the property of the Conference, although the Conference may have paid the laborer a stipulated sum for his labor. Yet the man who have worked and invested their money in the cause own the property until they shall have clear evidence from the Lord as to what they shall do with it. If I shall build meetinghouses, as I hope to be able to do, I shall not turn these over to the Conference that did not aid me in erecting them.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 2)
This morning, November 7, we went with our horse and carriage to see May White and the children, who came last evening. Early this morning I saw in the heavens a rainbow and the shadow of a rainbow, looking like two rainbows. I said, This is portentous. I have had my attention called to this sign before, and a heavy rain has always followed. Well, we visited May White, and took her and the children to the druggists, where May wished to make some purchase. When she was through, we noticed that very heavy clouds were gathering, and when we had taken her home and turned homeward again ourselves, we saw that these clouds were growing very black and singular looking. We were afraid that Jasper, our horse, might not travel as quickly as the fast gathering storm. But we just reached home in time.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 3)
We found the gate open. I stepped from the phaeton and entered the door of my room. Sara and Maggie slipped the harness from the horse and led him into the shed. Brother Starr pushed the buggy under cover. We were all in the house and Sara was in the shed when the pelting hailstones came down. It rained in torrents. We feared that the glass of the windows would break. It rained thus for all of thirty minutes. We think it would have been hard for Jasper to have understood what was the matter had he been out in the storm, but he was safe under shelter. Sara could not get into the house before the storm burst, but none of us suffered.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 4)
Our first thoughts were for the camp. We feared that much damage would be done. Later we learned that only five tents were left standing. The big tent was being let down when the storm came in a volume of wind and hail. Four men hung on to the book tent in an effort to save it. But were taken up into the air with the tent. They escaped without injury, but the books, Bibles, copies of The Desire of Ages, and all of our best and also our less valuable books are ruined, we fear. Some of them may be saved and sold for a small sum.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 5)
This is one of the trials we are subject to at camp meeting. This is a loss that can be sustained, however. No limbs are broken, and we thank the Lord for His loving-kindness to the children of men. We dare not complain at anything, for we see that angels of God have protected our lives. We will not murmur nor complain.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 6)
On Sunday night the tent was full to overflowing. On Monday night lime light views were given, showing the school buildings at Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 179, 1899, 7)
Lt 180, 1899
Irwin, G. A. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 7, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Irwin:
In this place, Maitland, there is great wickedness. Churches of all denominations are here, and it can truly be said, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and is become the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird.... Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.” [Revelation 18:2, 4.] In this place I recognize a people who are left without a true shepherd. They have not had a fair chance. The shepherds feed themselves, but do not feed the flock. They kill those that are fed, but do not reform them.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 1)
We have had rain, I believe, every day since the camp meeting commenced. On Sabbath there were a good many people out. A number of unbelievers were present. In the afternoon I spoke from the fourteenth chapter of John. On Sunday afternoon the Lord gave me special strength and great freedom. In the evening Brother Daniells gave a discourse on the time of the end. It was a solemn, powerful discourse.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 2)
The meetings have made a deep impression upon the minds of unbelievers. Some of the Wesleyan church members are very much troubled in regard to the worldliness of professing Christians. They are, as one member of the church expressed it, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. One man talking with Brother Starr, said that men who have never entered a church are attending our meetings. Merchants, bankers, and men in official positions are full of interest, and are soliciting us to remain another week. We may conclude to do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 3)
There are men here who long to see truth and righteousness in the church. One said, I feel very sad over the ministry in our churches. He told us that they paid their minister five hundred pounds per year to preach to them, and he hires a curate to help him. But the minister plays tennis and other games, while the curate does his work. Amusements, church suppers, and a variety of things have come in to destroy the elevated character of Christianity. You cannot imagine the sorrow of my soul that we have not entered this place before. Almost every hindrance was presented before me at this time, but I told the brethren plainly that I should not change my mind until I saw some reason for doing so. Again and again Sydney, Lambton, Wallsend, were presented before me; but no, we could not hold the camp meeting there.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 4)
East Maitland needs labor done in it. I see right near us fields of labor that are all ready for Bible truth. At any time in our experience we should consider this a grand opening. The higher classes are doing all in their power to accommodate us. While it has been so wet and rainy, invitations have come to us to occupy rooms in the houses near by, and when the cyclone struck our camp yesterday, taking down all our tents but five, we had many sympathizers. One man in the government office came to the ground, and when he saw the damage done by the storm, he said, I do hope you will not move the tent. There will be plenty of room for some of the campers in our home. I can take two couples. Two women can sleep with my wife and two men with me, and there are many families who have more room and bed furnishings than we have.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 5)
Last night almost all the tents on the ground were unfit for occupation. There was nothing in the line of bedding that could be used. We hope that we shall have sufficient sunshine today to dry the bedding. The big tent was up, and there was a good attendance at the evening meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 6)
I know Maitland to be one of the places presented to me where the people were hungry for the Word of the Lord. This is a wealthy district, and there are not the hindrances to the truth that there are in many places. The best part of the people seem eager for us to stay another week, and we are inclined to think that this is the best thing we can do.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 7)
Yesterday an invitation came for Mrs. White to speak to the women of the W.C.T.U., which seems to have a strong force here. I shall consent to speak to them if everything is favorable. I can see now how appropriate were the words spoken to me by my Instructor. Pointing to the companies large and small, he said, These are as sheep without a shepherd to care for their souls. They must have the message from the Word of God presented to them in a clear, decided manner.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 8)
This is one of the many places to be worked, and I can now see more clearly the reason for our school being located in Cooranbong. In the place of our being isolated, we are in the very midst of fields that are waiting to be worked, fields where there are no shepherds to care for the poor sheep.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 9)
Thus we are lifting the standard of truth in new territories, in one place after another. We find that there is no place where we can stand still.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 10)
In haste.
(14LtMs, Lt 180, 1899, 11)
Lt 181, 1899
Wessels, Philip Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 6, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother:
We feel a deep interest in you, but the interest we feel is as nothingness compared with the interest Christ has in you and the love He has for you. “We are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] The Lord Jesus is the great Worker, as well as the Lawgiver. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you, to will and to do of his good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:12, 13.] God works and you work. Do not hang down your head as a bulrush, but lift it up, and trust wholly in God. Do not be discouraged, Philip. The Lord will be your helper. If you walk obediently and lawfully, He will be your strength, your front guard and your rearward. Let your swelling, struggling heart break for the longing it has for God, for the living God. Remember that the Lord is the one efficient power and agent in the work of the sanctification of the Spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, 1)
Do not stop at any halfway service. The Lord wants to save us, soul, body, and spirit. Eternal life offers the highest encouragement for the most earnest and valiant efforts in the outlay of every mental and spiritual energy and efficiency. In partnership with angels, we are to be the channels through which the grace of Christ is to flow. You may be a victor, but only as Jacob became a victor—by mighty wrestling with the angel Jesus Christ. Jacob prevailed because he would not let the angel go. If you lay hold of the Lord by faith, refusing to let go, He will give you His blessing. You will have courage because you have surrendered yourself to God, and thus secured the co-operation of divine agencies.
(14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, 2)
O Philip, my brother, wrench yourself free from every power that would hold you away from Christ. Work yes, work with unceasing energy, striving as if your salvation depended upon eternal vigilance. Trust in God, as though the result of the whole work depended upon Him. Thus there is a combination of forces. How glad Satan would be to see you a weakling, bending under every burden. You must work, Philip, with strong spiritual sinew and muscle, and with a bounding heart, as seeing Jehovah always at your right hand.
(14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, 3)
Do not, I beg of you, let any attitude taken by your brethren discourage you. You must recover yourself from the snare of the enemy. Let your heart be full of thankfulness to God, for He proffers you His Omnipotence, His divine strength. In every place do your best to help some other one. You have lost spiritual strength; now recover it step by step. Work with heart, mind, and strength, as a laborer together with God. Pray and trust, and when you feel your nothingness, the Lord will gird you with His strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, 4)
I cannot say half that I want to say. Do not repulse or be repulsed. Know that you have a mighty helper in God, and the faith now tried will ere long become a victory. There is a world to be saved. You can act a part in this grand work. Having recovered yourself from the snare of Satan, the Lord will surely strengthen and keep you, and fit you, for a place where you can be a more efficient worker. I point you to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Your wife has been loyal and true to God and loyal and true to you. May Jesus take your children in His loving arms, and bless them.
(14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, 5)
One of your little flock needs the greatest tenderness and the utmost care. Nothing like hasty temper must be manifested in dealing with the one who needs the most tender solicitude, else its mind will not recover from the influence. Nothing like hasty words or movements should be seen or heard in its presence, unless you would spoil its capabilities for life. This may not be understood by you. But there is one in your little flock in whom no fear should be aroused by harsh words. Time will change its character for better or for worse, according to the way in which it is treated. Never cause it any physical pain by punishment. It has a sense of terror which destroys its power of reason if any harshness is used. God help you all as a family, is my most earnest prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, 6)
Lt 182, 1899
Wessels, Peter Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 6, 1899 This letter is published in entirety PC 26-27. Dear Brother Peter Wessels:
I have some things to say to you which you need. There are places you might fill, places in which you might be a blessing in many ways. But erroneous ideas keep you from filling these places. Your character needs to be pruned, for there is a superfluous growth that needs to be cut away from you. The idea which you hold that no remedies should be used for the sick is an error. God does not heal the sick without the aid of the means of healing which lie within the reach of man, or when men refuse to be benefited by the simple remedies that God has provided in pure air and water.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 1)
There were physicians in Christ’s day and in the days of the apostles. Luke is called the beloved physician. He trusted in the Lord to make him skillful in the application of remedies. When the Lord told Hezekiah that He would spare his life for fifteen years, and as a sign that He would fulfill His promise, cause the sun to go back ten degrees, why did He not put His direct, restoring power upon the king? He told him to apply a bunch of figs to his sore, and that natural remedy, blessed by God, healed him. The God of nature directs the human agent to use natural remedies now.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 2)
I might go to any length in this matter, my brother, but I leave it now with a few instances. A brother was taken sick with inflammation of the bowels and bloody dysentery. The man was not a careful health reformer, but indulged his appetite. We were just preparing to leave Texas, where we had been laboring for several months, and we had carriages prepared to take away this brother and his family, and several others who were suffering from malarial fever. My husband and I thought we would stand this expense rather than have the heads of several families die and leave their wives and children unprovided for.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 3)
Two or three were taken in a large spring wagon on spring mattresses. But this man, who was suffering from inflammation of the bowels, sent for me to come to him. My husband and I decided that it would not do to move him. Fears were entertained that mortification had set in. Then the thought came to me like a communication from the Lord to take pulverized charcoal, put water upon it, and give this water to the sick man to drink, putting bandages of the charcoal over the bowels and stomach. We were about one mile from the city of Denison, but the sick man’s son went to a blacksmith’s shop, secured the charcoal, and pulverized it, and then used it according to the directions given. The result was that in half an hour there was a change for the better. We had to go on our journey and leave the family behind, but what was our surprise the following day to see their wagon overtake us. The sick man was lying in a bed in the wagon. The blessing of God had worked with the simple means used.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 4)
I remember still another case. At our first camp meeting here, held at Brighton, a young lady was taken sick on the ground, and remained sick during most of the meeting. She was thought to have typhoid fever, and although many prayers were offered in her behalf, she left the ground sick. Dr. M. G. Kellogg, half brother to J. H. Kellogg, of Battle Creek, was attending her. He came to me one morning, and said, Sister Price is in great pain. I cannot relieve her. She cannot sleep, and every breath seems as though it would be her last.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 5)
We prayed for her, and then like a flash of lightning there came to me the thought of the charcoal. “Send to the blacksmith for charcoal, and pulverize it,” I said, “and put poultices of it on her side.” He tried this, and in one hour he came to me, and said, “That prescription was an inspiration from God. Sister Price could not have lived until now if no change had come.” The sick one fell into a restful sleep; the crisis passed, and she began to amend. In a few days she was taken from [Brighton?] to her home in Melbourne, and is alive and well today.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 6)
All these things teach us that we are to be very careful lest we receive radical ideas and impressions. Your ideas regarding drug medication, I must respect; but even in this you must not always let the patient know that you discard drugs entirely until they become intelligent on the subject. You often place yourself in positions where you hurt your influence and do no one any good by expressing all your convictions. Thus you cut yourself away from the people. You should modify your strong prejudices.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 7)
I cannot speak as fully on this subject as I would like to, but let me say, “Hide Peter Wessels in Christ.” Here I must leave you, for I have not time to write more.
(14LtMs, Lt 182, 1899, 8)
Lt 183, 1899
Hyatt, W. S. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 9, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 1888 1693-1705. Dear Brother Hyatt:
I have some things to say to you which must be said. The first difficulties with Brother Philip Wessels were created by the confusion that came into Battle Creek from the Minneapolis meeting. Two years of opposition were brought in, and a spirit prevailed among some of our leading men at two General Conferences which was not inspired by God. Here were Brother Philip Wessels and his brothers, who afterward came into the possession of much property. Had the influence of the leading men of Battle Creek been pure and holy, what an influence would have gone forth from them to help and strengthen and settle the Wessels family! But disunion and rejection of light were the prevailing sins of those who had been long in the faith. They stood in stubborn defiance of truth and light and evidence, and the crooked paths made by them had an influence to unsettle the confidence of the Wessels brothers.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 1)
Better had it been for these brethren if they had never seen Battle Creek, for their minds were only confused and led astray by the pride and outlay of means they saw in the carrying on of the work in our schools. And the errors of Battle Creek would be seen in all they undertook in South Africa. Their experience might have been of an entirely different character had the work in Battle Creek been carried forward in simplicity, each worker learning Christ’s methods of labor and His meekness and lowliness of heart. But money was misappropriated. Ambition and outward display were brought in, and things were not as God had specified they should be. He designed that the work should be carried forward in integrity and strict economy, for the vineyard of the Lord, which is the whole world, was to be worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 2)
Every institution we establish, every sanitarium and publishing house and church, should bear the inscription, “To Him who hath loved us, and died for us, we dedicate this building, whose foundation and topstone were laid in His precious name.” Everything that is done in the furnishing of these buildings should be done with reference to economy. Tasteful, appropriate structures should be erected to give character to the work, but there should be no unnecessary outlay of means. God designs that the work of the ministry shall be regarded as sacred. It is not to be in any way demerited.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 3)
It is God’s plan to work through His instrumentalities, His chosen earthen vessels, and men are honored when He places them as His appointed messengers. The work of preaching the Word, presenting Christ crucified as the world’s Redeemer, bears the divine credentials, and proof of its sacred character is given in the conversion of souls. It is not the large buildings erected for show that give character to the work, but the winning of souls to Christ. This seals the teacher as a living oracle, as Christ’s apostle. This will demonstrate that the work we are doing is of God. “By their fruits,” Christ said, “ye shall know them.” [Matthew 7:20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 4)
I will say to my brethren in South Africa: There has not been that wisdom and keen foresight used in dealing with the Wessels family that there should have been. These brothers have invested their means in buildings and in various ways to sustain the work, and what use have you tried to make of them? True, they have not been free from mistakes and errors, but others, who have had much greater light, have revealed that they also erred. Have you given these brethren encouragement and wise, judicious help, or have you closed every avenue whereby they might be helped to be laborers together with God? Have you left them to drift whichever way they would, while their money was tied up in your buildings? Have you not, by your course of action, testified that you did not appreciate the work that has been done with their money? Have you not crowded out their influence, that they might have no part or lot with you? Much more might have been done than has been done to bind them up with the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 5)
The brethren in the ministry need every day the converting power of God upon them, else they will reveal how true are the words of Christ, “Without me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] Lines of work could have been entered into that would have called the young men of the Wessels family to act a part in God’s cause. Then they would not have drifted away into the world to invest their money in worldly enterprises, but would have been obtaining an experience of value. Were you in their place, how would you feel? The Lord does not approve of the course of action pursued by the church. Ministers need daily the melting grace of God in the heart. They need the love of Christ shed abroad in the soul. They need to censure less, and give far more encouragement. Let us be faithful with one another. Church members should understand that they are not all converted. There are many who need to have the soul temple refined and cleansed and purified, to open the windows of the soul heavenward and close the doors earthward.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 6)
There is need of an advance movement on the part of God’s professed people. We need to draw nigh to God, and see if there are not jealousies and evil-surmisings that are keeping the Saviour away. Selfishness and self-sufficiency close the door of the heart against Jesus, saying, “I want not Thy way but my way.” Humble yourselves under the hand of God, and He will lift you up. Your simple, heartfelt confessions of hardheartedness, worldliness, and love of display and pleasure will be heard by God, and these sins will be seen as they appear in the sight of a holy God.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 7)
The simple prayer of faith is music in the ears of the Lord. But you cannot have faith unless you talk faith and live faith. Then you may expect large things. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and convert you, soul, body, and spirit, and you will show to all around you that your face is turned heavenward. You will be moved to holy endeavor. There is need of heart searching and seeking after God. Then God will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and give you a tender heart, which He can impress. May the Lord help and teach and lead and guide us by His Spirit, that in life and character we may be fashioned after the divine pattern.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 8)
I address every church member. Open the door of the heart and let Christ into the soul. I address every laborer: Put on Christ. In this will lie your greatest triumph. Every minister, every worker in any line, needs to put on Christ and have the mind which dwelt in Christ. There is revealed too little deep insight into the situation and real necessities of the Lord’s blood-bought heritage. Souls have cost too much for us to be careless and indifferent in regard to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 9)
It is a sad fact that not all the men who have come from America as workers have been a help and blessing in South Africa. They were not living in connection with God. This has cost South Africa much. There are those who have not exercised wisdom in dealing with human minds, who have been too indifferent to reach out a hand warm with sympathy and earnest, intelligent love to help the ones Satan has tried to secure for his service. Circumstances consign every man, whatever his position, to a practical test; and the actual results of this test are offered to the world for inspection. “By their fruits,” Christ said, “ye shall know them.” [Matthew 7:20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 10)
Differences of opinion will always exist, for every mind is not constituted to run in the same channel. Hereditary and cultivated tendencies have to be guarded, lest they create controversies over minor matters. Christ’s workers must draw together in tender sympathy and love. Let not any one think it a virtue to maintain his own notions and suppose he is the only one to whom the Lord has given discernment and intuition. Christian charity covers a multitude of that which one may regard as a defect in another. There is need of much love and far less criticism. When the Holy Spirit is manifestly working in the hearts of ministers and helpers, they will reveal the tenderness and love of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 11)
Many things which have reference to outward forms are not all defined in the Scriptures, but are left unsettled; and personal preferences have often been urged too strongly over these matters. When every item is not in accordance with the practice of some other of the body of believers, let not little variances swell into grievances and cause disunion. The methods and measures by which we reach certain ends are not always precisely the same. We are required to use reason and judgment as to how we shall move. Experience will show what is the fittest course to pursue under existing circumstances. Let not controversy arise over trifles. The spirit of love and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will bind heart to heart if each will open the windows of the heart heavenward and close them earthward.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 12)
The sins marked out in the Word of God must not be allowed to enter the life, as of little consequences. If we would faithfully walk in the light of God’s Word and will, we must be determined that we will not dishonor God by a lax, loose course of action. It is often the case that the customs and climate of a country make a condition of things that would not be tolerated in another country. Changes for the better must be made, but it is not best to be too abrupt. The truth received into the heart sanctifies the receiver.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 13)
The power of the grace of God will do more for the soul than controversy will do in a lifetime. By the power of the truth how many things might be adjusted, and controversies hoary with age find quietude in the admission of better ways. The great, grand principle, “Peace on earth and good will to men” [Luke 2:14], will be far better practiced when those who believe in Christ are laborers together with God. Then all the little things which some are ever harping upon, which are not authoritatively settled by the Word of God, will not be magnified into important matters.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 14)
The great want in South Africa in religious lines is a clearer sense of the presence of God in every agency and in every enterprise. The purity and holiness of God is the great subject which must awaken the senses to the necessity of true conversion. While on one hand danger lurks in a narrow philosophy and a hard, cold rule of orthodoxy, on the other hand, there is great danger in a careless, impure liberalism.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 15)
The great theme ever to be kept before people is the indwelling and co-working of divinity, expressed by Christ in the words, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”“Love your enemies, ... do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” [Matthew 5:48, 44, 45.]
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 16)
“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but rather giving of thanks.” [Ephesians 5:1-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 17)
Let this entire chapter be studied by those who claim to believe the truth for this time. Open the heart to the grace of Christ. While we lament deplorable errors, let us receive the precious lessons of instruction the Lord Jesus has given us. God requires every heart to be filled with pure, clean, sanctified, Christlike love. The love of Christ must not be lost out of our humanity. We are laborers together with God. Ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building. Christ declares, “Without me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] Then open the door of the heart and let Jesus in. He is the great Worker as well as the Lawgiver.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 18)
The members of our churches need to awake to the realization that they must have none of self and all of Jesus. We must co-operate with the Lord Jesus. The soul is to be awakened to cry aloud with every aspiration for the living God. Let your swelling, struggling heart break for the longing it has for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let every one who has had an experience in their life in Christ show an earnest faith in God as the true worker. Show that you realize that you are only a channel through which God works. Appreciate the fact that God is our efficiency. We do not remember this, and therefore we lose much in religious experience. We work ourselves in place of being worked by the Holy Spirit’s power. We forget to regard ourselves as merely agents.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 19)
We are to contemplate Christ. We are to do our God-given work in our respective places, and by our own example call out the energies of the church to a strenuous co-operation with heavenly agencies, for it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. God will honor His own name if we will clear the way by confessing our sins and removing every stumbling block out of the path of those who would be Christians were it not for the imperfect course of action pursued by those who claim to be followers of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 20)
Constantly we fall into the error of imputing to the human agent that which should be ascribed to God. This is one great reason why the Lord cannot glorify His name as He longs to do. If He did, the human agent would become self-sufficient, self-exalted. Men would ascribe to themselves and to their human energies the honor that should be given to God alone. We need to walk humbly with God. As teachers, we should be very careful to make straight paths for our feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. In union with divine agencies, we shall have hope and assurance of success, but not a jot of the glory is to be ascribed to man.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 21)
Having through faith, living, unwearied, persevering faith, secured the cooperation of an all-powerful agency, man must not make the mistake—now the reason of the great feebleness seen in the churches—that it is their goodness and their merits that have done this great work. When this feeling is cherished, self-exaltation comes in and dishonors God. Self appropriates to itself the glory that God should have.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 22)
As God’s human agents we are to work with unremitting diligence, straining our spiritual sinews and muscles to lay hold of a power out of and above ourselves. Only thus can we accomplish our work. The Lord Jesus is beside us, ready to grasp the hand that is outstretched to Him who is Omnipotent. When our hopes are fulfilled, self is hid with Christ in God, and all glory is given to the Captain of our salvation, who has anointed us with the oil of gladness by His divine efficiency. Then we go forth, working like inspired laborers together with God.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 23)
There will always be conditions in God’s work. Every man is called upon to dedicate himself unreservedly to God, soul, body, and spirit. Amid self-denial and trial, discouragement and suffering, with the devotion of a martyr and the courage of a hero, he is to hold fast to that hand that never lets go, saying, I will not fail nor be discouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 24)
How much might have been accomplished in South Africa if the men sent to that field had been devoted Christians. But self was not hid with Christ in God, and therefore they exhibited self in large proportions. It grieves my heart to think of what might have been if all those who entered that missionary field had been humble, devoted, consecrated workers. Those who enter any portion of the Lord’s vast vineyard should understand that their supposed acquired abilities will not give them success in their work. A too great recognition of self will place one where he will be alone, terribly alone, without the cooperation of his brethren, and without the cooperation of heavenly agencies.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 25)
Some of the workers sent from America to Africa have been hindrances and not helps. The day of God will reveal the results of their work. They made confusion because they were not converted. Self was working without the power of the pure, true agency. Had these workers been sanctified, purified, and cleansed from all selfishness and self-superiority, had they had a genuine experience in the things of God, had their example and influence been right, Africa would not be what it is today. The grand, far-spreading influence of the truth would have embraced other territories. But some were selfishly afraid that the means in Africa would be used to open new fields.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 26)
A grand and noble work might have been in adding new territory to the kingdom of God with money that has been invested in America. I have felt intensely for the Wessels family, who have invested means here and there in the work in Africa, and then have been disappointed in the workers. They saw that the work did not advance and grow. Was there not a cause? Unconsecrated persons, who at home show that they are unfit to be missionaries, should never be sent into distant fields to work. Let those only enter missionary fields whose senses are sanctified, who move no faster in the investment of means than they have ability to perfect the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 27)
If in Africa there had been consecrated workers to push their way into unworked fields, with the full cooperation of the men who are bearing responsibilities, the influence of this work would have added large numbers to the Lord’s kingdom. But the same error has been committed in Africa that was committed in Battle Creek—a center was made in one place at a large outlay of means, while other portions of the Lord’s vineyard which should have been worked were neglected. God will use in His work humble men who do not think themselves so useful that they trust to their own judgment and efficiency. In Africa there were those who because of their humility were supposed to be unable to do much. Christ worked with these men. God gave them wisdom. But supposedly wiser men bound about the work, and gave little encouragement for it to advance.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 28)
The very means that was needed to enter and establish the truth in new territories was placed in America, where it would not do the greatest amount of good. God has seen all this, and has presented it to me. There was need of that means in new and unworked fields in the Lord’s vineyard that the standard of truth might be uplifted. Had the work been done that needed to be done, men of talent would have come to a knowledge of the truth, men who could have translated our books into different languages. Every dollar expended in America in adding building to building was needed in the fields that might have been entered but were not because many of the workers sent to South Africa were not sanctified. They were unable to take in the situation. They were not willing to deny self, lift the cross, and follow where Jesus led the way.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 29)
I am in sore distress as I see and understand what might have been done, yet was not done in a field that needed money and workers. Light was given to me to call to the Wessels family for money needed in the opening of new fields, in the carrying of the message into new territory, where the truth should shine forth in the dark regions of heathenism. These fields needed the money that has been absorbed in America. The Wessels family has invested some money in the work in Australia. Thus they have helped us to educate missionaries to go into unworked fields.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 30)
The greatest praise men can bring to God to exalt His sovereignty is to make themselves consecrated channels through which He can work. The Lord’s work is to be done, and He calls upon the members of His firm to act their part as obedient servants. If they have been fitted for service by the grace they have received, they are laborers together with God, but if they have not received this grace, they will be only hindrances. Through all the ages men have worked contrary to God, as did Balaam, because they have brought selfishness and covetousness into the work, leaving God out of their hearts and plans. The angelic agencies are represented as eager and longing to bring divine resources to human agencies for the conversion of souls that the Lord may be glorified. But there are many men and women who are not daily converted to God. They weave self and their own plans into the sacred work, and they are hindrances. God could bless consecrated human instrumentalities who are willing to let the divine influence use them to belt the world, yet heaven waits while men get in the way of His work with their own plans and methods. God says, Take up the stumbling blocks; make room for Me to work; prepare the way of the Lord and make His paths straight.
(14LtMs, Lt 183, 1899, 31)
Lt 184, 1899
Hyatt, W. S. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 10, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Hyatt:
I send this communication to you to be read to the churches, with the exception of the personal parts, which will be indicated by a star. I meant to have told my copyists about this, and have the personal part put in a separate letter, but it slipped my mind, and now it is too late to change it. But I did want you to know that the Wessels have been very much tried and often disappointed. I have not as yet brought this matter even before Brother John Wessels. I do not think that it would do any good, unless that I have knowledge that more of their money is being absorbed in America. And I do not want the past shortcomings of others to be an excuse for the errors that they have made.
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 1)
This matter has never been spoken of, as I have said, to John, neither has he mentioned it to me. The less the past is dwelt upon, the better. But these things have been for some time open before me, and I know that great trial and severe temptation has come to the Wessels family by the inefficient workers who have not been fitted for the place. Could Brother and Sister Druillard have remained, there would have been a different influence exerted. Sister Haskell and Sister Peck could do a work better for the general cause of God otherwise than by remaining in Africa.
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 2)
The workers have not exerted that influence that would lead the people to place confidence in them. The members of the Wessels family would have been in altogether a more favorable position spiritually if they had never seen America, and if there had never been sent to Africa men who knew not what it means to be servants of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 3)
The influence of such workers should never have been transported from America to Africa. These things are not to be dwelt upon, but there has not been altogether a correct influence with Brother Bicknall and his wife. He should never have been placed in the position in which he was placed, because neither he nor his wife were capable of doing in the best manner the things that were to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 4)
I understand that Brother Bicknall says I have stated that he must hold his position; but this must be a mistake, for the light given me is that he should not hold that position. I wish Brother Bicknall to send me the letter in which this statement is made, so that I can see and perhaps clear away this misunderstanding; for I do not want to be placed in a false light. Will you, my brother, look into this matter, and tell me in regard to this statement. There is something I cannot understand.
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 5)
Now again, I ask you to keep private at present all reference to Dr. Kellogg and the African funds going to America. I may have to lay it all out distinctly sometime, but Dr. Kellogg feels that I am not in sympathy with him and his work, and he has been almost on the eve of losing his reason. I have kept silent on many things that will eventually appear. I would have you know these things. Be very careful how you treat the Wessels family. Be kind and tender and patient with them, and help them if you can. I hope Mother Wessels and Andrew and Henry will come to Australia, for we shall then know better how to handle the case than do those in Africa.
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 6)
(14LtMs, Lt 184, 1899, 7)
Lt 185, 1899
Wessels, Brother and Sister [J. J.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 15, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 5MR 357-358. Dear Brother and Sister Wessels:
I cannot sleep past twelve o’clock. I cannot stop my thoughts, for the door will not close. As I lifted my head to see the time, I saw your letter under my door. I have read it. I cannot take in at once all you say, but I think I can approach to an understanding.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 1)
Certainly, thorough business arrangements should be made. The one man power is not to be depended on.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 2)
I have not felt at liberty to open to my brethren all the particulars of that which I know in regard to South Africa, because all are not prepared to see things in a correct light, and would make wrong moves. When I return to Maitland, I will send you copies of the letters I sent to South Africa in the last mail. When I was asked certain questions, I felt wrought upon to answer them.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 3)
I was obliged to leave Maitland yesterday. The responsibility of saying what I knew I must say brought upon me a severe attack of heart difficulty. I could not eat; my food would not digest; and it was decided that my best course would be to go home, and return to Maitland Friday. We were to start for Cooranbong early Tuesday morning, but we did not get off until late. Willie came to me and urged me to attend the workers’ meeting and speak to them. This I did. We drove to the tent, and I spoke for about an hour. As a result we had to drive home in the heat of the day. This was trying to the horse and to us.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 4)
I would not go back to Maitland did I not know that they are weak-handed. Brother Colcord is the only one now there who can hold a congregation.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 5)
A proposition was made that Brethren Hare and Hickox begin tent work at once in East Maitland. But light was given me Tuesday night that this would be a premature movement. Had we Elder Daniells or Elder Farnsworth to enter the work in East Maitland, the effort there could be carried forward solidly. But neither Brother Hare or Brother Hickox are qualified to undertake the work that has been contemplated. Brother Colcord could do justice to the situation, but none of the others now engaged in the work in West Maitland could carry this work. They all need to learn how to speak, what subjects to handle, and how to present the truth in such a clear, connected, simple manner that old and young will see its consistency. No haphazard work is to be done, for this would greatly dishonor God.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 6)
These brethren who need to learn must improve the opportunities granted them to gain an education in how to work. To learn how to open the Scriptures to others in an acceptable manner, means close application and hard study. This is necessary in order to give a connected discourse in a clear, forcible way, making all the important points stand out so clearly that they cannot be misunderstood.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 7)
To divide the force of workers now in West Maitland in order to commence the work in East Maitland would never answer. But how the matter will be adjusted, it is impossible to conjecture. May the Lord direct, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 8)
I think that when the matter is settled in reference to the sanitarium purchase, I shall make my way to that place, and live mainly on fruit. In our orchard we have no early fruit, such as peaches and nectarines; and I must have fruit. I am now studying the question, Who is the proper person to act as caretaker on the sanitarium property? I have one or two persons in mind, and I shall present the situation to them and find out whether they will take up the work. If they feel free to do this, you can make arrangements with them. This is all I can write now. Love to all your family.
(14LtMs, Lt 185, 1899, 9)
Lt 186, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
We miss you at our camp meeting, and yet, much as I desire to see you, I would not have you here just now.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 1)
We are glad, and very thankful to the Lord that He has given us many hearers. I have just left the campground, where I have been speaking to a tent crowded full of people and a wall of people on the outside. They all listened with interest. I spoke upon the subject of temperance and the necessity of reform. But this is a large subject, and I only just got a hold of the matter when I had to break off, for Dr. Caro was advertised to speak just after me. I am sure he will interest the people. He enters into the hearts of the people and they love him.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 2)
After I had ceased speaking, Elder Starr spoke for a few minutes, making the announcement that we had been urged to remain another week, and asking those present who wished us to stay to raise the hand. Many hands were raised, and this manifestation decided the question.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 3)
The terrible cyclone that struck the campground last Tuesday destroyed several of the tents, and the large tent, new last year, which cost three hundred dollars, was torn almost beyond repair. It had been used in Hamilton till the meetinghouse was erected, and was not very strong. We shall have to get a new tent, besides making repairs in the tents that have not been so badly torn.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 4)
This week has been a stormy one, but on Sabbath and Sunday the attendance at the tent was good. The people seem to be interested to hear. Oh, may the Lord help me, that no words shall escape my lips that will leave a wrong impression upon the minds of the people. Dr. Caro has large congregations. The largest crowd came out today. All the additional seats that could be procured were brought in and crowded close up to the stand. Then the children were taken to a meeting of their own in another tent where from one hundred to two hundred and fifty [assembled]. The people kept coming and coming, until every available seat was occupied, and then a large number stood on the outside.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 5)
This morning I was requested to speak at nine o’clock, when a call would be made to cover the damages done by the storm. In the early morning meeting one hundred dollars was raised. They wanted to raise money also for our sanitarium. The work on this is to be carried right along. The land is now secured, seventy-five acres, with fifteen acres of orchard. There are also nine more acres of orchard, separated from the fifteen acres only by a large furrow. These two pieces were originally one orchard, but a man bought nine acres of it, and therefore we had to make a separate bid for this piece. Its price was £700. Brother Wessels offered £600 for it, but the owner would not let it go for less than £640, so the price was accepted.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 6)
The fruit on the orchard this season will be of great value. The man now living on the place estimated the crop as worth £300 pounds. We did not examine the nine acres at all, but the fruit on it must be worth £150, for the trees are loaded with a variety of fruit. The orchard is in good repair. Some of the old trees have been taken out, and new trees, which are now bearing, put in their place.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 7)
This property is much cheaper than any other land in the locality. There is a four-roomed cottage on its land, and a shanty on the additional nine acres.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 8)
Monday, November 13
We thank the Lord that He has blessed the word spoken by His ministers in the tent. An interest has been created. The meetings on Sunday were largely attended. The Word has been presented with great clearness and with power, and many are convicted. After the storm, as the people came to the encampment and looked at the prostrate tents, they earnestly inquired, Will you go home? Or will you pitch the tents again? When they saw the cheerfulness expressed by the words and countenances of the campers and were assured that the meetings would continue, they expressed great satisfaction.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 9)
We consider it a privilege to speak of the kindness and courtesy manifested by the people of Maitland. After the storm, their doors were thrown open and hearty invitations given to whoever was in need of shelter among the campers. Bedding and clothing were drenched, but the campers kept up good courage; and relatives could not have done more for them than did the kind-hearted people of Maitland, who were comparative strangers. The readiness of the people of Maitland to show us so cheerfully and earnestly all possible favors, we shall ever cherish as one of the bright spots in our experience. May the Lord make this meeting a blessing to those who manifested such kindness and benevolence. We do indeed feel a great desire that the people who have been so kind shall be rewarded by the shining upon them of heaven’s precious light, leading them into all truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 10)
It was a trial of our faith to have the precious moments, that seemed to be needed to point out the sacred truth so essential for all to understand, spent in re-pitching tents. But the Lord will not allow the enemy to go beyond a certain line. While some words of wonder and regret that the storm had come, we were deeply grateful that the protecting power of God had been over His people. Not one life was lost; no one was in any way crippled or maimed. Then have we not reason for great gratitude and thanksgiving? This is not the first time that such a misfortune has overtaken us on an encampment. But we have no recollection of any lives being lost or any limbs being broken. The Lord will so overrule matters that those things which seem to be unexplainable misfortunes will prove blessings. The gifts of providence and grace are often blended, and in Christ’s kingdom both work together for the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 11)
The kindness shown us by the people revealed that we were among friends. We have a most earnest desire that the precious souls who have shown so many expressions of their kindness of heart to the children of God, may also express to the Lord their appreciation of the gift of Christ to our world, and manifest a willingness to follow the call of God to its utmost consequences. Said Christ, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] The Lord Jesus appreciates the kindness done to His servants. It is recorded in the books of heaven as done to Himself.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 12)
May the dear people of Maitland follow the Lord fully, not of necessity, not merely from a painful sense of duty, but with a ready mind and joyous heart, choosing the Way, the Truth, and the Life, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of this earth. May they choose Christ as their Leader. He will be their portion forever. He calls upon those who in the past have been destitute of His love to serve Him in the beauty of holiness. This work no man can do for another. To believe and receive the truth is an individual work.
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 13)
There are many souls in East and West Maitland hungering for the bread of life. You have heard me tell how the matter was presented to me in night vision—the people, with their hands outstretched, were calling, “Come to our help. Feed our souls with the bread of life. We are famishing for spiritual food.”
(14LtMs, Lt 186, 1899, 14)
Lt 187, 1899
Haskell, S. N. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 16, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in TSA 96-97; 13MR 291. Dear Brother Haskell:
My mind has been deeply stirred. Things are brought to my remembrance with such decided power that I must no longer hold my peace. Matters in regard to Africa have been opened before my mind. It has seemed singular to the Wessels family that for so long Sister White has been reproving, exhorting, and encouraging them.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 1)
Tuesday night I could not sleep past twelve o’clock. I dressed and tried to write, touching as lightly as possible on that which was troubling me, to see if this would not bring relief. But this would not answer. Yesterday, Wednesday morning, I was unable to write. Last night I was again passing through great trial of mind. I seemed to be in council meetings, speaking to those who had dishonored God by their wrong, selfish course of action.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 2)
Brother Miller and his wife were not the proper persons to send to Africa as missionaries. Others were sent to that country who were no more qualified to do righteousness and justice than were those who have never known the truth. They were filled with selfishness.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 3)
In the past I have not ventured to refer to these objectionable things, lest I should do harm, and yet I knew of them. But the General Conference has done great injury to the cause by sending to Africa persons who were wholly unfitted for the work there. Had the work in South Africa been properly carried forward, what a change would have been seen there and in the regions beyond!
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 4)
The Wessels family know that proper persons were not sent to South Africa as workers. As a family they had great confidence in their brethren in America. How disappointed they have been! I have written words of encouragement to Philip and Peter Wessels and others, and then some one of the workers sent from America has greatly discouraged them. As the Lord has presented these matters to me, I have said, God pity those who had no more judgment than to send to Africa workers who had been reproved for their wrong treatment of students in Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 5)
Brother Miller’s course and the spirit he manifested in Battle Creek has done great harm in the schools in America and in Africa. His heart was not right with God. He was not emptied of self. The way in which he has handled money showed that he had not a correct influence and could not be trusted with finances. He cannot stand clear before God until he makes confession, if he cannot make restitution of the money which he used in such a way as to prove a great injury. The selfishness manifested by Brother Miller and his wife shows that neither of them had learned the lesson of meekness and lowliness at the feet of Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 6)
Did our brethren in America think that if a man happened to have talent in some things, he was sure to be fitted for the work in South Africa? Did they think that it would not matter whether the workers they sent there were sanctified or unsanctified, for Africa had plenty of money? The unprepared workers who were either encouraged to go to South Africa, or who encouraged themselves to go, have left such an impression that, in regard to many of the workers, the people would rather they had never left America. Some had no missionary spirit in them.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 7)
These things have been as a millstone to drag down the work in Africa, to confuse instead of making clear. Who encouraged Sister Griggs to go to South Africa? I was instructed that this young woman was not prepared to deal with human minds in America. She was not prepared to teach a church school in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 8)
It is a solemn, serious matter to select missionaries for foreign countries. The men whom God will accept for this work must be as true as steel to principle. They must be men who are emptied of self, men who give evidence that they are wearing Christ’s yoke and manifesting His meekness and lowliness of heart. The very best talent is required in such fields as Africa and Australia. We have to work in and through Christ, and in some places with the consent of the corrupt churches, although we cannot respect their claims, wherever the church is managed by the state. We have to use wisdom in representing the truth. Our speech must be tempered, else we cut ourselves off from gaining access to those who need help. The wisdom of angelic agencies must be imparted to human instrumentalities, else the door will be closed to the message the people need. “Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” [Matthew 10:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 9)
Talent and money have been largely diverted from South Africa, a field which should have had both these things to employ good workers to enter the destitute fields. God entrusted money to the people of South Africa to be invested in places where there was the greatest need for medical missionary work. This money should not have been transported to America, to enrich a field which had abundant facilities that were growing too weighty to be properly carried. There are missionary fields where the standard of truth has never been uplifted. The Lord calls for new territory to be added to His kingdom. Let the managers of His great work ask Him for sanctified hearts and for abiding wisdom, that they may take into consideration the necessities of the field and their relation to one another in God’s great plan.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 10)
But I have not time to write much more. It is now eleven o’clock, and in two hours we start in our phaeton for Maitland, twenty-seven miles away, to stay over Sabbath and Sunday. We prefer to drive rather than to go by rail.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 11)
Let those in America, who suppose the voice of the General Conference to be the voice of God, become one with God before they utter their opinions. The Word of God is to be lived as well as preached. It is to be brought into every phase of the Christian work done in this world. The men God has appointed to do His work must be emptied of self. Let Jesus in. Open the door of the heart to the heavenly Guest. Let no man be looked up to as God. When those who come nigh God in service are consecrated, cleansed, and purified, approaching nearer and still nearer the divine benevolence, they can voice the commission of God, and be respected.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 12)
The obeying of the Word of God will lead to a state of things vastly different from that which now exists. There will be the putting away of fleshly lusts and greed for gain. That this sin has existed could not be better demonstrated than by the grasping for large wages by those who were professedly acting in Christ’s stead, claiming to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works. God is displeased that His work is not advancing in new territories.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 13)
I wish to say that a very poor example has been set the Wessels family by the workers sent to Africa from America. Some of these workers had never learned the lesson of wearing Christ’s yoke and bearing His burden. God designs that men shall be drawn constantly upward by the strong moral attraction of that which is above. Had the workers in Africa remembered this, they would have done a great work by their God-fearing, unselfish attitude. Those in Africa would have been inspired to use their physical and mental capabilities for God. The work would have gone forward among the Dutch and other people. Publications containing the truth would have been circulated everywhere. Ministers and rulers would have been converted to the truth. The war now going on would not have been.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 14)
Those who have to work in the South African field must understand the bearing of the situation. Their connection with their African brethren is a reciprocal one. There are men of talent in Africa, and if the workers from America knew how to pocket their self-importance and recognize the ability and talent possessed by their African brethren, much more good would be done. Those who love God and obey His Word are to be closely united. They are to work together, using their talents in various ways.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 15)
There was no need of so many workers going to South Africa. Those in Africa who possessed capabilities should have been united with their American brethren. If the brethren and sisters from America had united with the African believers, songs of joy would have been heard among the heavenly angels, recognizing the human relationship as a union with God. Could the curtain have been rolled back, we would have seen heavenly angels all prepared to co-operate with human intelligences for the advancement of the work in South Africa.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 16)
Every word uttered, every action performed, by the workers in Africa should have been such as to exert a life-giving influence. Then the work would have advance in strong lines in every place where the workers are now doing something to press back the moral darkness. God is always true.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 17)
I can write no more now. As soon as we have eaten dinner, we shall start for Maitland. I may not have time to write anything more for this mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 18)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 187, 1899, 19)
Lt 188, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 13, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in TSA 97. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I will send you in this mail copies of the last letters I sent to Africa. I have carried a tremendous burden for Africa. We must save the Wessels family if possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 1)
Last Sunday I was requested to attend a council meeting held by the brethren in Elder Starr’s house. Elder Daniells, W. C. White, Brother Palmer, and one or two others were present. The question to be settled was, “Who shall teach Bible in the school during the coming term?” The matter seemed to stand between Elder Farnsworth and Elder Robinson. This drove me to make some statements which I now feel the time had come for me to make. I was forced to present before the brethren the favorable and unfavorable qualifications of both Elder Robinson and Elder Farnsworth. This involved much, especially in the case of Elder Robinson.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 2)
Elder Robinson is more responsible than any other man for the present condition of the Wessels family, because he could and should have helped them. He was a missionary on missionary soil, but he did not take the right course to help the Wessels. He did not do what he would have done had his soul been warmed with the love of God. He did not seem to have tact to deal with human minds. It was not in him to understand the temperament of the Wessels brothers. Often he stirred them up instead of pacifying them.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 3)
Had Elder Robinson pursued a different course, Philip would not have given up the Sabbath. It would have been better if Elder Robinson and some others had not gone to Africa until they were themselves molded by the Spirit of God. But it is sufficient to say that Elder Robinson did not understand himself or the Wessels family. Neither did he realize that his position as president of the conference demanded a course of action different from the one he followed. His management was not for the best interest of the work in Africa. He was there as a missionary, to do the highest kind of missionary work among the African people.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 4)
The Wessels family would have helped him with their means to carry the work into new territories had he given them a chance. Books should have been translated in the Dutch and other languages. The Wessels family should not have invested the money that they have in America. This was not consistent with the Lord’s way of working. When there are in foreign countries those who have means to handle, the Lord would have those in positions of trust see things afar off as nigh at hand. But there were sent to Africa from America as workers those who had not developed wisdom either in spiritual or temporal things; and some of these workers were no help to the people in Africa.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 5)
The one placed in charge of the work in Africa should have been wide awake to the necessity of aggressive warfare. He should have given the members of the Wessels family a chance to engage in the work of the Lord, a chance to use their means in missionary work, in the work of translating, in helping those in the darkness of error. It was in this work that their means was most needed, not in America. Philip should have been encouraged to employ translators to send light into the dark places of Africa. He could have united with his brethren in getting out tracts and papers. Publications should have been issued in different languages. Laborers should have been sent to new places. Territory should have been added to the Lord’s kingdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 6)
Africa needed the means which was invested by the Wessels family in America. There was in the dark places of Africa a people who were stretching out their hands for the truth. There was a large field for missionary work in the regions beyond Cape Town.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 7)
In God’s plan there is neither exception nor limitation in the gospel call. The gracious provision has been made for all. The call to the feast is for all. This truth must be preached by precept and example. The hardest fields must be worked. Those who enter such fields as Africa must be able to comprehend the necessity for advancing the saving process that must be carried on in the regions beyond.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 8)
The Wessels’ money flowed the wrong way when it went to America, for America needed it less than any other portion of the Lord’s vineyard. The Wessels family needed help. They needed to be brought into the work, and united and bound up in the work. It would have been better, far better, if not one of them had ever seen America. But please keep this to yourself. If the workers sent to Africa had been filled with the true missionary spirit, if they had been workers who could have educated others, a far greater work would have been accomplished.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 9)
Philip and Peter Wessels, and others, could have done the highest kind of missionary work if they had been encouraged in a kind, courteous manner, and shown how to work. They would not have followed the lead of those in America, who in sympathy and discernment are so far separated from foreign fields that they know little of their needs or of the work done in them. In America money and workers are absorbed altogether too largely in one class of work.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 10)
In Africa the highest energies of the soul should have been exercised for the recovery of those who needed saving. Nowhere else in our world could true missionary work have accomplished such great changes as in Africa, and from Africa this work would have extended to regions beyond. But much that ought to have been done has not been done. The workers have not understood that first a work must be done with themselves. They needed converting anew.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 11)
God has His instruments always in readiness, to use when He needs them; but often in their blindness men plan, as supposedly wise men, and fail to discern whom the Lord would use. If Elder Haskell had united Philip and Peter Wessels with him in breaking the way into new territory, God would greatly have blessed him and them. But the way was barred by his brethren’s lack of faith. If the missionary work that ought to have been done as a part of the gospel had been done, as Elder Haskell greatly desired to have it done, the terrible war now raging in Africa would not be. There were men right in Africa richly endowed with capabilities, who, if trained, would have been better fitted for the work there than some of those sent from America. Missionary teachers are sent by God to educate people just where they are.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 12)
It is running a great risk to send men from Africa to America to learn the ways for which God has reproved those in America. It is safer to educate students at home than to send them to America to receive an education. In America they see and hear much that does them no good, which they would not see and hear were they to remain in their own country. Too many of the methods and habits and fashions have been transported from America to Africa, and the result is not favorable. The very best teachers should be sent from America to foreign countries to educate the young.
(14LtMs, Lt 188, 1899, 13)
Lt 189, 1899
Lacey, Brother and Sister [H. C.] Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 19, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 142, 462; 3SM 228. Dear Brother and Sister Lacey:
I held your letter before answering, that I might have the counsel of Brethren Starr, Daniells, and W. C. White. I gave the letter to Elder Daniells, and he said he would read and answer it. That night I was very sick. The gasometer is near us, and the smell from this poisoned me. I had to pack up and go back to Cooranbong. Tuesday I was very sick and could not eat, but I felt that I ought to return to Maitland; for Brethren Daniells and Palmer were gone, and the forces left were weak.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 1)
On Wednesday, November 8, a severe storm struck the camp and tore things up generally. The neighboring people were very kind and acted the part of the good Samaritan. They opened their houses to the campers and took care of them free of all cost. All that was in their power to do they did to make them comfortable. The storm broke up the meeting for a day. The people were afraid we would become discouraged and go home, but we did not propose to do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 2)
We have had an excellent interest every evening of the week, and on Sabbaths and Sundays, and in many ways the people have favored us far above our expectation. We were under the impression that Maitland would show a large opposition; for there are many churches here, and a strong Catholic element exists in both East and West Maitland. But church members have attended the meetings, and many are deeply interested. Some of the leading men in the place, merchants and men in official positions, are as kind and courteous to us as if we were of the same faith with themselves. It is a new thing for us to meet with people who seem so desirous to favor us. The Kerr brothers, dry goods merchants who have one of the largest drapery establishments in West Maitland, and other men of large influence, attend the meetings and are deeply interested.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 3)
Last Sunday afternoon the congregation was asked to raise their hands as many as desired to have us remain over another week. So many hands were raised that we decided to stay, and here we are still. We have had most excellent discourses, but now Brethren Starr and Colcord are our chief speakers. I fill in at my usual times. We are charged nothing for the use of the beautiful park in which our camp is located. But for this extra week I think we shall have to pay one pound. Our crockery has been loaned to us free of cost, on the condition that we replace the broken pieces. Our chairs we have hired at one-half the price we have secured them at any other place. Our misfortunes during the stormy weather drew out the sympathy of the people. As they have seen our people cheerful and happy and uncomplaining, they have taken note of it, and we feel sure that this will tell to the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 4)
I feel sure that this is one of the places from which came such importunate appeals for help. The words I heard were, “Come and help us.” [See Acts 16:9.] Then One who looked upon them with pity said, “They are as sheep having no shepherd.” [Matthew 9:36.] The shepherds do not feed the sheep. From the light God has given me, the work in Maitland must be carried on perseveringly, for the Lord has many precious souls to be saved there. And the way is prepared for us. We have a policeman attending all the meetings he possibly can. He says he never heard such teachings, and yet they are all in the Bible. He is completely ignorant of the meaning of the Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 5)
One merchant said, Our minister has no burden to feed his flock. He does not visit them. He receives a salary of five hundred pounds per year, and for this he speaks thirty minutes each Sunday. He feeds himself, but feeds not the flock. Another says, “We are paying our ministers large salaries, and we ourselves are starving for the bread of life. Our church is dead; there is no vitality in her.” The ministers are now being roused to the question, “What shall we do with these men who preach such strange things?”
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 6)
But your letter is not answered. We think it best that you should not leave Toowoomba just now. Visit. Become acquainted with the people in their homes. Test the spiritual pulse, and carry war into the camp. Create an interest. Pray and believe, and you will gain an experience which will be of value to you. Do not take up subjects which are so deep that they require mind struggles to comprehend. Pray and believe as you work. Awaken the people to do something. In the name of the Lord work with persevering intensity.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 7)
The Lord has a people in Toowoomba, and they must be reached. Talk with the people in their homes. Get right hold of them, and do not let go. Compel them to come in. This will be a new experience to you, and it may be the best you have ever had in your life. If you saw a company of people rushing over a precipice to destruction, would you not try to urge them back? You do not work in your own strength. Angels of God are by your side to make the impression. Souls are to be saved. Wrestle with God in prayer, and then work with all the advantages God has given you. The Holy Spirit is promised as your efficiency. Lay hold of the throne of God with faith in His power to save every soul who will come unto Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 8)
We have not had evidence that one soul has taken his stand for the truth in this place; but we do not let go. There are souls to be saved, and we must be laborers together with God. You must plead with God until your soul is made a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Then you can discharge your duties with a full comprehension of the principles which underly the great truths you present. You must realize that your character needs fashioning for a lifelong and eternal destiny.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 9)
What inducements have you who are workers to scrutinize your own positions as workers together with God. The Lord is the one who will water the seed sown. The intellect may receive its impressions from opportunities well or ill improved. These work in mind and character to a certain degree, and decide the destiny of your future. You are now gaining an experience that will affect all your future efforts, and by which your intellect and character will receive their molding. You are employed to carry forward a sacred work, and you are weaving the web of your own destiny. Every passing of the shuttle draws after it a thread which may be for your future interest and efficiency. Nothing is left to blind chance. The Lord will work through you if you will set your heart in tune to the work. Lean your whole weight upon God. Sow seeds of truth. The season and manner of sowing will determine the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 10)
This work is to be a determined work. The lost sheep are all through the country where you are. You are to seek and to save that which is lost. They know not how to recover themselves. Search the Scriptures with a heart softened and subdued by the grace of God. Set your mark high, and say at every step, I will not fail nor be discouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 11)
You need a thorough, practical knowledge of the truth in your own life experience. The providence of God has placed you where you can gain an experience in ascertaining for yourselves what it means to be sanctified through the truth. You will learn as you labor that the mind must be constantly learning how to comprehend the virtue of truth. A strong, vitalizing conviction of the transforming power of the truth will qualify you to meet alternating circumstances, and gain an intelligence in them all. You are learners; Christ is your Teacher. Therefore you cannot feel it beneath your dignity to be instructed at the foot of the cross.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 12)
The purest, highest motives should urge you on to persevering effort. Your preparation is in seeking the Lord. Your moral powers must be strengthened, else they will become enfeebled by worldly motives. God has called you to a most sacred work, and when your soul breaks for the longing that it has to find God, you will learn how to reach souls. The truth with all its sanctifying power will be left in your own heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 13)
We have a most earnest desire that in the effort you are now putting forth you may understand the value of true education. As yet you have but a partial, one sided education. True education is that which will endure unto eternal life. True education is the preparation of the mental, moral, and physical powers for the performance of every duty, pleasant or otherwise, the training of every habit and practice, of heart, mind, and soul for divine service. Then of you it can be said in the heavenly courts, “Ye are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 14)
Let there be no neglect to train the physical with the mental powers. You are God’s property, bought with a price. Nothing must be neglected which will keep the physical powers in healthfulness. “Ye are the temple of the living God.” [2 Corinthians 6:16.] The powers of endurance, of adaptation to varied circumstances should be considered. Periods of rest should be taken. Your diet will have much to do with your clear comprehension of the work. By overloading the stomach you create indigestion and cause a condition of things that is anything but agreeable. There is far greater danger of overeating than of undereating. Eating to repletion destroys the appetite for wholesome food. A craving for something that is not wholesome is created, and the appetite is perverted.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 15)
Train the stomach to regular periods of eating. Do not use much sweets in your food. We need to guard carefully the appetite which has not been carefully trained. Educate your appetite. The mind should not be clouded by eating in too large proportions. Never feel that you must eat until all desire for food is gone. Leave the table with as good an appetite as you had when you came to it. The highest intellectual faculties are overtaxed when the stomach is overloaded, then there are hindrances to keen, sharp thought. Exercise as much as possible. Do not engage in study directly after eating.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 16)
I had no idea of writing in this line to you; but I was talking to you about these things, and giving you counsel. I saw that you were becoming a dyspeptic through the indulgence of appetite, and that changes must be made which you alone could make if you would preserve your intellect for vigorous hard thinking. The mind acquires tone and efficiency by habituating itself to plain, simple, substantial food, and being temperate in all things. Mental and physical discipline are essential. All your workers must be guarded in their diet if they would have clear minds and pure souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 17)
God help you, is my most earnest prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 189, 1899, 18)
Lt 190, 1899
Gotzian, Sister [J.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 1, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 3MR 240-241. Dear Sister Gotzian:
I think I never in all of my experience have had a more busy time than lately. I am here, there, and everywhere. During the month of September I went to look at three different locations for the sanitarium. We had been requested to do this. The first time we went quite a number of the brethren were with us. We spread our food upon a tablecloth on the ground and ate our dry, simple lunch of bread and fruit. All we did at this time was to ride round and admire the sites which we saw. Some of them were beautiful, but all the land we saw was altogether too high in price for us. We left the burden of looking further upon Brother John Wessels, telling him that when he found anything he thought favorable, we would come and see it.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 1)
Well, we were soon sent for. Brother Wessels had found a site which was in many ways desirable, but which had some drawbacks. A brother who had recently come into the truth had hired this place and expected to receive some money from the fruit in the orchard. He is a poor man, and was living in a shanty on the land. We did not like to turn him off the land. Then there were other difficulties, which would very likely have made expense and delay. A government road has been surveyed through the land just where we should have wanted to build. So Brother Wessels began searching again. He found a piece of land for sale, containing seventy-five acres in all, fifteen of which were laid out in orchard.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 2)
After returning home from the inspection of this place, I was sent for to unite with my brethren in the dedication of the church at Hamilton. I was requested to make a dedicatory speech. I was quite free. One was present who had recently embraced the truth, but who had been weakening on the money question. The Lord gave me a most decided testimony, which this man told Brother Starr was preached directly at him. It seemed to save him to the cause. We had an excellent congregation at the church on Sabbath and Sunday. There seemed to be an interest to hear. Believers are uniting with the church. Oh how glad we are that we have a church where those who embrace the truth can assemble to worship God! This is the Lord’s memorial, and testifies every week that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God. All have treated us courteously.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 3)
There is a debt of about three hundred pounds on the church, but we have moved by faith, and we hope soon to have this debt lifted.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 4)
We returned home on the cars. One week before this we drove up with our horse and carriage to Wallsend, a suburb of Newcastle. The distance from Cooranbong to Wallsend is seventeen miles. The road is very hilly and in some places very rough. On Sabbath we spoke to a goodly number in a large room in the house Elder Haskell occupied before he left. Then we drove to Lambton, a place three miles away where Brother and Sister Hickox and their family reside. The house in which they are living is situated upon a hill. They are very pleased with their little home.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 5)
There are three small churches in this town. Brother Hickox has rented one to speak in some evenings in the week. We enjoyed our visit very much. Brother and Sister Hickox have one daughter, his child by a former marriage. She is a very ladylike little miss, and is appreciated both by father and mother. They have adopted a little orphan boy, and they think a great deal of him. We had a precious season of prayer while there. As we were leaving the daughter said to me, “Sister White, I wish you could stay longer; I like you so much.”
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 6)
The next day it rained. I had been advertised to speak in the park at Wallsend, but we knew that the rain would make this impossible, so Sara and I turned our faces homeward. The next Sabbath we went to Hamilton to the dedication of the church. After we returned home I sent off American and African mail. Then the word came to go to Sydney to see another place, forty-two acres of land, with thirteen acres of orchard. Then home again, with more mail to get off, for the mail day comes once in two weeks.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 7)
Then came a telegram for me to go at once to see a large place of seventy-five acres, costing two thousand two hundred pounds. The fruit in the orchard of this place will help to pay the interest on the money we shall have to hire to purchase it. The caretaker on the place says that he sells three hundred pounds’ worth of fruit every year. There is an abundance of plums, apricots, nectarines, and pears. The day we went to look at this place was one of our spring days, but the wind was very cold. Once more we spread our luncheon on the ground. Brethren Wessels, Salisbury, Daniells, and Sharp were with us. Willie and Sara had business to do in the city, but joined us afterwards, so Brother John Wessels took me in charge. We looked over the place and had a council together and then, very tired, we were glad to return to Brother Wessels’ house in Strathfield.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 8)
After that I had much to do. Brother John and I received letters from South Africa from members of the Wessels family proposing a way in which they thought they could help the work and cause of God. We read the letters and approved the plan. Besides the African mail, we had the American mail to send. I slept only a few hours nightly, and after I returned home I collapsed.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 9)
I was greatly enfeebled, and thought that perhaps I could not go to the Maitland camp meeting. But Sara and I have decided to drive to Maitland with Jasper, the horse we bought from Brother Haskell. This is a drive of twenty-seven miles, uphill most of the way. We start tomorrow about daylight. It will take six hours to go. Today I am feeling better. I had a dish of strawberries from our own vines, but strawberries do not amount to much here; it is not cold enough for them to do well.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 10)
A few hours since I heard that W. C. White had a letter from John Wessels. W. C. White and May are attending the wedding of Mr. Hughes’ daughter and the brother of Minnie Hawkins, one of my editors. Yesterday Brother Thomson’s daughter was married to a young man whose name I do not remember. “Marrying and giving in marriage,” as Christ said it was before the flood. [Matthew 24:38.]
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 11)
Brother Wessels writes that he has taken steps to secure the place of seventy acres. This is the one that will serve our purpose best, and the terms are easy. One hundred pounds is to be paid down, and two hundred, I believe, in three months; the balance in twelve months at five per cent interest. The reason why we have purchased so much land is because those who are connected with the sanitarium will want to purchase land to build houses of their own on, but we do not want these houses near the sanitarium.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 12)
Thus we have nearly three thousand pounds to pay in twelve months. This is ten thousand dollars. At the union conference we raised nine hundred pounds among ourselves. I pledged one hundred pounds. I have hired the money, paying five per cent interest. I know I must pledge to the very extent of my powers in order to keep the donations as large as possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 13)
We all agreed that the place we have purchased is the very best one we could have. There is a four-roomed cottage on the land. We would be so glad if we could borrow money with which to erect the sanitarium. On this place we shall have all the fruit that will be needed, and all cost of transportation will be saved, for the fruit can be picked off the trees. This is of value, for often the fruit will not bear transportation unless picked before it is ripe. All that will have to be done will be to take care of the orchard, and we shall have an abundance of sweet, wholesome fruit.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 14)
We have walked out by faith, and we expect to buy this land. The negotiations are being made today. When these are completed, we shall send someone to take care of the place, giving two weeks’ notice to the man already there. He has been working on the orchard, so it will be in good order. We have needed a sanitarium for a long time, and now we are in a fair way to have one.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 15)
The Health Retreat on the school ground is nearly finished. When the third coat of plaster is put on it will be ready for occupation. It will be occupied, we are sure, for the sick come to us from far and near.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 16)
I have not yet received one penny, either from the Review and Herald or the Pacific Press on my recent book, The Desire of Ages. I suppose the cost of getting out the illustrations is being settled up. I must live on hired money until I get out of debt. But I fully believe the Lord will help us to get the money if we walk forward, trusting in Him. My confidence is good. I do not faint nor am I discouraged. My testimony to my brethren at every step is, “Go forward. Embrace new territory. Lift the standard higher and higher and still higher. Set by memorials by building meetinghouses. Let them stand as witnesses to the truth.”
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 17)
We must have a sanitarium, because this will do more to enlighten the people than almost anything else could do. We are very thankful for the five hundred pounds you mean to send us. This money will settle the debt on our Retreat building, and we will thank the Lord for it.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 18)
Never, never are we to distrust or doubt God. The word comes, “Add new territory to the Lord’s heritage. Press forward and upward.” This word we have tried to obey. Four school buildings have been erected on our land here, also a Health Retreat. We have connected with the school a small carpenter’s shop, a bakery, and a printing office. Wealthy men not of our faith are sending their sons to school, to have their hours of study and of work, that their physical and mental powers may be equally developed. This is true education. We see the necessity of setting our press in operation at once, that we may get out notices and leaflets to use in missionary work.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 19)
The establishment of the Health Food Factory has called for means which we did not have, but we have advanced in these lines because we dared not delay. If we had waited for piles of money to be laid down in our sight, where would have been our faith? “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1.]
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 20)
Twelve months ago there was not a Sabbathkeeper in Newcastle. Now there is an organized church of forty members. They have a neat, convenient house of worship.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 21)
I remember the first time we entered Sydney. We made our home with Elder Daniells, and while there we visited Parramatta. As we saw the parks and beautiful drives and took our dinner in one of the groves, we thought how pleased we would be if we could have a church in this place. But how could we get the truth in Parramatta? Soon Brethren Robert Hare and Steed commenced labors there, and as a result souls embraced the truth, and a church was established, the first in New South Wales.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 22)
After spending some months in Melbourne, we visited Adelaide, where I was an invalid, unable to walk but a few steps. In three months we returned to Melbourne, and for eleven months I suffered severely from rheumatism. But in spite of this I was often taken in my phaeton to the halls, and conveyed armchair fashion from the carriage to the platform. I also visited the school, and was carried in a chair up the long flight of stairs to the chapel. My mind was as clear then as it has ever been, but I had to keep my arms close to my side in one position.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 23)
After this, in company with Brother and Sister Starr, I went to New Zealand and remained there nearly one year. For some time I had been improving in health. I could stand to speak after once being helped into the desk. I could also walk a little, but could not kneel. All my praying was done while sitting in my chair.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 24)
After our first camp meeting, which was held in Brighton, we made our home in Granville, near Parramatta. The camp meeting in Ashfield, New South Wales, held about that time, was a success. After a time a meetinghouse was built in Prospect, as a result of the labors of Brother Hickox and other laborers who cooperated with him. Next the Ashfield meetinghouse was built. This is a nice little building, and one which would do honor to any people. But the members composing the church have not been emptied of self and filled with the love of God. There are always those who weave their own unsanctified selves into the service of God. There are always found in the church vessels unto honor and vessels unto dishonor. But the Lord will manifest Himself, and will cleanse the chaff from the wheat. He will make the church an honor to His name.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 25)
Next the church in Melbourne, Victoria was built, and then the church in Stanmore, New South Wales. Then followed the erection of churches in Cooranbong, New South Wales, Brisbane, Queensland, and Hamilton, a suburb of Newcastle. These memorials of God stand as sentinels to witness to the truth that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 26)
Since our camp meeting in Toowoomba, Queensland, missionary work has been done there. The Lord was with us in the meeting, and His blessing rested upon us in large measure. The outside interest is not large, but we labored for a goodly number who drank in the refreshing draughts of the water of life. I spoke six times during the meeting. Brother Herbert Lacey and his wife now stand at the head of the work in that place, and the Lord will help them. They have pitched the tent in the very heart of the city, and several workers have united with them to do house-to-house labor. We believe the truth will bear away the victory. The people are very courteous, but seem to be spiritually palsied.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 27)
The Lord will work in this beautiful city. The people must hear the message. There is to be a new creation there. Fallen man is to be reached. The sheep who have wandered away from Christ and His fold are to be searched for and brought back to safety. Sin is to be pardoned, the sinner saved, and God glorified through the faithful efforts of His consecrated workers. To this people in Toowoomba the treasures of wisdom, which have been hidden for ages, are to be brought forth in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Resources which have never yet been drawn upon are to be drawn upon now. Infinite wisdom will reveal to the workers the vast wealth within their power, but which their senses have been too dim to perceive. They have not been uplifted to see and desire the glory that is shining forth in such divine, inexhaustible strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 28)
I send you with this a letter written to Sister Wessels of Africa. The last two mornings I have not left my bed before daylight. This is something new for me, and I feel very grateful to God for the blessing of sleep.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 29)
Now, my sister, you say I have not written to you. I did write you a letter, and why you have not received it, I cannot understand. I wrote you still another letter one or two mails since, and now I write again. I hope this will reach you. We shall be very thankful when the one thousand dollars reaches us. We shall put it into the bank to be drawn upon for the Health Retreat, which must be furnished and set in operation.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 30)
I am very sorry that Brother Zelinsky is having so trying a time. But the warfare will soon be accomplished, all trials ended, and we shall see the dear Saviour whom we love. Be of good courage, my brother. The Lord loves you in your trial and suffering. The Saviour is your hope. Trust in Him every moment, and He will be to you a sun and a shield and an everlasting reward. You have had a life of suffering, but I am glad that you have Sister Gotzian for your friend and helper.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 31)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 190, 1899, 32)
Lt 191, 1899
Irwin, G. A.; Haskell, S. N. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 16MR 84-88. + Dear Brethren Irwin and Haskell:
I have some things upon my mind which I must communicate to you. I will state the matter as well as I can. I have thought much, “How can I help the school in Battle Creek, and help to wipe out the large debt?” It came to me that the only way I could do [it] was to make a gift of the book soon to be issued, The Parables. I wish this book to be used in the interests of all our schools.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 1)
I will require no royalty if our printing office in Battle Creek will find the material and do the work of printing and binding the book. Others can give the illustrations, and those who canvass for the book can act their part by taking a smaller commission. The Conference has pledged the interest on the debt, and this will help in the proposition I have made. We will all share in the act of benevolence, and help the schools to help themselves out of embarrassment. If we with all harmonize in this work, the Lord will be pleased, and the ones who act a part the Lord will bless. If the Review and Herald [will] find the material and print and bind the book free of cost, they will be doing no more than they would have done had they given the interest on the debt.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 2)
I have not time to write much, for the mail leaves this morning. I awakened at half past twelve o’clock, and am now writing to you. I have not the faculty of stating the matter regarding the book as precisely as I would like, but you can understand me, I hope. The Pacific Press would act a part in behalf of the Healdsburg school and the great whole proportionately. The Echo Office would also do its part. There should be a general work of benevolence done, that we may accomplish the most in helping our schools. I will give the manuscript of the book as my portion. This, I understand,is now waiting for the last reading of some of the last chapters. And in order to relieve the situation of the Conference, I will cut down my wages to fifteen dollars. This is all I can do in this line, for I am at the present time paying interest on several hundred pounds in this country and several hundred pounds in America, as the books will show.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 3)
Now, my brethren, will you consider this proposition, and see what the Review and Herald will do and what the Pacific press will do, and what the canvassers will do in reducing their commission? Will you see if you can not secure donations of illustrations that will make the book attractive and saleable without great cost? Can you see light in this? Let me know if you will do your best to accomplish this transaction. My heart is deeply stirred in regard to the debt upon our schools all over the world. This state of things should not exist. Will you unite with me in creating something that will change this order of things? In the name of the Lord, do something, and do it now. Arouse the people to do something in regard to these school debts.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 4)
Would it not be the best thing we could do to sell the large school building in Battle Creek, and take the money to establish a building free from debt where can be had the advantages of land for manual labor? Thus the students could work on the same plans that we are trying to work on here. We think that if this were done, it would be the first step in heeding the message given for families to get out of Battle Creek into a more healthful location and a more spiritual atmosphere. There are altogether too many interests in Battle Creek. But this matter needs to be handled with great prudence and much wisdom. The Lord is to be our Counsellor in all the movements made.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 5)
We greatly desire to see the spiritual atmosphere in Battle Creek changed for the better. Decided changes need to be made in the church, for her lack of moral power and spiritual efficiency is to be lamented. What can heal the church? What can create a pure and holy sentiment in all our institutions in Battle Creek? We need to begin at the very first principles of willing obedience to God’s holy law. An outward observance of the Sabbath will not save the soul. The principles interwoven with every one of the ten commandments are to be honored and obeyed in the individual, practical life. The law, God requires, shall be written on the tablets of every soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 6)
In what consisted the strength of the assault made upon Adam, which caused his fall? It was not indwelling sin, for God made Adam after His own character, pure and upright. There were no corrupt principles in the first Adam, no corrupt propensities or tendencies to evil. Adam was as faultless as the angels before God’s throne. These things are unexplainable, but many things which now we cannot understand will be made plain when we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 7)
What humiliation our Lord was subjected to when assailed by the powers of the prince of darkness. Was it no degradation to the spotless Son of God that His dignity should be questioned, His authority disputed, and His allegiance to His heavenly Father assailed by a fallen foe? How humiliating to Christ to have Satan show a superiority to Him. We but dimly comprehend why Christ was brought in contact with the adversary of God and man. It was in behalf of fallen humanity, that the compassionate Christ was made to appear in His humiliation.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 8)
All heaven watched the scene of the temptation. The object of Satan’s assault was the Commander of heaven, and with what intense interest heavenly angels watched the conflict. Behold, angels stand on guard, ready to undertake in Christ’s behalf should Satan pass his prescribed limit. O, what love burns in the hearts of the angelic throng as they behold their loved Commander apparently in the power of His foe. And when the last temptation comes, when the enemy offers to Christ all the world and the glory of it if He will fall down and worship him, when they see divinity flash through humanity, their love and sympathy can no longer be restrained.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 9)
Christ gave evidence that all Satan’s taunts could not call Him from His allegiance to His Father. The very purity of His principles was assailed, but He gave evidence of the mighty power that was in Him. “Get thee hence, Satan,” He said, “for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [Matthew 4:10.] The Captain of our salvation overcame the enemy, and Satan left the field a conquered foe. But the terrible strain upon His humanity left Christ as one dead. Then angels came and ministered unto Him. Their arms encircled Him. Upon the breast of the highest angel in heaven His head rested. He was provided with food, and divine consolation flowed into His soul. His humanity had felt the shock of Satan’s tremendous effort to overcome Him, but the enemy was vanquished, and the human race was placed on vantage ground with God. In His human nature Christ conquered in behalf of the fallen race. For time and for eternity man would be able to resist the power of the satanic agencies by becoming partaker of the divine nature. He could keep the law of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 10)
Here is presented before all the warfare of Christ with Satan in behalf of the human race. The church is to stand in and through Him who took the penalty of sin upon His own divine soul. Every advantage that Christ had in the conflict He has made it possible for man to have. There stood the divine God in closest contest with the evil one. What an hour for the triumph and supremacy of Satan, man’s most deadly foe. How he would have exulted had he been able to place his feet upon Christ as a victor. What swellings of pride filled his heart because he had in it in his power to humiliate Christ. But the Son of God came forth more than conqueror. O, if men would avail themselves of their advantages, they would in turn become victors over the powers of darkness.
(14LtMs, Lt 191, 1899, 11)
Lt 191a, 1899
Irwin, G. A.; Evans., I. H.; Smith, U.; Jones, A. T. Refiled as Lt 137, 1898.
Lt 192, 1899
Directors of the Sanitarium NP November 21, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 6MR 397-400. To the Directors of the Sanitarium:
Please to bear in mind that Dr. Kellogg is not to step in between you and me, and feel that my remarks are directed to him personally. It is you who are honored with the position of board of directors that I address.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 1)
I receive letters from those who are carrying the interests of the school in Battle Creek in regard to selling the College buildings there, and establishing schools in other localities out of and away from the city, so that they can have the advantage of land for agricultural purposes. The surrounding circumstances should be considered. Dr. Kellogg may feel delicate in regard to advising the Board to take these buildings, because some have felt that he has wanted those buildings, and was working to get possession of them.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 2)
If the Sanitarium needs more buildings, why should not the directors buy the college buildings. There is no other way for the school to do but to sell. I would ask the sanitarium Board to act as benevolently as possible in behalf of the school interest. It can help the school by purchasing these buildings at their own value. This will be the very best medical missionary work that could be done to advance the cause of God. It is your privilege to take this sick child off the hands of the school, to relieve it of this great burden. Is there not a privilege in this? Will not the Lord be pleased with such a movement?
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 3)
You should not feel that you can buy the College building at a price far below their value, and thus bind up the hands of those who are working in the interest of the school, so that they cannot build another school away from the temptations of the city. The youth should have the very best surroundings, for they are strongly influenced by that which they hear and see. The many things they see to talk about in the city affects their mental and physical faculties. Daily they come in contact with a way of doing things on incorrect principles. Thus it is that those who have had great light, great opportunities, great privileges, have also disadvantages. Those who make large profession, but do not reveal Christ in their words and deportment to all around them, imitate insensibly the words and actions of those who if are denying the Saviour. If they only knew that the eye of the Lord was upon them, they would be Christians in every sense of the word.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 4)
The Lord is weighing actions. He has been telling those who have been crowding into Battle Creek to go out of Battle Creek, and begin in other places a work for those who need help. But how many have heeded the instruction given? In the place of people leaving Battle Creek, more money, ten thousand dollars, was called for to erect additional school buildings, while the college was under a heavy debt. How much better would it have been if they had heeded the word of the Lord. That addition which the Lord warned them not to build has brought an oppressive debt, and we have now come to the place where something must be done to relieve the situation. Those who waved aside the testimonies given, should now be among the most earnest in restoring that which has been invested in a work that has brought depression rather than relief.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 5)
But shall not we all do what we can to relieve the situation? The sanitarium is the instrumentality that can purchase the college buildings, not at an under value, for this would close the door so that the very work which might not be done could not be done. I will do as I have proposed in the letter that goes in this mail. If our institutions will now act their part liberally, if the managers of the sanitarium will purchase, the college buildings not at the lowest price, but with the idea in mind that they are aiding the cause of God I will help in the way I have proposed. Let us all unite our efforts to relieve the situation in Battle Creek.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 6)
Our youth can be educated far better out of the cities; for where there is so much going on, so many temptations, they are affected by the injurious influences, and learn much that it is not for their best good to learn. The teachers may do all in their power to instruct, but independent of all that is taught in the Bible classes, an influence is constantly at work that molds characters in the wrong direction. If the Sanitarium board decide to purchase the college buildings in the place of erecting other buildings, as they will be tempted to do, they will have abundant room for educating their students in medical missionary lines. A portion of the College building can be secured for the church school, in which should be carried forward a judicious, practical education in habits of order and punctuality and the proper distribution of physical duties and mental taxation.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 7)
If the Sanitarium board do not take the buildings, I shall feel sad indeed, but not discouraged. I shall call upon all our institutions to share the burden and lift this debt by co-operating with me. Tangible proof of their willingness will be seen by the sacrifices they make in order to help.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 8)
Plan we must in the name of the Lord, and lift for all that we are worth. Let parents take their share of this work, and let us see what kind of a showing we can make for God when the new year shall open. Let all commence to work at once on a systematic plan. If we will draw in unity we shall achieve that which without united effort would be utterly impossible. Let us awake to our duty. The Lord will surely bless those who stand ready to bless one another. The Lord is soon to come, and in the place of drawing apart, we need to draw together in strong lines.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 9)
We need unselfish, devoted men to act as educators. Young men and young women are to be brought to our schools to receive an education, that they may learn how to teach others to understand the Word of the Lord. We need ministerial laborers in every school to educate the children and youth in Bible lines, and the pastor has work to do for the teachers as well as the students. Our schools must be more like the schools of the prophets. We call upon teachers and all connected with the school to make self-sacrificing efforts. We call upon our sisters to work intelligently, devotedly, interestedly, to make the school a success. Let our churches help. God will bless all who co-operate with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 192, 1899, 10)
Lt 193, 1899
Wessels, Sister [A. E.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 28, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Wessels:
The African mail leaves Sydney today, and I awaken at two o’clock a.m., and prepare myself to write you a few lines. Will you please consider the matter of coming to Australia for the purpose of placing Andrew in more favorable surroundings? When we realize that one soul is of more value than the whole world, we shall make most earnest, determined efforts to save even one soul. In comparison with the value of one soul the whole world sinks into insignificance.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 1)
As Christ gazed down from the Mount of Olives upon the doomed and guilty, impenitent city, He exclaimed with broken, tearful utterance, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.” Here He hesitates before He pronounces the irrevocable sentence. The language of His soul is, “O that my people had hearkened unto me.” But at last come the words, “But now they are hid from thine eyes.” [Luke 19:42; Psalm 81:13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 2)
In these broken utterances Christ took in not only the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but every impenitent soul in our world. Why, O why are the hearts of humanity so hard? Why are men and women, young and old, so determined to ruin their souls? Each of us has our day, the day of merciful visitation. Sister Wessels, God is calling for every member of your family, saying, “My love is toward you, to save you from that retribution which will come upon every soul who refuses my counsel.”
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 3)
I know that the Lord would have you place yourself and your youngest son where you will be under different influences. Go not with him to Europe, where there are influences that will surely lead him to ruin. Your first business is to save his soul. Just as long as he is under the influence of those whose society he chooses because he wants his own unsanctified way, then nothing is hopeful in his case. He needs an entire change of circumstance. Mercy has long hovered as a guardian angel over the boy, but, my dear sister, you have had a love for your son which has not been exercised for his best good. True love would from the first have kept eternal interests above the present, selfish indulgences which are spoiling your son’s character-building in this life and for the future eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 4)
My heart is drawn out after Andrew. He has been educated in self-indulgence, his mother not realizing that by gratifying the inclinations of her boy, she has imperilled not only his physical health, but his eternal welfare. Now if you take your boy and do your level best to create a different atmosphere about his soul, you will be doing the work that as a mother you should have done from the very first of his life. As Christian mothers, we have no moral right to imperil the souls of our children by gratifying their wish and inclination to have plenty of money to use. By gratifying this inclination you are so educating your son that he will not know how to use prudently and wisely that which he shall feel is his own portion, to do with as he may be disposed.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 5)
Mother Wessels, your dear son’s soul is too precious for him to be treated as he has been. Change this order of things. As far as the value of money is concerned, it is the Lord’s entrusted talent, to be used for His own name’s glory. Wisdom must be exercised, so that it shall not be wasted upon worthless purposes, as it surely has been and will be unless your son is converted to God and situated where eternal interest shall be recognized in all its bearing.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 6)
The loss of every pound is of little consequence in comparison with the worth of his soul. It is his soul for which I am burdened. Shall Christ say of this youth, “Ye would not come unto Me that ye might have life? Ye would none of My counsel; ye despised all My reproof. If thou art unsaved, it is thou thyself who art responsible.” [See John 5:40 and Proverbs 1:30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 7)
Sister Wessels, what mother ever loved her child as Jesus loves His children? He looks upon the spoiled manhood with a grief deeper, keener, than any mother’s love. He sees the future retribution of an evil course of action. Let everything be done now that can be done to accomplish the work that should have been done. It is not too late for Andrew to repent and come to Jesus and live. Mercy’s time of respite is not yet exhausted. Jesus is still calling, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.]
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 8)
I cannot say all that is in my heart to say, but I know that if you realized the value of souls, some decided efforts would be made to change the order of things, to break up the associations which are a constant injury, and which will prove the ruin of the souls of more than one member of the Wessels family. I love their souls, and Jesus Christ loves them with a love as much deeper and stronger as the heavens are higher than the earth. Then, I say, Come, without delay come. Do not put your boy to learn a trade merely. Place him where he will be taught what it means to be a Christian.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 9)
The Lord calls for you today. I have written so much that I thought I would not write more. But the souls purchased by the blood of Christ are precious, and I cling to them as I see that they do not realize that unless they are saved through the merits of Christ’s blood, they will be lost, eternally lost. I am stirred with an intensity of feeling. I cannot refrain from still pleading.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 10)
While the beams of grace are still lingering, Christ is still inviting you, Andrew, still pleading with you to gain a knowledge of the things which belong unto your peace. He is reaching out His hand of mercy, saying to Andrew, to Dan, to every member of the Wessels family, If in this your day you will receive Me in simple faith, the peace which I alone can give will be yours. Pardon will be yours. You may become a blessing in your influence, rather than a curse to help others to be regardless of their souls. Andrew, the recording angel wishes to place your name in the book of life. Now is the time for you to stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 11)
Mother Wessels, and as a servant of Jesus Christ I may advise you. Place your son Andrew where he will learn that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Place him in a school where the Bible is the foundation of education. I believe that Andrew will be much more sensible here in Australia than he has been in South Africa. You can now improve the present time. I know of no better place than Australia for your son. John is here, and his influence over Andrew and Henry and other members of the family will be good.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 12)
I leave these lines with you. God help you to see and understand that He is speaking to you. In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 193, 1899, 13)
Lt 194, 1899
Lindsay, Brother and Sister [H.] Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 27, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Harmon Lindsay:
I would much rather talk with you than write to you, but as I cannot see you I must write to you in regard to Andrew. Use your influence to get him out of Cape Town. The Australian school will be a blessing to him. His associations, as presented to me, are doing him harm. When this is the case the very best thing to be accomplished at any inconvenience or sacrifice is to change the circumstances surrounding him to where the influences will be less enticing.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 1)
We think of the proposition that has been made in regard to the property of the Wessels family as a good one; but every point is to be duly and carefully and prayerfully considered, and the Lord’s glory kept in view.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 2)
I have now spoken to the people in Maitland four Sabbaths and Sundays in succession, besides several times during the camp meeting The people now interested are of the very best class. The Sabbath question is making quite a stir. The ministers are preaching against Seventh-day Adventists. I take my horses and phaeton and ride to Maitland. Sister Sara McEnterfer accompanies me. We start at an early hour to avoid the heat of the sun. We returned from our last trip yesterday. We rose at one o’clock, fed the horses by moonlight, and were in the carriage by three o’clock. We drove the 29 miles across a mountainous road, and entered our gate at eight o’clock, a little after breakfast time. We did this to escape the heat.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 3)
The work is going forward in Maitland. All the region round about is stirred; little suburbs three to fourteen miles away are interested. One party of twenty came several miles on foot one evening to hear the truth. Calls are coming in from every direction to have meetings in their locality. The tent had to be moved from the beautiful park in which we held our camp meeting and they pitched it on the lawn belonging to the mission building. Brother Starr has charge of the mission. It stood in the park three weeks and thousands have heard the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 4)
There are not half the number that we could use to go out into the adjoining towns to labor. But the laborers must be paid, and we have not the money to do this work as it should be done. Another tent will soon be pitched in East Maitland, three miles from West Maitland. Many excellent people are coming to the meetings. Among these are three brothers who are holding offices in one of the city churches and have a large drapery business in Maitland, each brother having a store of his own. These men and their wives are deeply interested in the truth, and it will be a great cross for them to take their position. We hope the Lord will lead them out by His Holy Spirit, for they would be a great help to the cause. They are intelligent, and use neither tobacco nor liquor. The Lord wants all there is of these men in His service. Several have said that they were going to keep the Sabbath.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 5)
There are quite a number of workers, but not enough to fill the places where there is an interest created. All the way from Maitland to Newcastle, a distance of twenty-five miles, are places to be worked. The people are calling for help. They want the Scriptures opened to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 6)
Never have we seen in this country a more kind, courteous people than those who live at Maitland. The Lord is at work, opening doors for us. Last Sunday we had a review of matters, to see if we could possibly hold our present number of workers. We feel that we cannot do this, for we cannot pay them their wages. May the Lord teach us what to do. Five tents could be pitched in various places within a few miles of Maitland and Newcastle. I intend to speak in several towns. In Maitland we must make every effort to advance the truth. Maitland is not like Newcastle, where a large portion of the inhabitants are miners. Maitland is an agricultural town, surrounded by large farms. If the truth can obtain a hold in this community, the people will have no difficulty in keeping the Sabbath, and one soul embracing the truth will draw others after him.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 7)
Our influence is telling strongly now, but we have the influence of the clergy to contend with, and there are just as great sinners in Maitland as in many other cities. We have now been holding meetings for several weeks, and new ones are becoming interested in the truth. What a work this is! My heart is in it. This is the last message of mercy to be given to a people who have never had the third angel’s message. I wish you could hear these people speak. Many of them are intelligent men and women. One said, “I have been a member of the church for forty years, but I now see that I know very little of the Scriptures. I never knew there were such precious things in the Scriptures. I never knew there were such precious things in the Bible.” Another man said, “I have purchased a Bible, that I may take it with me and mark the passages; then I shall not forget them. I have been for many years a church member.” Women, fine-looking, intelligent women, express themselves as deeply interested.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 8)
We have to keep the interest up upon many subjects. The medical missionary work takes with all. Every soul who takes hold of the truth intelligently invests other souls with an influence of the same kind, drawing them to work for others. And if under the Holy Spirit’s influence these converts diffuse the light, a church will be organized here of a higher class of people. The people here are calculated to be workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 9)
We see that we must take the truth to every point, every locality where an interest is created. We must hold meetings with the people, opening the Scriptures before them in the most simple manner. As we do this, the faces of the people begin to express that their hearts are touched. The workers are finding their way to the very best class of this farming community. If we can only be the instruments in the hands of God to teach the people the Word, to love not the world, neither the things of the world, to come out and be separate by accepting the cross, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, how thankful we shall be. This cross will be to them a perpetual memorial of a nobler world. The law of God, which is discarded and trampled upon, will be rescued from the dust and rubbish and uplifted. They will behold eternal realities, as if they were standing in the open portals of the city of God, and surveying the glories within. This will link them with the divine, and show them the inferiority of all worldly enterprises. They will understand their responsibility to use their God-given talents to take others with them.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 10)
If I had never been convinced that Cooranbong was the place selected by God for our school, and as an important missionary center, I should have no doubt now. O how deeply was this matter impressed upon my mind one year ago, when I was considering whether I should be able to attend the camp meeting in Brisbane, Queensland. In the night season there was presented before me large and small companies. Some were in prayer. Some were trying to read their Bibles, and could not understand them. With perplexed minds and sorrowful hearts they were saying, “Who can explain the Scriptures to us?” Others with outstretched arms were saying, “Come over and help us.” [Acts 16:9.] One stood by my side and said, These are as ignorant of the truth for this time and its important relation to them as if they had not the Word of God. They are as sheep without a shepherd. The shepherds feed themselves, but feed not the flock with pure provender, thoroughly winnowed from the chaff. I have a people here. Seek for them. Open My Word to them line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. These are as children in understanding; therefore be not discouraged at their slow efforts to take in the truth. The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 11)
I cannot write more, for the mail must go to the post office. God bless you all.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 12)
P.S. We see that the Lord is working all around us, but we have to study economy, economy. We cannot do the work that ought to be done, for want of means. O, that the Lord would be gracious, and open ways whereby we might advance the work in our world. We walk by faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 194, 1899, 13)
Lt 195, 1899
Colcord, W. A.; Starr, G. B.; Hickox, A. S. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 29, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 1BC 1102; 4MR 245; 11MR 274. CTr 53. + Dear Brethren Colcord, Starr, and Hickox:
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” [Hebrews 11:6.] When the Lord gives His servants a work to do in His service, they are not to be satisfied with a measure of success. Certain parts of the work may be carried well, while other parts of the work are deficient. The Lord is pleased with the workers in His vineyard when they have a sense of the need of the perfection of all parts of the work. The work of saving souls is the very highest work that can be done in our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 1)
The fact that man can please God is a wonderful incentive for us to make the most persevering, intense efforts, efforts which are proportionate to the value of the object which we are seeking to gain. “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you, to will and to do of his good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:12, 13.] Enoch walked with God. He was not satisfied with his own companionship. He walked with God. He pleased God. The Lord is not pleased when those who He has created are sinners. We are ever to walk with God and learn of Jesus Christ, who has overcome every temptation wherewith man is beset. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 2)
The Lord draws man close to His side, to walk with Him, to work with Him, to teach him how He overcame every temptation in humanity, and how, therefore, man may overcome through the provision the Lord has made. With every temptation there is a way of escape, by walking humbly with God. Without faith, ever increasing faith, it is impossible to please God. Christ cursed the fig tree because it bore no fruit. Thus He would teach that God is not pleased with His human agencies if in their lives they utterly fail to fulfill the purposes for which they were created.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 3)
In his fallen nature man can do the very things God expects him to do, through the help provided for him. He can walk and work and live by faith on the Son of God. God is not pleased with those who are satisfied with a mere animal life. He has formed man after the divine similitude. He designs that he shall possess the character of God by obeying His law, the expression of His divine character. The Lord has given man mind, intellect, affections. These gifts are entrusted to man to be exercised and improved. God has given him a conscience, which must be carefully cherished and appreciated. He has given him knowledge and virtue. These entrusted capabilities are to hold the supremacy which God has assigned to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 4)
The Lord expects man to exercise the faculty of faith. It is the real, vital essence of Christianity to grasp the unseen by faith, reaching out constantly to lay hold of the spiritual efficiency found in Christ. If man does not constantly improve by exercising the gifts of God, it is not possible that he has that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. To cultivate a few of God’s entrusted talents is not enough. The conscience is to be in touch with the life and character of God. This is spiritual walking with Jesus Christ, partaking of the divine nature, having overcome the corruptions that are in the world through lust. Every entrusted gift is to be cultivated and employed in the Master’s service. Life eternal is attained only by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 5)
If all the teachings given by Christ, when enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, had been obeyed, the Jewish nation would have stood forth to glorify God above every nation and people upon the face of the earth. Jerusalem need not have been destroyed. But she disregarded the commandments of God, while professedly regarding them.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 6)
I could not sleep tonight after half past one, and am now writing by candlelight. Our Saviour declared for the benefit of all who would serve Him, “This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” [John 17:3.] The more nearly self is brought into perfect submission to God, the more clearly will we understand the power that God will manifest in behalf of His people. The Lord will fulfill His promise to His people. We have failed because the fruit we have borne has not been proportionate to the light and advantages given. The endowment from heaven is just as much for us as it was for the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 7)
Have we faith in God, faith that takes hold of unseen blessings, and trusts in God for greater things? He who has prepared blessings for those who are doing Him service is not satisfied with our present state of spirituality. We must go forward and upward. God has provided us with the faculty of faith, and He expects us to use it. We are to believe every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 8)
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith unites the soul to God, and without faith we cannot have eternal life. Our unbelief has led us to much ingratitude. There is a great work to be done in Maitland. But none of you can carry this work to success unless you have faith to understand that the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violence take it by force. We cannot rely on worldly rank, on our own human efforts. But we may trust in the power of the Spirit of God, and believe that He will respond to our faith. God would have used His church, His chosen people, to unite with Him in preparing the way for the first advent of Christ to our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 9)
The gift of Christ to our world meant hope, revival, and conversion for the Jewish nation. Co-operation with God by receiving John’s message would have prepared the way for the greatest Teacher the world ever knew. But it was not the priests and rulers who knew in regard to the Saviour’s birth. It was not the priests and rulers who received Him. Only the remnant of Israel, who had kept the faith and were humble before God, who were Israelites indeed in whom was no guile, received Christ and became His true followers. Because of pride, a backsliding people rejected the Saviour, and thus the advantages proffered to the Jewish nation passed from them to the Gentiles.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 10)
“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting (from the days of eternity, Margin). Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” [Micah 5:2-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 11)
The gift of Christ is the highest possible pledge of help in all our trouble and victory in all our conflicts. In Christ is the strength of His people; for all power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth. Let us as a people who have had great light remember that Christ sits among His people as a refiner and purifier of silver. He is continually cleansing the hearts of those who engage in His service as workers together with God. He will work through every soul. He is continually cleansing the hearts of those who are willing to be cleansed, separating the pure from the impure.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 12)
In proportion as the church advances in holiness, she advances in strength also. “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall fail and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” [Isaiah 40:28-31.]
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 13)
The Lord has signified to me that He has a people in Newcastle and Maitland. And among those who have expressed themselves as dissatisfied with the spirituality of their churches, I have recognized the faces presented to me. God has also shown me that the set time for our enlargement has come, the time when light is to shine forth upon the people in Maitland. Those who show contempt for God’s law and refuse to search the Scriptures to see if these things are so will lose rich blessings.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 14)
God provides men and means for the accomplishment of His work, and if those who are engaged in His work will have faith, they will remove mountains of difficulties. Those who hold the truth in righteousness will see that God’s Word accomplishes the thing whereunto He sends it. Let every worker bear in mind that we have a covenant-keeping God, who knows all our necessities, a God who unites with His majesty all the gentleness and tenderness of a shepherd. Let those who engage in work for Christ have faith in God, for God’s honor is at stake. He will fulfill His promises to His people. Absolute power is His, and no obstacle can stand before Him. His understanding is infinite. He cannot err. He is never in perplexity in regard to the means He shall employ.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 15)
God honors man by inviting him to be a laborer together with Him. He asks that man’s ability shall be consecrated to Him, purified from all selfishness. He says, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; they that strive with thee shall perish.”“Thou shalt seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contended with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.” [Isaiah 41:10-13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 16)
If you do not see the success in your work that you hope for, have faith in God. Do not talk unbelief. His goodness and truth are eternal, and He will not alter the covenant that has gone out of His lips. In the darkest hour, when the hellish shadow of Satan lies directly across your pathway, let faith pierce the cloud; for Christ is behind, and He doeth all things well. The plans of men may be many, but God can make them of none effect. He has power to establish, and He has power to overthrow the ones who interfere with His work of enlightening men and showing them their peril if they continue in disobedience to His commandments. The fifth chapter of Matthew reveals the truth concerning the laws of God’s government.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 17)
Despondency in the service of God is unreasonable and sinful, for the Lord is ready to bestow upon His servants all the grace and wisdom which their case demands. The message of God is to go to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. It is to come to our churches through the instrumentality God uses. He invites the investigation of all who minister His Word to the people, and through His servants He invites men to a full investigation of His claims, as revealed in His Word. If increased light is given, ministers are accountable to God to search the Scriptures, and see if these things are so. It is a dangerous business for them to turn away the flock of God from the truth. The Lord has much light for His people.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 18)
We are living in the last days of this earth’s history, and the Lord sends His messages to His people, warning them not to be found among the transgressors of His law, lest they have to meet God over His broken law. Error hates the light and will not come to the light, lest his deeds shall be reproved. The cause of truth challenges every man who holds a position as teacher of the truth to search the Scriptures.
(14LtMs, Lt 195, 1899, 19)
Lt 196, 1899
Robinson, Sister [A. H.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 27, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in DG 225-226; 2SM 258-259. + My Dear Sister Robinson:
I have just received my American mail. My secretary has read me my letters, many of which are of a very interesting character. I will answer your letter first.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 1)
As you relate your experience in the death of your child, and how you bowed in prayer, submitting your will to the will of your heavenly Father, leaving the matter with Him, my mother heart is touched. I have passed through an experience similar to the experience through which you have just passed.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 2)
When my eldest son was sixteen years old, he was stricken down in sickness. His case was considered critical, and he called us to his bedside, and said, “Father, mother, it will be hard for you to part with your eldest son. If the Lord sees fit to spare my life, for your sake I will be pleased. If it is for my good and His name’s glory for my life to close now, I will say, It is well with my soul. Father, go by yourself, and mother, go by yourself; and pray. Then you will receive an answer according to the will of my Saviour, whom you love and I love.” He was afraid that if we should bow together, our sympathies would strengthen, and we would ask for that which it would not be best for the Lord to grant.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 3)
We did as he requested, and our prayers were similar in every point to the prayers you offered. We received no evidence that our son would recover. He died, putting his full trust in Jesus our Saviour. His death was a great blow to us, but it was a victory even in death, for his life was hid with Christ in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 4)
Before the death of my eldest boy, my babe was sick unto death. We prayed, and thought that the Lord would spare us our darling; but we closed his eyes in death, and laid him away to rest in Jesus, until the Lifegiver shall come to awaken His precious loved ones to a glorious immortality.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 5)
Then my husband, the faithful servant of Jesus Christ, who had stood by my side for thirty-six years, was taken from me, and I was left to labor alone. He sleeps in Jesus. I have no tears to shed over his grave. But how I miss him! How I long for his words of counsel and wisdom! How I long to hear his prayers blending with my prayers for light and guidance, for wisdom to know how to plan and lay out the work!
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 6)
But the Lord has been my Counsellor, and the Lord will give you grace to bear your bereavement.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 7)
You inquire in regard to your little one being saved. Christ’s words are your answer: “Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.” [Luke 18:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 8)
Remember the prophecy, “Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted.... Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to thine own border.” [Jeremiah 31:15-17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 9)
This promise is yours. You may be comforted and trust in the Lord. The Lord has often instructed me that many little ones are to be laid away before the time of trouble. We shall see our children again. We shall meet them and know them in the heavenly courts. Put your trust in the Lord, and be not afraid.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 10)
My sister, you inquire in regard to the disposition of means in your hands for the advancement of the work. I know of no field more destitute of means, more in need of consecrated workers, than this part of the Lord’s vineyard. Here in Cooranbong we have erected a Health Retreat, where the sick can receive treatment. But this building is not yet fully equipped. Soon we must pay £200 to those who put up the building. Then we must furnish it.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 11)
I am thankful that we have this building, for we need it so much. In the past we have used our own home for the accommodation of the sick; for we could not see them suffer in places where they could not be properly cared for. One day Miss McEnterfer, my secretary, was called to see a boy who had hurt his foot. She went to the house where he was and found him in a very dangerous condition. In running he had stepped on broken glass and cut his ankle. This accident happened four days before Miss McEnterfer was sent for, and when she first saw the would, blood poisoning had set in. The wound, which had been dressed with lard, was covered with proud flesh, and the pain was so intense that for three nights the boy had not slept.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 12)
Miss McEnterfer dressed the wound, but she saw that the boy would never get well while he remained where he was. She asked the parents if he might be brought to our place. To this they agreed, and the boy stayed with us for ten days, receiving treatment constantly. At the end of this time he was sent home quite well.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 13)
We have just held a camp meeting in Maitland, a town about thirty miles from here. The tent was pitched in the city park, and all through the meeting the attendance was good. On Sabbath and Sunday afternoons the large meeting tent was filled, while a wall of people stood on the outside.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 14)
Elders Starr, Colcord, and Hickox are following up the work in Maitland. I have just received a letter from them, saying that the interest continues good. All round Maitland are small towns, and from these towns people have been coming to the meetings. They are calling for some one to hold meetings where they live. Brother Starr and Brother Colcord have been visiting them.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 15)
Much light has been brought from God’s Word during our meeting. The people, who have never known the Scriptures before, seem never weary of hearing. Now is the golden opportunity for the workers to give the message in all the settlements round Maitland. Brother Starr writes that they need all the workers they can get. This work of entering new territory requires laborers who can do house-to-house work. Vigilant, earnest, persevering efforts must be made.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 16)
But we are handicapped for want of means. The money you speak about in your letter would certainly be a great blessing to us at this time. But ask the Lord about the matter. He will tell you what to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 17)
We see an interest in Maitland which must be followed up. The Tuesday after the meeting started a cyclone struck the tents, leaving only five standing. Several tents were completely destroyed. The camp meeting bore an appearance of disaster and loss. But no complaining or murmuring was heard. No discouragement was manifested. The campers went cheerfully to work, and did their level best to repair the damage done. This made a good impression upon the people. They thought that after this calamity, we might leave the place. But we assured them that we would remain and fill our appointments.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 18)
I never saw more sympathy manifested in any community than has been shown us by the people of Maitland. After the storm they threw open their doors and invited the campers to come to their houses and occupy their rooms free of charge. O how pleasant this was! The Holy Spirit will certainly reward these kind friends. We believe that the Spirit moved upon their hearts, leading them to do as they did. Verily, they will receive their reward. The Lord will bless them by opening their hearts to receive the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 19)
The Sunday after the cyclone the large tent was filled with people to its utmost capacity, and a wall of people stood on the outside. In another tent, at the same time, one hundred and fifty children were receiving excellent instruction.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 20)
As the meeting drew to a close, our ministers were often asked the question, “Can you not remain another week?” This matter was presented before the congregation on Sunday afternoon, and when the people were asked to raise the hand if they wished the meetings continued, two thirds of those present raised their hands.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 21)
What a week’s work we had! The interest was good until the close. On the last Sunday the attendance was very large. Many people walked miles to get to the meetings, and remained till after the evening meeting. The entire day was filled with earnest labor, but none seemed to be weary.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 22)
During the week, the large tent was moved to a paddock belonging to the house Elder Starr has rented for the accommodation of the mission workers. Everything is well-arranged for a continued effort. The paddock is well-fenced, and there is no need to pay a man especially to keep the tent from being damaged.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 23)
Last Friday we drove in our phaeton to Maitland. I spoke on Sabbath and Sunday afternoons. The attendance was good. There was also a meeting on Sunday evening.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 24)
Other tents must be pitched in various places about Maitland. The workers must do their best. The Lord employs human instrumentalities through whom He works. They are to exert an influence which will draw men to Christ. Each worker must now pray in faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 25)
The work we are doing requires money, and if you feel free to help us at this time, we will thank the Lord that He uses you as His almoner. A large field is opening before us, a field which is all ripe for the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 196, 1899, 26)
Lt 197, 1899
Andre, Hattie “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 1, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 8MR 262; 9MR 307-308. + Dear Sister:
Your letter of October 23 has just been read to me. I believe the Lord has been leading you, and is impressing your mind. I believe that each should occupy the place to which he is called by God.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 1)
We have a great work to do in Australia, and we need educated, experienced workers, workers who are sanctified by the Spirit of God. There are many in Australia who have precious talents, and we appreciate them highly. But their education and training has not fitted them to be teachers. Some of the workers sent from America we cannot use. We need the very best workers, and we need them very much.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 2)
I cannot write you a very long letter, but I will say that your convictions about working where you can help to teach others, who may become workers in missionary lands, are correct. You can do valuable work by uniting with us to help to train and educate workers. We do not doubt in the least that you can do excellent work in the Southern Field. But the Lord has given you talents and a knowledge of how to use these talents in training other minds. The work of fitting workers for missionary fields is a most responsible one. Those educated are to be taught to receive in order to impart to others. The former education, training, perceptive faculties, upon which the teacher must work, are all to be considered. Wherever there is life, there is a continual interchange, taking in and giving out, and unless those who are learning receive in order that they may impart to others, the capacity for receiving diminishes.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 3)
There must be expansion and expansion; the mind of the educator becomes impoverished by being kept in a class of labor which does not lead the mind to higher subjects. If the mind does not daily grasp a deeper, higher, broader education, if it does not obtain food for itself by communion with minds that can reach out and grasp what they hear, that they may give it to others, the stagnation which takes place weakens the physical, mental, and spiritual powers.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 4)
That upon which the eyes rest, that which the ears hear, the thoughts and feelings expressed, mean much to every one. Receiving and imparting depend upon each other. Giving out always increases the power to take in.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 5)
Those who engage in the work of teaching the colored people should, after engaging in this work for a time, be placed in altogether different circumstances, if possible, else the mind will remain at the same level. It is not broadened and elevated by dealing with difficult problems, by taking in large subjects.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 6)
I hope, my sister, that I shall not be misunderstood. You can give a class of education which will be received and given out again. Thus the work of teacher and student is enlarged. In education there is need of guarding every point. The teacher should require the students to impart what they receive. There are churches in which a large number of the members are spiritual dwarfs. They are ever receiving. They desire preaching every Sabbath, not seeming to understand that the capacity to receive is proportionate to the work of imparting to others that which is received. Every true Christian should impart. Upon the doing of this work his spiritual growth depends. True Christians will take in all the precious instruction they can gain from the Word, and will then find real enjoyment in imparting to others what they have received. They will learn by experience that the capacity for receiving corresponds to and is enlarged by the exercise of imparting. Thus the channel is kept open for the divine fulness to flow in.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 7)
Now, my sister, I know you will not misunderstand me. Do not suppose that I am belittling the work of educating the colored people. But one person should not remain in this line of work for too long a time. The colored children must be carried over the same ground again and again, and after one has been teaching in the South for some time, let a change be made. Let another teacher take up the work, while the teacher who has been doing this work refreshes his mind by dealing with students whose minds are able to grasp the problems of more advanced education. Students are to be trained who can in turn train other minds, through the Holy Spirit’s influence.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 8)
This is a subject which will bear study. Our life, with all its powers and endowments is to be used in God’s service. The grace of God is received through test and trial. Those who consecrate themselves to God are ever to look to Him for guidance, asking Him where they can use their powers to do the most good for time and for eternity. First of all, these gifts are to be laid at Christ’s feet, to be accepted by Him. They are His gifts, and are to be refined, cleansed from all selfishness, and placed under God’s control. We must exercise entire dependence on God, and then believe that success will attend our efforts. Consecrate yourself and all that you have and are to God; then live by faith in the Saviour, your will submerged in the will of God. Realize that the enemy by his deceiving power will lead you to manifest hereditary and cultivated tendencies which will exercise a hindering power over your spiritual faculties.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 9)
This, my sister, is our danger. Teachers are to train their students to stop at no half way place, but to advance, going forward unto perfection. This work is not too highly represented. The voice of God is to carry every soul that will be saved higher and still higher. Christ says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48.] Be it ours to reply, “Yes, Lord; yes, Lord; holier, holier still.” Desire, yes, pant after holiness of heart. This is our work.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 10)
Our school here must be under the supervision of God. We need you, and several others who can do like work, in this new field.
(14LtMs, Lt 197, 1899, 11)
Lt 198, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 26, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 512; 4Bio 436-437. Dear Brother:
The Lord has spared my life to enter upon my seventy-third year, and has helped me by His Holy Spirit to speak this afternoon to an interested audience. The Lord gave me a message to bear to this people; for before me I saw the very faces that were presented to me more than a year ago as sheep having no shepherd, men and women who were receiving from their ministers chaff instead of wheat. Many of them I had seen bowed before God in prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 198, 1899, 1)
Others with arms outstretched pleaded, “Come over and help us. We are hungering for the bread of life.” Still others I saw coming from the different churches who were distressed and cast down. All were in need. My Guide said to me, “These are as sheep having no shepherd. Speak My Word faithfully to them; for unless their ministers are converted, they will sleep on until the judgments of God will come upon the world. Cry aloud, spare not; life up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” [See Matthew 9:36; Isaiah 58:1.]
(14LtMs, Lt 198, 1899, 2)
When I stood before the people, I determined to speak only a short time, for Dr. Caro was to follow after me with a health lecture. He has done this for the last three weeks. But I spoke to the people for nearly two hours. Dr. Caro then addressed the audience. His lecture was excellent. I know of no place where the medical missionary work is more needed, or where it is more gratefully received, than it is in Australia.
(14LtMs, Lt 198, 1899, 3)
This place has been presented to me as second in importance to America, and the same work which has been carried forward there is to go forward in this country, only in more advanced lines. The superfluities which have been brought into the worship in the Tabernacle at Battle Creek must be strenuously avoided in this country. Music is acceptable to God only when the heart is sanctified and made soft and holy by its facilities. But many who delight in music know nothing of making melody in their hearts to the Lord. “Their heart is gone after their idols,” God declares. [Ezekiel 20:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 198, 1899, 4)
I have a deep interest in you and your work, Dr. Kellogg. I want you not only to do many good things, but I want you to do all things under the Divine guidance.
(14LtMs, Lt 198, 1899, 5)
Lt 199, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in TMK 305. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
We feel very much interested in Maitland. All that I have seen since we commenced work in Maitland answers to the description given to me by the Lord when I saw before me large and small companies. Oh, what a representation that was of the hunger of souls for the genuine gospel! There are many churches in Maitland, but in them very little of the gospel that makes men wise unto salvation is held forth. The ministers should give the people the truth of the Word of God, but instead they give them sophistry and fables. They preach sermons of war and bloodshed. The African war is the gospel now presented to the people by many of their religious teachers. They report that we teach strange doctrines, but it is not we but they that do this. They do not preach or practice the Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 1)
Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:16, 17.] What a work there is before us in this country! Church members are aware that their ministers do not feed them with the bread of life. When they come to the tent and listen to the message presented from the Word of God, they are like men and women entranced. They express themselves freely. Some say, I have attended the meetings for a long time. I could not but be interested in the talks given. I have heard more of the Word of God from the talks given in the tent than from all the teaching I have heard in the churches.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 2)
There are three brothers, Kerr by name, who are greatly interested in the truth. They are merchants, and have a large drapery establishment in Maitland. This store is divided into three parts, one of which each brother manages. These brothers are married and have homes of their own. They have attended many of the meetings. We know that they are interested and convicted. I have given each of them a book, Desire of Ages, and Great Controversy, and Patriarchs and Prophets. I gave the youngest of the Kerr brothers The Coming King, and Desire of Ages. He called upon me, and expressed himself as highly pleased with the books, saying that he looked upon my giving them to him as a great favor.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 3)
After I had finished speaking on temperance Sunday afternoon, a man said to Elder Daniells, “What a discourse that was! Mrs. White cut me through and through when she spoke of the teachers of the people and the youth using tobacco. I have been a tobacco user, but Mrs. White left me nothing to stand on. The sermon was truth, and tremendous truth.”
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 4)
The ministers of today smoke, attend theaters, and play games. One minister in Maitland is paid five hundred pounds a year, but seldom does he visit his flock. The eldest of the Kerr brothers, in talking with me, used the very same words I heard used when in the visions of the night companies were presented to me who, with outstretched hands, were saying imploringly, “Our souls are not being fed. We want the gospel. Give us Bible truth.” I know that many who are during the meetings in Maitland have been cut to the heart were the very ones who were pleading, “Will you not come over and help us?”
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 5)
I was requested by the president of the Maitland branch of the W.C.T.U. to speak to them one evening. She said that they would be very glad to hear me, even though I spoke only for ten minutes. I asked her if ten minutes which she proposed for me to speak was all the time that was allowed, because sometimes the Spirit of the Lord came upon me and I had more than a ten-minute talk to give. “Oh,” she said, “your people told me that you did not speak in the evening, and I specified ten minutes as the time, thinking that I would not get you at all if I made it longer. The longer you can speak to us, the more thankful we shall be.” I spoke with freedom for an hour.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 6)
I asked Mrs. Winter, the president, if it was her custom to read a portion of Scripture at the opening of the meeting. She said that it was. I then asked for the privilege of praying, which was gladly granted. Some of the women present that night afterward attended the meetings in the tent.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 7)
The attendance at the Maitland camp meeting was not so large as at the Brisbane meeting, but those who came were of the best class of people. The Lord has indeed imbued His ministers with His Holy Spirit, and great light has shone forth as messages of warning and encouragement have been given. The people seem to greatly enjoy the singing of our plain, simple hymns. God has given Sister Hickox a special talent in this direction.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 8)
I have just been drawn out to write to Brethren Starr, Colcord, and Hickox, who have been left in charge of the work in Maitland. Vigorous work has been kept up, and is still going forward. The ministers of the other churches are making every effort to work against us. False statements are being made. The minister of the church, of which the Kerrs are members, took the eldest Mr. Kerr, and talked and scolded and tried to intimidate him. Nevertheless he and his brother came to the tent Sunday afternoon to hear Mrs. White speak.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 9)
When Mr. Kerr heard that we were thinking of pitching a tent in East Maitland, he seemed to be troubled. Please consider this matter fully, he said. You will make a mistake in dividing your forces. Now, when the tent is to be moved from the Park to another place is your most important time. We told him that we had already decided that the time had not come to enter East Maitland.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 10)
People in the farming districts round Maitland, and also in the mining districts, are calling for meetings. One day twenty men and women walked from a town, Greta, several miles away to our meeting. Some of our ministers will go and visit these places, while others keep up the interest in Maitland. A letter received from Brother Starr today is full of encouragement.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 11)
One week ago last Monday we left Maitland to drive to our home. The weather was very hot, so Sara got up at one o’clock and fed Jasper and Jessie White. We drove moderately, and entered our gate at eight o’clock a.m. On Thursday Brother Starr and Brother Paap rode over from Maitland on their bicycles. Early Friday morning they went back, and reached Maitland in four hours from the time they left Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 12)
For several days the heat here has been something terrible. We have had to keep all our windows closed to shut out the hot air, which was just like the breath from a furnace. On Sabbath I spoke to our people in Cooranbong. I tried to impress them with the fact that as members of the body of Christ, they must be active, living stones in His building. My message was taken from the commission Christ gave His disciples just before His ascension: “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” [Acts 1:8.] We have a worldwide message. No needless display should be seen on our persons or in our houses. Simplicity in everything must be encouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 13)
Believers are to shine as lights in the world. And by His example Christ has shown us that believers can best do the work required of them when their vital energies are organized in church fellowship. Christians are to stand out distinct from the world as God’s standard-bearers, showing in their lives the influence of the transforming grace of Christ. They are raised up together to sit with Christ in heavenly places, that they may reveal to the world, to angels, and to men an enduring representation of the eternal world. They are to hold forth the Word of life, warning men of the binding claims of God’s law. God wants His servants to be of a high order. He wants them to obey laws of a higher order than the laws of the world—laws which are the transcript of His character.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 14)
God’s work is supreme. He calls for all the powers of the intellect, all the spiritual endowments. They are to be consecrated to Him and to the service of humanity. He calls for workers who are partakers of the divine nature. Those who really believe in Jesus will be colaborers with Him, showing to the unfallen worlds and to the fallen world a character which is after the divine similitude. They are to show that they have a higher, holier order of enjoyment than the world can bestow.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 15)
God will bestow the power of the Holy Spirit upon all who will co-operate with Him in the cultivation of all their endowments and talents, that they may stand on vantage ground. Seventh-day Adventists have all the promise of all that Christ can bestow if they will believe in Him. They are to be distinguished by their uprightness, their faith, their tender regard for one another. Bound together by the holy cords of Christian fellowship, bound up with Christ in God, they are to stand on the highest of all platforms—the Rock of Ages. All heaven is open to the doers of God’s Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 16)
To be a teacher of sacred truth means to have an experimental knowledge of what it means to reveal in life and character, in word, in spirit, and in doctrine the powers of the world to come. When we have this knowledge, our example will not make Christ ashamed of us, as He is today ashamed of a large number, who are strangers to His Spirit. Christ’s followers are to seek to improve the moral tone of the world, under the influence of the impartation of the Spirit of God. They are not to come down to the world’s level, thinking that by doing this, they will uplift it. In words, in dress, in spirit, in everything, there is to be a marked distinction between Christians and worldlings. This distinction has a convincing influence upon worldings. They see that the sons and daughters of the Lord do separate themselves from the world, and that the Lord binds them up with Himself. Those who will not see or understand the necessity of being separate from the world know not God or Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 17)
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, ... nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Has this reformation taken place? “And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.” [1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 14.] Who is willing to be raised to the highest level?
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 18)
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, ... which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [Verses 19, 20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 19)
“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” [2 Corinthians 6:1.] Those who, while claiming to believe the truth are not decidedly transformed in character, serve the devil with far more power and far more influence than if they had never heard the truth. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 7:1.]
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 20)
I am alarmed for the spiritual state of those who, knowing the messages God has sent to them to repent, do not receive the Holy Spirit, do not let their lives become one with Christ in God. They guide themselves; they do as they please. They are not cleansed from sin; they are not holy; and their final state will be as much worse than the state of the heathen as their advantages, knowledge, and privileges were greater than those of the heathen. Self-righteousness will not stand the test of the judgment. God calls for thorough humiliation. He calls upon those who stand in sacred places as managers, as teachers, as ministers, yet who walk contrary to the warnings God has given them, who, self-deceived, walk in the sparks of their own kindling, to rend their hearts and not their garments.
(14LtMs, Lt 199, 1899, 21)
Lt 200, 1899
Brethren and Sisters Laboring in Maitland “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 4, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 2MCP 440. + My Dear Brethren and Sisters Who are Laboring in Maitland:
Have faith in God. Our precious Saviour says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.”“If ye love me, keep my commandments; and I will pray the Father, and he shall send you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” [John 14:13-16.] Christ not only undertakes to present our petitions to the Father, and to intercede in our behalf, but He promises to bestow the blessings sought. What encouragement this is. And should it not awaken in us a wealth of devotion? Christ supplies us with the key with which to unlock heaven’s storehouse and draw from the divine treasury. His precious name we are to use, His merits we are to acknowledge before the Father. Praise the Lord, my fellow laborers; praise His holy name! Let us pray unitedly, in faith, as believers in the Word of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 1)
We are all deeply interested in the salvation of the souls for whom Christ has given His life. We are not only to believe in God as a gracious heavenly Father, but we are to believe in Christ as our Mediator. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Therefore, “seeing we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession”—our faith—“and come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”“Having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” [Hebrews 4:14, 16; 10:21, 22.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 2)
John writes, “And another angel came, and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came up with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” [Revelation 8:3, 4.] Let us pray much. I was deeply impressed last night with the words of instruction that were given to me. We need the spirit of prayer and communion with God. As we draw nigh to God in faith, He will draw nigh to us.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 3)
The conflict between the powers of darkness and the heavenly forces is constantly going on. Before you commence your discourse, ask those of the congregation who have faith to pray that the Holy Spirit will make the Word effectual, convicting souls as to what is truth. At the close of your sermon, ask if there are any present who have friends for whom they desire the prayers of those who believe in the prayer of faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 4)
We do not value the power and efficacy of prayer as we should. Do you feel weak and unworthy? “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: for the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” [Romans 8:26, 27.] “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” [Jude 20, 21.] Let us make God our trust. He can and will help all who put their trust in Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 5)
This word of the Lord came to me last night: “God will give victories to those who rely upon Him.” Prayer is altogether too much neglected. The Lord wants us to ask Him, that He may enlighten the mind, and that souls may understand the truth. God alone can give clear conceptions of truth. God alone can soften and subdue the heart. He can quicken the understanding to discern truth from error. The Lord can establish the wavering mind, and give it a knowledge and faith that will stand the test. Pray then; pray without ceasing. The God who heard Daniel’s prayers will hear your prayers if you will approach Him as did Daniel. We need to have our own souls in communion with God. The Christian’s joy arises from a sense of Christ’s love and care for us, and the assurance that He will not leave us in our weakness.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 6)
Let us not try to work ourselves or others, but let us depend upon the Holy Spirit. Deal gently with human beings. With hearts full of spiritual tenderness, melt your way into convicted hearts. Let your words be dipped in the heavenly oil from the two olive branches. We need the golden oil emptied into prepared vessels, that it may be communicated to those who are seeking for the truth. Ever remember that it is “not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” [Zechariah 4:6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 7)
To the woman of Samaria Christ said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman said unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from when then hast thou that living water? ... Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever shall drink of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life.” [John 4:10, 11, 13, 14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 8)
Brethren and sisters, you are united in a most solemn, sacred work. Souls for whom Christ had died, souls who may have that life that measures with the life of God, are in the valley of decision. Now is the most critical time. Before you present any subject to the people, first talk with God in prayer. Hide self in Jesus. Receive the Holy Spirit from God, and then in the power of the Holy Spirit speak to the people. Be sure that you are in the place where you can be worked by the Holy Spirit, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” [Ephesians 1:17-19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 9)
Our only hope for victory is in God; therefore our power and efficiency must come from God. He alone can do the work that is essential for the saving of the soul, and “make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” [Ephesians 3:9, 10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 10)
What is “the fellowship of the mystery”? [Verse 9.] We want clear, sharp, critical spiritual intelligence, that we may comprehend this mystery, which words cannot possibly explain. Through faith in Christ, Gentiles and Jews were to be united in the bonds of Christian fellowship and communion. The foundation principles of this mystery are the love and wisdom which through belief of the truth make those who are at variance one in Christ, hid with Him in God. “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth.... Neither pray I for these alone; but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” [John 17:17, 20-23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 11)
O what hope, what wonderful possibilities are before all who will surrender themselves to God and open their hearts by faith to receive an abiding Christ! What heights, what greatness, we may reach! Then, I inquire, why do we not reach the standard set for us? The Lord Jesus is our assurance. Let no obstacles, created by unsanctified self, interpose between our souls and our eternal interest. God calls to every soul, Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. God’s dealing with His church is to bring a convincing power to the rulers of the darkness of this world.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 12)
The angelic host in their loyalty to God are looking with intense interest upon us, and in their appointed orders of ministration are studying with the deepest interest the workings of God and His dealings with the fallen race. They think of the immense sacrifice made that men might be partakers of the divine nature, for it is Christ’s death alone that makes it possible for a man to carry out God’s purpose for him. Every soul elected to salvation is elected to obedience to all the laws of Christ’s kingdom. This means purification from all disloyalty. Through the power of the Holy Spirit men and women appropriate the efficacy of Christ’s blood, called the blood of sprinkling because it cleanses from all defilement and guiltiness.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 13)
“Father,” Christ prayed, “I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love where with thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” [Verses 24-26.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 14)
Is it not true that we do not receive and believe these grand, elevating, sanctifying, ennobling truths? Why are we so powerless? Because we have not that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. The joy of the Lord is your strength. We are living very near the end of this world’s history. Let us individually take an active part in the work of co-operating with Jesus Christ. This work gives life and vigor to all our mental powers and to all our spiritual exercises. Light shines from Christ into the chambers of the mind, because the heart has received the precious Saviour. He abides in the heart, and light is shed upon all the objects which we contemplate. We see correctly the things which are invisible. The Lord Jesus Christ is received by faith, and the language of the soul is not doleful or gloomy, but like the language found in 1 Peter 1:3-9.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 15)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” [Verses 3-9.]
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 16)
I now ask you to pray most earnestly that God will work by His own great power to melt and subdue human hearts. Let not your words show a shade of unbelief. You have a work to do for all classes. You must find access to the minds of the people living in the settlements round where you are working. You must meet the people where you are. There is to be no stretching up for words that are of the highest order. Use words of Christlike simplicity. The Lord Jesus is the one who works. He waters the seed sown. He gives words that will reach the heart. Expect that God will sustain the consecrated, unselfish worker.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 17)
The Holy Spirit is to God’s work as the oil to the wheels of well-regulated machinery. Obedience, childlike faith and trust in God bring peace, bring joy. Cultivate thankfulness of heart. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, ... and be ye thankful.” [Colossians 3:15.] Work interestedly, lovingly, patiently, for all with whom you are brought in contact. Show no impatience. Utter not one unkind word. Let the love of Christ be in your heart, the law of kindness upon your lips. This will enable you to achieve almost every good and noble thing.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 18)
Carry the sunshine of peace and joy with you. The servant of God must be a representative of Christ. Work joyfully, feeling that you have One by your side who can do anything. Feel that you are highly honored in being permitted to labor for God. Labor you must, in faith, perseverance, and self-denial, but ever let your heart be bright with the sunshine of Christ’s righteousness. Carry the joy of the Lord with you into your work. This joy is as far above all other joy as holiness is above all other excellence. Be determined that you will see Christ by faith in all His glorious perfection. Then through you the Lord will attract souls who will behold Him. The Sun of Righteousness is to go before us; the glory of the Lord is to be our rearward.
(14LtMs, Lt 200, 1899, 19)
Lt 201, 1899
Ministering Brethren NP December 5, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 11MR 98-104. To Our Ministering Brethren:
I am assured again and again that the Lord has a great work to be done in this country. He has laid upon me a burden that I dare not refuse to carry. We have greatly needed a sanitarium in this country. The medical missionary work is to be as the hand and arm of the gospel message to be borne in this new world. We needed a sanitarium to give influence and character to the work, to accomplish the reforms so much needed! The ministry of the Word and medical missionary work, properly combined, would have exerted a much greater influence for good than working alone.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 1)
Never was there a place where medical missionary work would have told with more power than in Australia. But in our efforts to do this work we have been handicapped for want of means. The money we should have had to invest in a sanitarium has been used in erecting sanitariums in places where they were not so much needed. The Lord Jesus Christ was the greatest Physician this world has ever known. We cannot in the full sense of the word call Him a medical missionary. He was the divine Healer. He was imbued with power to heal all manner of diseases without resorting to drugs.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 2)
Daniel’s experience is of great value to all who would be Christians. When Daniel was brought in before Belshazzar, as the king and his nobles sat at their sacrilegious feast, he plainly told the king that the calamity to come upon Babylon was the result of a disregard of heaven-sent light.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 3)
He disregarded the light given to Nebuchadnezzar, and thereby lost the benefits he might have received had he been obedient to the light. God gives His people lessons to instruct them and lead them to reform. If they do not receive and practice these lessons, their neglect will surely bring judgments upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 4)
We read again in Daniel, “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to hasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” [Daniel 10:12, 13.] By this we see that heavenly agencies have to contend with hindrances before the purpose of God is fulfilled in its time.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 5)
The king of Persia was controlled by the highest of all evil angels. He refused, as did Pharaoh, to obey the word of the Lord. Gabriel declared, He withstood me twenty-one days by his representations against the Jews. But Michael came to his help, and then he remained with the kings of Persia, holding the powers in check, giving right counsel against evil counsel. Good and evil angels are taking a part in the planning of God in His earthly kingdom. It is God’s purpose to carry forward His work in correct lines, in ways that will advance His glory. But Satan is ever trying to counterwork God’s purpose. Only by humbling themselves before God can God’s servants advance His work. Never are they to depend on their own efforts or on outward display for success.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 6)
I call upon those who believe the truth for this time to reform, to purify the heart and humble self. Sincere belief of the truth and earnest prayer are our weapons of warfare. The exercise of all the musical talent among us will not change the hearts of the church members or increase their spirituality. Humiliation, confession, and most earnest prayer will bring about that which all the devising of men, be they high or low, cannot accomplish. Let us remember that it is Satan’s purpose to set at work forces which will obscure the testing message for this time. If ever there was a time when self-sacrifice must be made, when earnest sincere prayer must be offered, when diligent work must be done, it is now. Satan has come down with great power to work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 7)
God looks with contempt upon the large assemblies at Battle Creek Tabernacle, while the hearts of those present are lifted up unto vanity. Their numbers displease Him. Is there not a world to be warned? Why then are there those assembled in the Tabernacle whose hearts swell with vanity because of their large assembly and their music? Let there be a humiliation of soul before God, that He may remove the discipline He has placed upon His people because they have departed from God.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 8)
The simplicity and integrity that God requires His people to show is the line of demarkation between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. At the very heart of the work there is necessity for sincere, true humiliation, which has not yet been seen. God will vindicate every message He has given to His people. He will justify all His dealings with them. They have departed out of the way, and the only course that can bring relief and hope and success in bearing the solemn message for this time is for them to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 9)
There is a careless, venturesome spirit, which needs to be guarded. It is humiliating for us to acknowledge that we have done wrong, but this is often necessary. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Prayer will draw down from heaven great blessings, when those who claim to believe the truth shall come down from their stilts of self-exaltation, and afflict their souls, even as Daniel afflicted his soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 10)
The Lord is not pleased with the spirit or the principles that have a controlling power in the Review and Herald office—the strong spirit of man rules; not the spirit of God. God will not work with their devising. When men get out of the Lord’s way, and let Him work upon hearts and minds, blessings will come to them. The fervent prayers, the sincere humiliation, the self-denial and self-sacrifice which blends with the supplications made, will bring down rich blessings.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 11)
Through His chosen agencies God will graciously make known His purposes. Then the grand work of redemption will go forward. Men will learn of the reconciliation for iniquity and of the everlasting righteousness which the Messiah has brought in through His sacrifice. The cross of Calvary is the great center. This truth acted upon will make Christ’s sacrifice effectual. This is that which Gabriel revealed to Daniel in answer to fervent prayer. It was of this that Moses and Elijah and Christ talked at His transfiguration. By the humiliation of the cross He was to bring everlasting deliverance to all who would walk after Him, giving positive evidence that they are separated from the world. All who will endure to the end will be saved. All who will hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will have eternal righteousness. But those who depart from the principles which give character to the truth need converting as verily as does the hardened sinner.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 12)
“You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind: and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved): and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 13)
“For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workman[ship], created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” [Ephesians 6:1-13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 14)
God is represented as weighing the characters, actions, and motives of men. Christ said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.” [John 3:7.] He is speaking the same words to those who know not the spirit that moves them to action. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, said, “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” [1 Samuel 2:3.] David says, “Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether vanity.” [Psalm 62:9.] Isaiah declares, “Thou most upright, dost weigh the path of the Just.” [Isaiah 26:7.] And Solomon writes, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirit.” [Proverbs 16:2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 15)
There is not a motive in the heart that the Lord does not read. He reads every purpose, every thought of the heart. It is not an increase of light that is needed; it is the surrendering of the soul to God, that by the power of His grace He may make the light He has caused to shine into the heart a living principle of action. When a man who has had great light, who is supposed to be led and taught by God, turns out of the way because of self-confidence, he makes false paths for his feet. He follows crooked practices, and many who have admired the supposed nobility and integrity of his character follow his example, thinking that the Lord is leading him. The false step he took resulted in thousands of false steps.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 16)
The great worker of evil is on the track of every soul. Unfair dealings, the misappropriation of the Lord’s funds, the investing of money in worldly projects, is holding back a work which the Lord designs shall be done. Thus Satan inspires men to block the way of the advancement of God’s kingdom. God sees every deed done, and He sees also the outcome of that deed. Those who have done deeds, which have hedged up the way of the work of salvation, are weighed in the balances and found wanting.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 17)
We have before us in the Word of God instances of heavenly agencies working on the minds of kings and rulers, while at the same time satanic agencies were also at work on their minds. No human eloquence, in strongly set forth human opinions can change the working of satanic agencies. Satan seeks continually to block the way, so that the truth shall be bound about by human devising; and those who have light and knowledge are in the greatest danger unless they constantly consecrate themselves to God, humiliating self, and realizing the peril of the times.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 18)
Heavenly beings are appointed to answer the prayers of those who are working unselfishly for the interests of the cause of God. The very highest angels in the heavenly courts are appointed to work out the prayers which ascend to God for the advancement of the cause of God. Each angel has his particular post of duty, which he is not permitted to leave for any other place. If he should leave, the powers of darkness would gain an advantage.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 19)
In the record of Daniel’s experience we read, “Behold one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips, then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? For as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 20)
“Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the Prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show thee that which is noted in the Scriptures of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” [Daniel 10:16-21.]
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 21)
Day by day the conflict between good and evil is going on. Why is it that those who have had many opportunities and advantages do not realize the intensity of this work? They should be intelligent in regard to this. God is the Ruler. By His supreme power He holds in check and control earthly potentates. Through His agencies He does the work which was ordained before the foundation of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 22)
As a people we do not understand as we should the great conflict going on between invisible agencies, the controversy between loyal and disloyal angels. Evil angels are constantly at work, planning their line of attack, controlling as commanders, kings, and rulers, the disloyal human forces.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 23)
I call upon you who are not ready for the last great controversy to wake up. You are not watching for that which is soon coming upon the earth. Human instrumentalities under the control of fallen angels are seeking to gather in their harvest. Those who would find themselves under the protection of the angels of God must live wholly for God’s glory, prepared to stand in their lot and in their place. They are to be faithful and true, even as Daniel was, a man called by the Lord, “greatly beloved,” a man who felt the need of praying and confessing his sins. Those who do as Daniel did are not asleep, but are keenly alive to their exposure to the enemy’s malignant devices. They see that their only safety is in keeping the commandments of God. They pray as Daniel prayed, confessing their sins and finding pardon.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 24)
Over every man good and evil angels strive. It is the man himself who determines which shall win. I call upon the ministers of Christ to press home upon the understanding of all who come within the reach of their voice, the truth of the ministration of angels. Do not indulge in fanciful speculations. The written Word is our only safety. We must pray as did Daniel, that we may be guarded by heavenly intelligences. As ministering spirits angels are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. Pray, my brethren, pray as you have never prayed before. We are not prepared for the Lord’s coming. We need to make thorough work for eternity.
(14LtMs, Lt 201, 1899, 25)
Lt 202, 1899
Jones, C. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 3, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother C. H. Jones:
I have received your letter in reference to the Sentinel. I have nothing definite to write. Circumstances have changed materially since the light was given, and your only course is to take the matter to the Lord in earnest prayer, putting yourself entirely out of sight. Unite in seeking to know the will of God. That action should be taken which will best serve the general interests of the cause at large. The Lord would have every soul seeking for unity and preserving harmony of action. Not one thread of selfishness is to be drawn into the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 202, 1899, 1)
One thing I know, there is such a thing as wearing out the patience of God by a selfish, perverse course of action. This course has been followed by a people whom the Lord has blessed with great light, great opportunities. The heavenly intelligences commissioned to do a great work through human channels find so much of self that the work that needs to be done cannot be done unless the channels are purified from every species of dishonesty and defilement.
(14LtMs, Lt 202, 1899, 2)
There is a claiming to keep the commandments of God, when they are only kept in the way in which the rich young ruler kept them. He honestly thought himself a perfect man, blameless as far as the law was concerned. Christ asked him to use the means entrusted to him in doing the work God designed should be done. “Sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me,” He said. [Matthew 19:21.] But the ruler could not make up his mind to part with his earthly treasure, and he turned sorrowfully away.
(14LtMs, Lt 202, 1899, 3)
The Lord would have us estimate the gift of His Son as of the highest value to every soul. Those who make reservations, who do not estimate the eternal above the earthly, will lose both worlds.
(14LtMs, Lt 202, 1899, 4)
My brother, I cannot decide for you the matter referred to in your letter, but the Lord is very nigh you, and will lead and guide you. I have stated that if the cause of God can be better served by removing the Sentinel to a more central place, then I cannot see anything objectionable in letting it go. You must obtain light upon these things by taking them to God. In harmonious action do as the Spirit of the Lord signifies.
(14LtMs, Lt 202, 1899, 5)
We must have larger and more persevering faith, faith that the Lord will hear and answer all that we call upon Him for, if we seek to understand His will and then do it without murmuring or discontent. Certainly, every effort should be made to obtain harmony. Unless we do this, we shall not be doers of the Word. The Lord help us to pray more fervently that we may understand the great events about to take place. There can be no safety in careless indifference. We must work under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Truth and righteousness are the attributes of God’s throne. The Lord teach and guide you all, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 202, 1899, 6)
Lt 203, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 3[-5], 1899 Portions of this letter are published in DG 226-227. Dear children Edson and Emma:
I have not been able to write you much lately. I have sent you copies, but I have not had time to write as much as I would like to write. At this date we are still engaged in the work at Maitland, a town twenty-seven miles from Cooranbong. When we wish to go to Maitland, we harness Jessie White and Jasper Haskell in the surrey, and drive over. We start early to avoid the heat of the day, taking our breakfast with us, and eating it by the way.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 1)
What shall I tell you of Maitland? We felt much anxiety about holding a camp meeting in this place, because not many weeks before it had been flooded. But light came to me so decidedly that this field was all ripe for the harvest that we dared not delay. It was reported that there was no place favorable for pitching the tents. Brother Starr went to Maitland, and visiting the mayor and the Town clerk, asked them for the use of the city park, a most beautiful park in the center of the city. These officials treated Brother Starr courteously, and said that they would consider the matter favorably.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 2)
Soon word came that we could have the use of the park for two weeks free of charge. The businessmen in Maitland did everything they could to accommodate us. We shall certainly always respect and feel grateful to those who from first to last were so kind to us. I made the mayor a present of The Desire of Ages, in the best binding. Brother Starr gave one to the town clerk. I received from the mayor a very politely written acknowledgement, thanking me for my present.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 3)
Our meeting opened Thursday evening. The attendance was good. Elder Daniells spoke to a tent well-filled with people. On Sabbath the attendance was good. I spoke with much freedom in the afternoon. I felt so thankful that after so much anxiety we were just where we hoped to be able to plant the standard of truth. On Sunday the large tent was full to overflowing. The children met in tents prepared for them, where they were taught in classes by excellent teachers. I understand that the ministers warned their people not to let their children go to the tent meetings under any consideration, but nevertheless, every Sabbath and Sunday afternoon the children came, and were much interested in the meetings held for them.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 4)
The Lord gave me freedom in speaking, and I beheld before me the faces of many of those presented to me in a dream, calling, “Come over and help us.” [Acts 16:9.] Before Christ left His disciples, He commissioned them to preach the gospel to all nations, tongues, and peoples. He knew that the gospel was the hope of mankind. He died to relieve the spiritual necessities of the fallen race. He hears their every sigh, knows their every longing for salvation. He declared, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” [John 12:32.] For the joy that was set before Him, He died on the cross. The Son of the living God became a sin-offering for the world. In that act the heart of Christ was given to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 5)
As I spoke to the people, I had great freedom. The people listened as if for their lives, and I know that the Word of God made an impression on human minds. I have now spoken four Sabbath and Sunday afternoons in succession. The work is still going forward. The Tuesday after the meeting started, a terrible cyclone struck the campground, and all but five of the tents were blown down. Seven of the small tents were torn into shreds. Great holes were made in the large meeting tent. At this time, in our great necessity, the citizens of Maitland came forward and showed themselves our friends. The people opened their houses and invited the campers in. They inconvenienced themselves to make room for the wet bedding to be dried. They could not possibly have done more than they did do. This has endeared the people of Maitland to me. The Lord will bless them for their kindly deeds.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 6)
We believe that this storm will be for the glory of God. After it was over, the people, deeply solicitous, came on the ground, saying, “Will you go away because of this? We do not want you to go. We have only just begun to receive the good things you have for us.” When they saw that all were cheerful, and when they were assured that we would not leave, they were happy and cheerful themselves.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 7)
The meetings have been excellent. Our ministers have carried out Paul’s charge to Timothy, “I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.” [2 Timothy 4:1, 2.] The Word has been preached, and many people have heard it. Grey haired men say, “I never knew before I came to this tent that such things were in the Bible. I never read my Bible so much before.”
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 8)
I have scarcely been able to restrain my tears as I have seen the eagerness of the people to take in the words of truth. I know these are some of the people presented to me as reaching out their hands, and saying, “Come over and help us; we want spiritual food.” My Guide said, “They are as sheep without a shepherd.” [Mark 6:34.] As I stood before the people in the tent, I thought how earnestly the heavenly angels were looking down upon us as we opened the Word of life to this people.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 9)
On this very ground is to be fought out the struggle between good and evil, between a “Thus saith the Lord” and the sophistries of Satan, between truth and error. Here the cross of Christ is to be uplifted, challenging every power arrayed against the truth. Who is not anxious to know the plan of the contest? Let us study the plans of God in the work of redemption. God uses human instrumentalities in the ministry of His Word for the conversion of souls. The cross is to be established between earth and heaven, to draw all men. All will not come, but some will.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 10)
The work in Maitland is a very important work. The ministers of other denominations are doing all they can with falsehoods and mischievous reports to hinder the work, but the sound has gone forth throughout all the settlements about Maitland. Our prayer to God is that the truth shall bear away the victory in such a convincing manner that many souls shall be added to the church of such as shall be saved.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 11)
The people who live on farms and in the mining districts come to hear, for never before has the standard of present truth been uplifted in this locality, and everything is new to them. We do not always consider this. The same truths have to be repeated over and over again.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 12)
I spoke on Sunday afternoon to an interested audience. There were present many of the members of other churches. All seem to prefer the tent to a hall, for they say that they have more air in a tent. I spoke earnestly, and prayed that the Lord would send home the truth to the hearts of the hearers.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 13)
One evening twenty men and women walked from a town three miles off to attend the meeting, and these are now asking that meetings be held in the place where they live. Brother and Sister Starr visited them, and talked with them about the truth. I may not be able to speak in this place, but I shall try to do so.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 14)
On Monday morning Sara and I were up at one o’clock. The horses were fed, and at three o’clock we were on our way home. At eight o’clock a.m. we entered our gates at Sunnyside. We make our journey thus early in the day that we may escape the heat, which is very strong in the middle of the day.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 15)
We have had a consultation with our brethren regarding our workers. We need more workers. We do not know how to divide the few we have among the different localities where work is needed to be done. We have decided to make some changes.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 16)
On Sabbath I spoke in the church at Cooranbong. I felt deeply the needs of our work in Maitland, and I asked that earnest prayer be made to our heavenly Father for the Holy Spirit to work in our midst, that the people now in error might be converted to the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 17)
On Sunday I had a very busy day. The heat wave had passed off, and beautiful, refreshing showers were gladdening everything in nature. This brought us great relief.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 18)
On Sabbath Brother and Sister Gates and Brother Gates’ sister took dinner at Willie’s. They have just come up from Sydney. They report an excellent passage from America. On Sunday we had a counsel meeting in the Health Retreat.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 19)
On Monday morning I thought my family appeared unnatural. Some strange shadow seemed to hang over them. In the morning Sara and I drove to the station for Willie, but he did not come. Elder Gates, who had spoken to the people in Wallsend Sunday evening, drove up with us from the station, and Sara took him to the school, bringing back with her Elder Daniells and Brother Hare. Sara told me that these brethren would like to speak with me. I had a few words with Elder Daniells about the work in Maitland, and then Brother Hare drew his chair up close to mine, and said he had something to tell me. Then he told me that the evening before an accident had occurred near the school.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 20)
Sister Peck, Miss Gates, and Sister Boyd’s daughter were driving from Sunnyside to the school with a horse which we have always considered safe and manageable, though awkward. If we did not watch her while driving, she would turn to one side. The road to the school is not a permanent one, but is laid out for present use until a better can be made. Under the management of Elder Haskell, the school boys made a log bridge over the creek. As the trap neared this bridge, those in it saw that a tree had fallen across the road, and Sister Peck, who had the lines, thought she would get out and lead the horse round it. But instead of standing still, the horse began to back, and tried to turn round toward home again.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 21)
No one anticipated any danger. But they were nearer to the edge of the creek than they supposed, and in a few seconds, the carriage and those who were in it, except Miss Peck, were in the river, which at that place, is about fifteen feet deep. Sister Peck was thrown out on the bank, and the carriage in its descent passed over her. But she was not much hurt. She helped Ella Boyd out of the water, but Miss Gates was beyond their reach. Ella Boyd ran to the school and called out the men, and in about three minutes they had the body of Miss Gates out of the water. They carried her to the school, and did everything possible to restore her, but without success. She was dead. It is believed by all that she did not die from drowning, for she made no struggle to save herself. We think that the shock killed her. She was buried on Monday afternoon.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 22)
This, of course, has delayed our preparation for the American mail, and we cannot answer all the letters we have received. Sara, with other of my workers, was up all Sunday night, and so, you see, they have not had a fair chance to work. The mail leaves at nine o’clock this morning, and I am writing at one o’clock.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 23)
We feel so thankful that Miss Peck and Sister Boyd’s daughter were uninjured. The angel of God must have worked their deliverance. Sister Gates was in delicate health.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 24)
She has suffered much from lung difficulty. Only the day before her death, she spoke to Sister Hughes in reference to her case. She said that her lung difficulty had returned to her, and that she knew a long illness was before her. To her the future was a terrible dread, for her brother and his wife are both struggling with ill health, and she could not endure the thought of being a burden to them. Her father and mother, brothers and sisters, are all dead except this brother. We feel that it is well that she did not have to suffer from a lingering disease, and we have laid her away for a little while, till she shall be called forth to a glorious immortality.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 25)
Brother and Sister Gates regard this matter as one of the remarkable providences of God. They are thankful that all did not sink beneath the water, for then help could not have been brought to them.
(14LtMs, Lt 203, 1899, 26)
Lt 204, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 12, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in BCL 28. Dear Brother:
I would help you if I could, but I do not know how to help you. The dangers of your plan of operations in connection with the conference held in South Lancaster were presented before me. I saw that you could not plan and devise as you had been doing, or carry out your ideas, without injury to yourself and to the cause of God. I was instructed by the Lord that your temptation would be to make your medical missionary work stand independent of the conference. But this plan was not right. You were tempted by the enemy, and I hasten to write to you. I sent a copy of the letter to Elder Irwin, for it was necessary that some one besides yourself should know your danger, that efforts might be made to save you from the course of action you had premeditated.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 1)
You needed the counsel of others then your colleagues. Fresh, new ideas were needed in your councils, for all your ideas did not bear the divine credentials. You had been swaying the minds of those connected with the medical missionary work, until you that others were becoming like men lost in a fog of uncertainty.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 2)
You had your work, to which God appointed you. You were to be a faithful physician of the souls as well as of the bodies of those under your charge. Had you fulfilled this responsibility with all the keen talent God gave you in trust, you would not have worked alone. One who never makes a mistake was presiding. Only the Holy Spirit’s power can keep your spirit sweet and fragrant, soft and subdued, ever trusting in God, ever speaking the right words at the right time.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 3)
The Lord Jesus has said, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] Christ’s words made an impression on the minds of His hearers. Many of them, though not clearly comprehending His instruction, were moved by deep conviction to say decidedly, “Never man spake like this man.” [John 7:46.] The disciples did not always understand the lessons Christ wished to convey by parables, and when the multitude had gone away, they would ask Him to explain His words. He was ever ready to lead them to a perfect understanding of His word and His will; for from them, in clear, distinct lines, truth was to go forth to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 4)
At times Christ reproached the disciples with the slowness of their comprehension. He placed in their possession truths of which they little suspected the value. He had been with them a long time, giving them lessons in clear lines, but their previous religious education, the erroneous interpretation which they had heard the Jewish teachers place on the Scriptures, kept their minds clouded. Christ promised them that He would send His Spirit, who would recall His words to their minds as forgotten truths. “He shall teach you all things,” Christ said, “and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” [John 14:26.]
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 5)
The way in which the Jewish teachers explained the Scriptures, their endless repetition of maxims and fictions, called forth from Christ the words, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” [Matthew 15:8.] They performed in the temple courts their round of service. They offered sacrifices typifying the great Sacrifice, saying by their ceremonies, “Come, my Saviour.” Yet Christ, the One whom all these ceremonies represented, was among them, and they would not recognize or receive Him. The Saviour declared, “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.” [Mark 7:7.]
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 6)
In Colossians we read, “The body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from which all the body, by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” [Colossians 2:17-19.] The gospel ministry is to demonstrate the influence of the cross. The work of God in the plan of salvation is not to be done in any disjointed way; it is not to operate at random. The plan which provided the influence of the cross provided also the method of its diffusion. This method is simple in its principles and comprehensive in its plain, distinct lines. Part is connected with part in perfect order and relation.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 7)
God has brought His people together in church capacity in order that they may reveal to the world the wisdom of Him who formed this organization. God knew what plans to outline for the efficiency and success of His people. Adherence to these plans will enable them to testify of the divine authorship of God’s great plan for the restoration of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 8)
Those who, through an intelligent understanding of the Scriptures, view the cross aright, those who truly believe in Jesus, have a sure foundation for their faith. They have that faith which works by love and purifies the soul from all its hereditary and cultivated imperfections.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 9)
God has united believers in church capacity in order that one may strengthen the other in good and righteous endeavor. The church on earth would indeed be a symbol of the church in heaven if the members were of one mind and one faith. It is those who are not worked by the Holy Spirit who mar God’s plan. Another spirit takes possession of them, and they help to strengthen the forces of darkness. Those who are sanctified by the precious blood of Christ will not become the means of counterworking the great plan God Himself has devised. They will not bring human depravity into things small or great. They will not do anything to perpetuate division in the church. But because there are always tares among the wheat, because in the body of Sabbathkeepers evils are seen, shall we demerit the church? Shall not the managers of every institution, the leaders of every church, take up the work of purification in such a way that the transformation in the church will not be a secret, a say-so, but a bright light in a dark place?
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 10)
What may not one believer do in the exercise of pure, heavenly principles, if he refuses to be contaminated, if he will stand as firm as a rock to a “Thus saith the Lord.” Angels of God will come to his help, preparing the way before him.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 11)
Paul wrote to the Romans, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” [Romans 12:1, 2.] This entire chapter is a lesson which I entreat all who claim to be members of the body of Christ to study.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 12)
Paul writes also, “If the firstfruits be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the fruit be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree, boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God, on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” [Romans 11:16-22.] There is to be no demeriting of the agencies God has placed in the church.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 13)
The fourth chapter of Ephesians contains lessons given us by God. In this chapter one speaks under the inspiration of God, one who in holy vision has been instructed by God. Here we are shown that one man cannot manage everything. God never designed that one man should shoulder so many responsibilities that his mind and body would become worn out. And it is for me to say, Dr. Kellogg, that you have not kept to your appointed work. You can serve the Lord best by giving the Sanitarium the benefits of the talents He had given you. He desires you to co-operate with Him in making this institution a lessonbook to the world. All are to see that it is under the management of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 14)
The third chapter of Ephesians also contains most important lessons for every one of our institutions. Paul writes, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” [Verses 8-10.] Sanctified ministry calls for self-denial. The cross must be uplifted, and its place in the gospel work shown. Human influence is to draw its efficacy from the One who is able to save and keep saved all who recognize their dependence on Him. By the union of church members with Christ and with each other the transforming power of the gospel is to be diffused throughout the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 15)
Never, never should a sanitarium be established to become an interest independent of the church. Genuine medical missionary work is in no case to become divorced from the gospel ministry. The cross is the center of all religious institutions. These institutions are to be under the control of the Spirit of God, and no one man is to be the sole head in these institutions. The divine mind has men for every place.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 16)
Those who take part in God’s work are to be led and guided by God. Every human ambition is to be submerged in Jesus Christ, who is the head over all the institutions God has established. He knows how to set in operation and keep in operation His own agencies. He knows that the cross must occupy the central place, because it is the means of man’s atonement, and because of the influence it exerts on every part of divine government. The Lord Jesus, who has been through all the history of our world, understands the methods that should be invested with a power over human minds. He knows the importance of every agency, and understands how the varied agencies should be related to one another.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 17)
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, every work of God’s appointment is to be elevated and ennobled, and made to witness for the Lord. The human mind needs to be uplifted. Man must place himself under the eternal Mind, whose dictates he is to obey in every particular. Let us seek to understand our privilege of walking and working with God. The gospel, though it contains God’s expressed will, is of no value to men, high or low, rich or poor, unless they place themselves in subjection to the divine will. He who bears to his fellow men the remedy for sin must first be worked himself by the Spirit of God. He must not ply the oar unless he is under divine direction. He cannot work effectually, he cannot carry out the will of God in harmony with the divine mind, unless he finds out, not from human sources, but from infinite wisdom, that God approves of his plan, of his investment of means.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 18)
Christ stood forth in our world, and speaking with the authority which belongs solely to Him, said, “No man liveth to himself.” [Romans 14:7.] After Adam fell, men broke away from the heaven-ordained center. Who could bring in the principles ordained by God in His rule and government to counterwork the plans of Satan, to bring the world back to its loyalty? God said, I will send My Son. He “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] This is the remedy for sin. Christ alone could stand in this world of selfishness, where men would destroy a friend or a brother in order to accomplish a scheme put into their minds by Satan.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 19)
Christ came to our world, clothing His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity and divinity grasp divinity. Amid the din of selfishness, He could say to men, Return to your center—God. He Himself made it possible for man to do this by carrying out in this world the principles of heaven. In humanity He lived the law of God. To men in every nation, every country, every clime, He will give heaven’s choicest gifts if they will accept God as their Creator and Christ as their Redeemer.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 20)
Christ alone can do this. His gospel, in the hearts and hands of His followers, is the power which is to accomplish this great work. “O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.” [Romans 11:33.] Christ made it possible for the work of redemption to be accomplished by Himself becoming subject to Satan’s misrepresentations. Thus was Satan to show himself to be the cause of disloyalty in God’s universe. Thus was to be forever settled the great controversy between Christ and Satan.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 21)
Satan strengthens the destructive tendencies of man’s nature. He brings in envy, jealousy, selfishness, covetousness, calculation, and strife for the highest place. Evil agencies act their part through the devising of Satan. Thus the enemy’s plans, with their destructive tendencies, have been brought into the church. Christ comes with His own redeeming influence, proposing through the agency of His Spirit to impart His efficiency to men, and employ them as His instrumentalities, as laborers together with Him, united with Him in seeking to draw the world back to its loyalty.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 22)
Men are bound in mutual fellowship, in mutual dependence, to one another. They are to be bound by the golden links of the chain of love fast to the throne of God. This can only be done by Christ imparting to finite man the attributes which man would ever have possessed had he remained loyal and true to God.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 23)
Through Christ God works to bring man back to his first relation to his Creator, and to correct the disorganizing influences brought in by Satan. Christ says, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” [John 12:32.] He saw that a demon was the central power in the world. Where God’s throne should have been, Satan had placed his throne. The world was laying its homage, as a willing offering, at the feet of the enemy. Christ says, “There shall stand the cross. Satan shall be cast out, and I will be lifted up to draw all men unto Me. I will become the center of the redeemed world. Those now controlled by human ambition, human passions, shall be workers of Me. The Lord God shall be exalted. No compulsion shall be exercised. I will set every heavenly agency at work. My army shall meet in conflict with the satanic force.
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 24)
“I will engage every sanctified human agency in the universe. Evil influences have conspired to counterwork all good. They have confederated to make men think it righteous to oppose the law of Jehovah. But My Spirit will combine with every heavenly agency to oppose them. I have a work for all who love Me. I have employment for every soul who will work under My direction. The activity of Satan’s army, the dangers that surround the human soul, call for all the energies of every worker. None of My agencies are to be absent. Man’s depravity is to be met by the love, the patience, the long-suffering of God. My work is to save those under Satan’s rule.”
(14LtMs, Lt 204, 1899, 25)
Lt 205, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 19, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 20MR 249-255. + Dear Brother:
The Lord gave me special light in regard to the establishment of a health reform institution, where treatment of the sick could be carried on on altogether different lines from those existing in any institution in our world. It must be founded and conducted on Bible principles, and the institution must be the Lord’s instrumentality, not to cure with drugs, but to use nature’s remedies. Those who have any connection with this institution must be educated in health restoring principles.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 1)
The human family is suffering because of the transgressions of the laws of God. Satan is constantly weaving in his principles, and thus seeking to counterwork the work of God. He is constantly representing the chosen people of God as a deluded people. He is an accuser of the brethren, and his power of accusing he is using constantly against those who work righteousness. The Lord would have His people stand out from the customs and practices of the world. Still greater truths are unfolding for this people as they near the end of time, and God designs that those see the light and believe the truth of the third angel’s message shall establish institutions where those who are in darkness in regard to the needs of the human organism may be educated, that they may in their turn lead others into the light of health reform. The blind leaders of the blind must learn the truth of healthful living as taught in the Scriptures.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 2)
Every physician in our ranks should be a Christian. God says, There shall be an institution established under the supervision of men who have been healed through a belief in God’s Word, and who have overcome their defects of character. In the world all kinds of provisions have been made for the relief of suffering humanity, but the truth in its simplicity is also to be brought to these suffering ones through the agency of men and women who are loyal to the commandments of God. Therefore sanitariums are to be established all through our world, and managed by a people who are in harmony with God’s laws, a people who will co-operate with God in advocating the truth which determines the case of every soul for whom Christ has died.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 3)
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] The institutions established must be conducted on lifesaving principles. The souls who are suffering because of transgression of the laws which govern their bodies are to be taught that transgression of the laws of nature is transgression of the laws of God. “If ye would enter into life,” He says, “keep the commandments. Live out the law as the apple of thine eye.” [Matthew 19:17; Proverbs 7:2.]
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 4)
The Lord will work with the people who will honor Him. A power from God will go with the physician who is a physician not merely to heal the maladies of the body, but who seeks to heal the disorders of the soul. Physicians, nurses, and helpers are to work in harmony. The truth is to be lived out by everyone who has any connection with the work. All the light of the past, which shineth unto the present, and stretcheth forth into the future, as revealed in the Word of God, is for every soul who comes to these institutions. The Lord designs that the sanitariums established among Seventh-day Adventists shall be symbols of what can be done for the world, types of the saving power of the truth of the gospel.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 5)
The God who gives mental capabilities, and who entrusts talents to the men and women who are His by creation and by redemption, expects that these talents and these capabilities will be increased by use. But when men glory in their capabilities and cause the praise of them to flow to finite beings, they dishonor God, and He will remove that in which they glory. When the physician is tempted to feel that he has methods which he can carry independent of the gospel of Christ, independent of the people for whom God has wrought that He might place them above every other people on the face of the earth, and he attempts to carry his plans, he will not meet with success. God establishes His instrumentalities among a people who recognize the laws of the divine government. The sick are to be healed through the combined efforts of the human and the divine. Every gift, every power, that Christ promised to His disciples, He bestows upon those who will serve Him faithfully.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 6)
The style of a doctor’s dress, his equipage, his furniture, weigh not one jot with God. He says, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] The physicians who unite with the work of God are to co-operate with God as His appointed instrumentalities; they are to give all their power and efficiency to magnifying the work of God’s commandment-keeping people. But physicians have been led to suppose that their capabilities were their own individual property, and they have used the powers given them to do God’s work in branching out into lines of work to which God has not appointed them.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 7)
These men are not to suppose that they can compass the world, for God has not set them to embrace so much with their own labors merely. The man who invests all his powers in many lines of work cannot take in hand the management of a sanitarium and do it justice. Satan is working every moment to find an opportunity to steal in. He tells the physician that his talents are too valuable to be bound up among Seventh-day Adventists, that if he were free he could do a very large work. But the Lord has bound the physician to this people whom He has commanded to be a light in the world, and his work is to give all that the Lord has given him—to give, not as one influence among many, but as the influence through God to make effective the truth for this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 8)
A work of reformation is to be carried on in our institutions. Physicians, workers, nurses, are to realize that they are on probation, on trial for their present life, and for that life which measures with the life of God. We are to put to the stretch every faculty, every nerve and muscle, to bring saving truths to the attention of suffering human beings. This work must be carried on in connection with the work of restoring the sick. Then the work will stand forth before the world in the strength which God designs it shall have. The truth will be magnified through the influence of sanctified workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 9)
Our physicians are to unite with the work of the ministry of the gospel. Souls are to be saved, that the name of God may be magnified, and the physician is not the feel, when brought in contact with the higher classes of society, that he must hide the peculiar characteristics which sanctification through the truth give him. The greatest respect will ever be shown to the physician who reveals that he takes his orders from God. Therefore he is not to take himself into his own hands, but be in every respect a representative of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 10)
Physicians in our institutions should not engage in numerous enterprises, and thus allow the work, which should stand upon right principles and exert a worldwide influence, to flag. God has not set His co-laborers to embrace so many things, to make such large plans, that they fail to accomplish the great good He expects them to do in diffusing light to the world, in drawing men and women to where He is leading by His supreme wisdom. Men of wealth and talent are to be turned from the cheapness of material things to lay hold on eternal realities. Every medical practitioner may through faith in Christ have in his possession a cure of the highest value—a remedy for the sinsick soul. The physician who is converted and sanctified through the truth is registered in heaven as a laborer together with God, a follower of Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 11)
Through the sanctification of the truth, God makes physicians and nurses skillful in a knowledge of how to treat the sick, and this work is opening the fast-closed doors of many hearts. Men and women are led to see and understand the truth which is needed to save the soul as well as the body. This is an element that give character to the work for this time. The medical missionary work is as the right hand and arm to the third angel’s message which must be proclaimed to a fallen world, and physicians, managers, and workers in any line, in acting faithfully their part, are doing the work of the message. From them the sound of the truth will go forth to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. In this work the heavenly angels bear a part. They awaken spiritual joy and melody in the hearts of those who have been freed from suffering, and joy and thanksgiving to God arise from many hearts that have received the precious truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 12)
The enemy has determined to counterwork the designs of God to benefit humanity by revealing to them what constitutes true medical missionary work. So many interests have been brought in that the workers cannot do all things according to the pattern shown them in the mount. I have been shown that the work God has appointed to physicians is enough for them to do, and what the Lord required of them was to link up closely with the gospel missionaries and do their work with faithfulness. He did not ask Dr. Kellogg, or any another physician to embrace so much. He has not made it the special work of Dr. Kellogg to go into the worst dens of iniquity in the large cities. The Lord does not require impossibilities of men. He gives to every man his work. The work which He gave to Dr. Kellogg was to symbolize to the world the ministry of the gospel in medical missionary work.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 13)
The Lord does not lay upon His people the largeness of the work of laboring for a class that cannot be benefited themselves or benefit others by their professed belief of the truth. Today the churches are full of every foul spirit, the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. The work is becoming confusing because the converted and the unconverted have united in them. If there are men who will take up the work of laboring for the most degraded, men upon whom God has laid the burden to labor for the masses in a variety of ways, let these converted ones go forth and gather from the world the means required to do this work. Let them not depend on the means which God intends shall sustain the work of the gospel.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 14)
The sanitarium in Battle Creek needs the brains and heart of which it is being robbed by another line of work. Misunderstandings have arisen because the ministerial branch of the work did not give its whole strength to other work. Everything that Satan can do he will do to multiply the responsibilities of Dr. Kellogg; for he knows that this means weakness instead of strength to the institution. Great consideration must be exercised.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 15)
There are other institutions to take the babies and care for them. This work is being done by There is a special work to be done for the children more advanced in years. Let families who can do so adopt these little ones, and they will receive a blessing in so doing. But there is a higher and more important work to engage the attention of educated physicians in teaching those who have grown up with deformed characters. The principles of health reform must be brought before parents. They must be converted, that they may work as missionaries in their own homes. This work Dr. Kellogg has done and can still do, if he will not sacrifice himself by carrying large responsibilities.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 16)
The physician will find that it is for his present and eternal good to follow the Lord’s way with suffering humanity. The mind that God has made, He can mold without the power of man, but He honors men by asking them to co-operate with Him in this great work. When the spirit of God works on the mind of the afflicted one, and he inquires for truth, let the physician work for the precious soul as Christ would work for it. Do not urge upon them any special doctrine, but point them to Jesus as a sin-pardoning Saviour. Angels of God will make impressions on the human mind. Some will refuse to be illuminated by the light which God would let shine into the chambers of the mind and into the soul temple, but many will respond to the light, and from these minds every form of deception and error will be swept away.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 17)
The head physician in any institution holds a difficult position, and he should keep himself free from smaller responsibilities, for these leave him no time for rest. He must not gather to himself work that he should not do. He should have sufficient reliable help, for he has trying work to perform. He must bow in prayer with the suffering ones and lead his patients to the great Physician. If as a humble suppliant he seeks his God for wisdom to deal with each case, his strength and influence will be greatly increased. With a sense of God’s pure truth in his heart and mind, he is better qualified to perform critical operations, which mean life or death to the afflicted ones.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 18)
A personal religion is essential for every physician if he would be successful in watching the diseased. He needs a power greater than his own intuition and skill. God would have physicians link up with Him, and know that every soul is precious in His sight. He who depends upon God, realizing that He alone who made man knows how to direct, will not fail as a healer of bodily infirmities.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 19)
A physician who bears these heavy responsibilities needs the prayers of the gospel minister, and he should be linked soul, mind, and body, with the truth of God. Then he can speak a word in season to the afflicted, he can watch for souls as one who must give an account. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life to him. The Scriptures come clearly to his mind, and he speaks as one who understands the value of the soul with whom he is dealing.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 20)
Never should familiarity with suffering make the physician careless or unsympathetic. When the crisis is over, and success is apparent, be he believer or unbeliever, spend a few moments in prayer with the patient. Give expression to your thankfulness for the life that has been spared. The physician who follows such a course as this carries his patient to the One upon whom he is dependent for life. Words of gratitude may flow from the patient to the physician, for through God he has bound this life up with his own. But let the praise and thanksgiving be given to God as to One who is present, though invisible. The afflicted one is at the mercy of the Physician. He looks to that physician as his only hope, and the physician should ever point the trembling soul to One greater than himself, even the Son of God, who gave His life to save him from death, who pities the sufferer, and who by His divine power will give skill and wisdom to all who will ask Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 21)
In sickness, when the patient knows not how his case will be decided, is the time for the physician to impress the human mind. He should not do this with the desire to distinguish himself, but that he may point the soul to Christ as a personal Saviour. The physician who loves and fears God will not need to make any outward display in order to distinguish himself, for the Sun of Righteousness is shining in his heart and is revealed in his life, and this distinguishes him. If the life is spared, there is a soul for that physician to watch for. The patient feels as though his physician were the very life of his life. And to what purpose should all this weight of confidence be employed? Always to win a soul to Christ and magnify the power of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 22)
Let not the physicians who are connected with the work of God follow the example of worldlings. Strict justice and judgment must appear on every record book in our institutions. Men and angels must see that we are representatives of the principles of the gospel of Christ. Let no advantage be taken of any man, for we are laborers together with God. Christ’s character must be seen in every line of work, every hospital, every sanitarium. The physician who has a love for souls will present an example to the world that he will not be ashamed to meet at the judgment bar of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 23)
Often an exorbitant price is charged for small services, because physicians are supposed to charge according to the charges of the worldly physicians. My Teacher said, “The institution that shall depend upon God and receive His co-operation must ever work according to the principles of the law of God. To charge a large sum for a few moments’ work is not just and right. Physicians who are under the discipline of the greatest Physician the world ever knew must let the principles of the gospel regulate every fee. Let mercy and the love of God be written on every dollar received.”
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 24)
When our sanitariums are conducted as they should be, a large medical missionary work will be done. Every worker will do his work with such exactitude that he will shine as a light in the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 25)
The Lord will do wondrous things for the truth’s sake, and that His name may be glorified. But He requires that the people who engage in His service shall keep their minds ever directed to Him. Every day they should have time for prayer, for every officer and soldier under the command of the God of Israel needs time in which to consult with God, and seek His blessing. If the worker allows himself to be drawn away from this, he will lose his spiritual power. Individually we are to walk and talk with God; then the sacred influence of the gospel of Christ will appear in all its preciousness, and the truth will go forth as a lamp that burneth.
(14LtMs, Lt 205, 1899, 26)
Lt 206, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia December 10, 1899 See also Lt 215, 1899. Portions of this letter are published in 5MR 406; 9MR 82-83. + My Dear Brother:
You speak as though you had no friends. But God is your Friend and Sister White is your friend. You have thought that I had lost confidence in you; but, my dear brother, as I have before written to you, I know that the Lord had placed you in a very responsible position, standing as you do as the greatest physician in our world, a man to whom the Lord has given understanding and knowledge, that you may do justice and judgment, and reveal the true missionary spirit in the institution which is to represent truth in contrast with error.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 1)
My brother, the Lord has not left you to go on a warfare at your own charges. He has given you wisdom, and favor with God and man. He has been your helper. He has chosen you as His agency to exalt the truth in the Battle Creek Sanitarium as it is not represented in other medical institutions. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was to be known as an institution where the Lord was daily acknowledged as the Monarch of the universe. “He doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and also among the inhabitants of earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” [Daniel 4:35.]
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 2)
The Lord designs that the proclamation of the third angel’s message shall be the highest, greatest work carried on in our world at this time. He honored you by placing you in a very responsible position. You were not to separate your influence from the ministry of the gospel. In every line of your work you were to understand and practice the truth. You were to make God first, and ever obey His Word. In this would be your strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 3)
You were not faultless. Often you lost control of yourself. Then your words were not what they should have been. At times you were arbitrary and exacting. But you were striving for the mastery over self, and angels of God co-operated with you, because through you God was to work to exalt His truth, and cause it to receive honored recognition in the world. God gave you wisdom, not that your name should be magnified, but that those coming to the sanitarium in Battle Creek might carry away with them favorable impressions of Seventh-day Adventists. The honor given you did not come to you because you were righteous above all men, but because God desired to use you as His instrument.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 4)
In His providence the Lord has drawn many to the sanitarium, that they may become acquainted with the truth and be converted, and then carry away with them the evidence of the miraculous power of God on body and soul. This has stirred the ire of Satan. It does not please him that it should be shown that God is working to magnify the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 5)
It was God’s purpose that the missionaries, teachers, and physicians in the sanitarium should become acquainted with the third angel’s message, which embraces so much. Angels of God were to be your strength in the work that was to be done in order that the Battle Creek Sanitarium might be known as an institution under the special supervision of God. The missionary feeling and the sympathy that prevailed in this institution was a result of the work of invisible heavenly agencies there. God said, “I thought it good to show signs and wonders. In My might I wrought to glorify My name.” Many have gone away from the sanitarium with new hearts. The change has been decided. These, returning to their homes, have been as lights in the world. Their voices have been heard saying, “Come, all ye that fear God, and I will make known to you what He hath done for my soul. I have seen His greatness. I have tasted His goodness.” [See Psalm 66:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 6)
The medical fraternity has made many reforms, and they should rise still higher. Those who hold the lives of human beings in their hands should be educated, elevated, and sanctified. The work done in the Battle Creek Sanitarium is a great work, because there the Lord is the Master-worker. His power will accomplish the very thing whereunto it is sent.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 7)
The Lord has appointed the physicians in the sanitarium to stand as faithful sentinels. Through them God desires to do the work that must be done. Through them impressions are to be made regarding the work of relieving suffering humanity. In the sanitarium the attributes of God are to be unfolded, and the glory and excellence of the truth are to be made more vivid. While doctrinal subjects are not to be presented to the sick, if these truths are lived out, the Spirit of God will bring conviction to hearts, and the faithful guardian of souls will understand when the time has come to present the seventh day as the seal of God, to show what has been done by priests and rulers to place a false rest day where the seventh day should be.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 8)
Dr. Kellogg, you have not in all things been following the Lord’s plan. The medical missionary work should be as the right arm of the body of truth, but this work has been made to absorb so much that to all intents and purposes it has become the body. God did not design that this work should eclipse the work of the third angel’s message. This message is the gospel message for these last days, and in no case is it to be overshadowed by other interests and made to appear an unessential consideration. When in the sanitarium anything is placed before the third angel’s message, the gospel is not there the great, leading power.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 9)
Because of sin the atmosphere of the world has become as the atmosphere of a pesthouse. Sin is the transgression of the law. “No man liveth to himself.” [Romans 14:7.] This is a law of God, in heaven and on earth. The gospel is the means ordained by God to restore His moral image in man, and to stem the tide of hostility against His law. It is His remedy for universal disorganization; it is the power which draws men together in unity. In the gospel the Lord uses different instrumentalities, and nothing is to be allowed to separate these instrumentalities. Selfishness introduced in any degree into ministerial or medical work is an infraction of the law of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 10)
God’s benevolent designs embrace every branch of His work. The law of reciprocal dependence and influence is to be recognized and obeyed. No man liveth unto himself. The enemy has used the chain of dependence to draw men together. They have united to destroy God’s image in man, to counterwork the gospel by perverting its principles. They are represented in God’s Word as being bound up in bundles to be burned. Satan is uniting his forces for perdition.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 11)
The unity of God’s chosen people has been terribly shaken. God presents a remedy. This remedy is not an influence among many influences, and on the same level with them, but an influence above all influences upon the face of the earth, corrective in its power, uplifting and ennobling. Those who work in the gospel should be elevated and sanctified, for they are dealing with God’s great principles. Yoked up with Christ, they are laborers together with God. Thus the Lord would bind His followers together, that they may be a power for good, each acting his part, yet all cherishing the sacred principle of mutual dependence on the great Head.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 12)
Of himself, what can man accomplish in the great work set forth by the infinite God? Christ says, “Without me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] He came to our world to show men how to do the work given them by God, and He says to us, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] Why is Christ’s yoke easy and His burden light? Because He bore the weight of it upon the cross of Calvary.
(14LtMs, Lt 206, 1899, 13)
Lt 207, 1899
Haskell, S. N.; Irwin, G. A. NP December 15, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 14MR 55-65. Dear Brethren Haskell and Irwin:
I have just read your letters, and I will now try to write to you. The things of which you write are simply foolish imaginings which are presented to the people. The teachers who cherish them need to learn anew the principles of our faith. They need to be thoroughly converted. To make the statements they make, and hold the notions they hold, is like descending from the highest elevation to which the truth of the Word takes men, to the lowest level. God is not working with such men.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 1)
Having lost the grand truths of the Word of God, which center in the third angel’s message, they have supplied their place with fables. When they sink the shaft deeper into the quarries of truth, their lips will not utter the statements they have uttered in the past, statements which have no foundation in the Word of God. The Lord has declared what is truth. He has made plain the difference between truth and error. Truth is sensible, genuine; it bears the signature of heaven. Those who sow tares among the wheat are not true workers, and they should leave the work for sensible men.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 2)
My brethren, there is need of encouraging elevated principles. Those who cherish and advocate fanciful ideas need to be taught what is truth before they attempt to teach others. Man-made theories and suppositions are not to be allowed to enter the work. But do not give the impression that there are many who are going to foolish extremes. There are a few ill-balanced minds that are ready to catch at anything of a sensational character. But I tell you that there are many in America who are as true as steel to principle, and these will be helped and blessed; for they are weeping between the porch and the altar, saying, “Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach.” [Joel 2:17.] We must let the great principles of the third angel’s message stand out clear and distinct. The great pillars of our faith will hold all the weight that can be placed upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 3)
Those who in this age of the world carry forward God’s work are to sink the shaft deep into the mines of truth, that they may find the precious, imperishable jewels. All must be careful what they present to the people as truth. Do not present your own imaginations as Bible truth. The enemy tries to warp and twist human minds. To the one who will listen to him, he presents ideas which are odd and peculiar, which will create a sensation. These he leads him to present to others, with a test which he has imagined. Thus Satan sets minds thinking in wrong channels, diverting them from the genuine tests which God has made in His Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 4)
Those who present the idea that the blind, the deaf, the lame, the deformed, will not receive the seal of God, are not speaking words given them by the Holy Spirit. There is much suffering in our world. To some, suffering and disease have been transmitted as an inheritance. Others suffer because of accidents. Cause and effect are always in operation in our world, and always will be. The Lord has afflicted ones, dearly beloved in His sight, who bear the suffering of bodily infirmities. To them special care and grace is promised. Their trials will not be greater than they can endure.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 5)
Paul had a bodily affliction; his eyesight was bad. He thought that by earnest prayer the difficulty might be removed. But the Lord had His own purpose, and He said to Paul, “Speak to Me no more of this matter. My grace is sufficient. It will enable you to bear the infirmity.” [2 Corinthians 12:9.] The Lord Jesus has bound up His interests with the interests of the whole world. His influence is an ever-widening, shoreless influence. Although unseen, it is intensely active. Wielded by the Father Himself, it is the element which is used in restoring the moral image of God in man.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 6)
The parable of the wealthy nobleman and Lazarus, who lay outside his gate, is a lesson to all. To the nobleman had been entrusted the talent of means. He enjoyed great blessings. But he was unfaithful to the One who had given him goods upon which to trade. The beggar lay outside his gate and entreated pity and help, but the nobleman neglected to do the very thing he might have done. The history of these two men shows how God will deal with His believing, suffering ones, and how with those who are spending for self-gratification that which they should impart to the poor. God chose not the rich nobleman. It is Lazarus whom He is represented as blessing and commanding.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 7)
There are living upon our earth, men who have passed the age of four score and ten. The natural results of old age are seen in their feebleness. But they believe God, and God loves them. The seal of God is upon them, and they will be among the number of whom the Lord has said, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.” [Revelation 14:13.] With Paul they can say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” [2 Timothy 4:7, 8.] There are many whose gray hairs God honors because they have fought a good fight and kept the faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 8)
There is no need of entering into controversy with the poor souls who think they are doing God’s service when they are believing the devil’s fables. When our young ministers hurt themselves and bring reproach upon God’s cause by placing solemn, sacred truth on a level with fables, let them be advised to become converted by closely studying the Word with men of experience, who for years have understood the truth. Let them turn from romance, from the fanciful interpretations which have no foundation in God’s Word. “What is the chaff to the wheat?” [Jeremiah 23:28.] We need, in this age of error, of day-dreaming and reverie, to learn the first principles of the doctrine of Christ. Let us strive to be able to say with the apostle, “We have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:16.] The Lord calls upon us to follow high and noble principles.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 9)
I have been shown that there are those to whom the words apply, “When for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” [Hebrews 5:12-14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 10)
If ever any one needed such instruction as this, it is those who, while claiming to labor in the ministry, are preaching the productions of perverted imagination. Today, as in Christ’s day, odd, strange ideas are springing up. The truth Christ taught was grand and high and exalted. But though the Jewish people had been given great light, they did not bring into the practical life the great principles of love to God and man.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 11)
For a long time before the first advent of Christ, the rabbis had been working to make the truth of none effect. They seemed to have lost their common sense, and they labored to construct something original to preserve their influence. They made a show of victory by an endless repetition of fables and childish traditions. They manufactured cheap, inconsistent, frivolous sayings, and trivial forms, construing the truth into falsehood. Their minds became darkened. Unpracticed, the sacred truths lost their luster. Fabrications were made up, unnecessary duties enjoined, false tests made and presented. Sacred truth was dishonored by being brought into companionship with error.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 12)
Christ came to bring light and immortality to light. But the narrow, limited comprehension of the disciples led them to look up to the fables of the Jewish teachers as wisdom, and this imposed a restraint upon Christ’s teaching. He could not teach them as He would like to have done, because they mingled subjects of eternal interest with the traditions of men. Their imaginations were not sanctified. This determined the measure of the divine communication. Christ left unrevealed many things, saying, “Ye cannot bear them now.” [John 16:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 13)
The Lord Jesus did not bring forth any of the cheap suppositions that some who claim to be teachers are manufacturing. There can be no value in the fables that are composed by guess work to make an impression on minds. Young men must be educated to keep within the bounds of “It is written.” Paul writes, “I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.” That time has come. I present the word of warning: “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” [2 Timothy 4:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 14)
No one is to put truth to the torture by cheap imaginings, by putting a forced, mystical construction upon the Word. Thus they are in danger of turning the truth of God into a lie. There are those who need in their hearts the touch of the divine Spirit. Then the message for this time will be their burden. They will not search for human tests, for something new and strange. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the test for this time, and therefore all connected with this great memorial is to be kept before the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 15)
I am pained beyond what any language can express. Irreverence is coming in apace. I have words to speak to the young men who have been teaching the truth: Preach the Word. You may have inventive minds. You may be expert, as were the Jewish teachers, in getting up new theories; but Christ said of them, “In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.” [Matthew 15:9.] They presented traditions, suppositions, and fables of all kinds to the people. The forms and ceremonies they enjoined made it simply impossible for the people to know whether they were keeping the Word of God or following the imaginations of men.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 16)
Satan is well pleased when he can thus confuse the mind. Let not ministers preach their own suppositions. Let them search the Scriptures earnestly, with a solemn realization that if they teach for doctrine the things that are not contained in God’s Word, they will be as those represented in the last chapter of Revelation.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 17)
Truth, present truth, is all that the Word of God represents it to be. The Lord would have His people keep themselves from all superfluities, from all that would destroy their influence and bring a reproach upon the truth. Will our brethren teach that which is not truth, which never will be truth? The gates of heavenly counsel are thrown open to all. Those who would be teachers must first be learners. Let those who are tempted to indulge in fanciful, imaginary doctrines sink the shaft deep into the quarries of heavenly truth, and secure the treasure which means life eternal to the receiver. In the Word there are the most precious ideas. These will be secured by those who study with earnestness; for heavenly angels will direct the search; but the angels never lead the mind to dwell upon cheap nonsense, as though it were the Word of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 18)
Let men humble their hearts before the Lord. Let teachers heed the Word of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29, 30.] Manufacture not yokes for your own necks or for the necks of God’s people. Let no one struggle against natural claims, but against sin, which must be met and repulsed at every step. The way is plainly marked out. He that “will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.]
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 19)
“The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single”—if special care is taken to keep every organ of the body pure and healthy, if temperance in all things is observed, if the physical and mental powers are exercised in accordance with an enlightened conscience—“thy whole body shall be full of light.” [Matthew 6:22.] Paul writes, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” [Romans 12:1.]
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 20)
It is not our service to pray that colored hair shall become black, or that gray hair, which God pronounces honorable, shall become black. Those who set their minds laboring in this direction are not following on to know the Lord. They are starting in a course which will lead to the greatest, most God-dishonoring fanaticism. Our work is to form new habits of thought. Through faith in Christ we can do this. Natural propensities are to be controlled. Selfish inclinations are to be denied. Again and again some things hostile to grace and reform will start into life. Again and again we shall be called into the conflict to fight against hereditary tendencies to wrong.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 21)
What shall ministers teach the people? Certainly not fables. Certainly not their own foolish imaginings, which would put a yoke grievous to be borne upon the necks of poor souls. Such a yoke Christ has not formed. It galls; it brings unrest, disquietude, and discouragement. Bearing Christ’s yoke brings rest, peace, obedience; for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace which is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, as it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” [1 Peter 1:13-16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 22)
There is among young men a burning desire to get hold of something new, even though it be of the cheapest quality. The Lord would not have the mind dwell on unprofitable nothings, seeking for what it will never find. He desires us to seek for a pure, clean soul, a soul washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. It is the white robe of Christ’s righteousness that gives the sinner admittance into the presence of the heavenly angels. Not the color of his hair, but his perfect obedience to all God’s commandments, opens to him the gates of the holy city.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 23)
No one in this world is exempt from calamity, from misfortune and affliction. But if our hearts are washed in the blood of the Lamb, however poor and afflicted we may be, we are privileged to see in anticipation the joy that will be ours in heaven. Then let God’s promises be received and enjoyed by faith. Let none of God’s people believe the fables advanced by some regarding the color of the hair. The idea that persons who are deformed must be healed in order to be saved is a fable originated by someone who needs inward cleansing before he can receive the seal of God. In the great day of God, all who are faithful and true will receive the healing touch of the divine Restorer. The Lifegiver will remove every deformity, and will give them eternal life.
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 24)
In God’s Word, the question is not, What is the color of the hair or the form of the body? but, Has the heart been purified, made white, and tried?
(14LtMs, Lt 207, 1899, 25)
Lt 208, 1899
Members of the Book Committee NP December 18, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in CW 160-161. Dear Brethren:
I have some things to say in reference to the making of books. There are dangers which our book committee needs to guard against. Men who have any part to act in the service of God should be careful, lest they use the common fire in the place of the sacred. They should watch and pray, and be careful that their own hearts are under the control of the Spirit of God. If, like Daniel, they are men of earnest prayer, they will be careful of their words and deportment. They will not exalt self, but they will love and fear God, and respect their brethren. They will pray for grace to keep themselves faithful and true and untainted with selfishness in their connection with the work of God. No neglect will be seen, no complaints will be heard, no unjust course will be taken toward any man whom God has used in His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 208, 1899, 1)
When Elder Littlejohn’s book was published at the office at Battle Creek, he was not fairly treated. An arbitrary spirit, which was not of God, was exercised against this brother. Brother Littlejohn was a man of intelligent perceptions, a man who as far as his intellect was concerned was far in advance of those who composed the book committee. The men who passed judgment on the book revealed in their decisions the spirit that controlled them. Justice and equity, and the sound, pure principles of the gospel were not brought in, and this led to the corruption of principle. The members of the book committee did not take into consideration the results of their methods. They did not consider that God was working upon other minds than those which constituted the book committee.
(14LtMs, Lt 208, 1899, 2)
The men who are placed in the position to judge if books are worthy of publication should be few and well chosen. Men who have never written a book themselves, or had any experience in this line, cannot be expected to have clear perceptions in these matters, and they should never be placed on a committee to pass their judgment or estimate the value of a book. They may speak of these matters as though they were competent to judge, but they are ignorant of the subject brought before them.
(14LtMs, Lt 208, 1899, 3)
The Lord reproves these men who have been placed in positions of trust, for they are not under the control of God’s Spirit. The outworking of their decisions has led to the promulgation of error. Many books have been issued, not for the glory of God, but simply because the authors desired to make a book. Men have considered it their right to put books into circulation which were not at all needed, that they might make a little money for themselves. Other persons feel that their productions are needed, and are great offended when they are not recognized as authors. There is not safety for these supposedly wise men and women, unless they humble themselves before God and seek Him with heart and mind and soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 208, 1899, 4)
The Lord would have men of solid judgment in connection with His work, else the world will be flooded with a class of literature that it might better be without. And His people are to learn to deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.
(14LtMs, Lt 208, 1899, 5)
Lt 209, 1899
Daniells, A. G.; Farnsworth, Brother “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 19, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in VSS 329-330; Ev 230; 3MR 344; 8MR 191-192. Dear Brethren Daniells and Farnsworth:
I wrote a few lines to send to you by the Wellington boat, but Maggie said that you would not receive it any sooner than if I waited till now.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 1)
This morning we sent off the American mail, and I make a resolution that my letter-writing will not continue. I am now fully determined to give myself to the work of completing my books, which are ever in the process of coming out, but never appear.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 2)
I write this letter to say a few things to my ministering brethren. When you have a congregation before you for only two weeks, do not defer the presentation of the Sabbath question, the real genuine matter, until everything else is presented, supposing that you are paving the way for it. Thus a mistake was made at Ballarat and at Maitland. The Sabbath was touched upon, but was not made the great question, the test for this time.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 3)
Lift up the standard—the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Make this everything, and then by your strong arguments wall it in, and make if of still greater force. We are, as a people, in danger of giving the third angel’s message in such an indefinite manner that it does not impress the people. It is our privilege to expect large things, even the demonstration of the Spirit of God. This is a power which will convict and convert the soul. Our message is a life and death message, and we must let this message appear as it is—the great power of God. Then the Lord will make it effectual. We are to present it in all its telling force.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 4)
The first and second angels’ messages are bound up with the third angel’s message. The power of the proclamation of the first and second angels’ messages are to be concentrated in the third. We read, “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” [Revelation 14:9, 10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 5)
“After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice in heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” [Revelation 18:1-5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 6)
Dwell more on the Revelation. Read, explain, and enforce its teachings.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 7)
Our warfare is aggressive. But at the very time when the third angel’s message should be given with power, so many other interests are brought in that the very messages which should be proclaimed become tame and voiceless. Tremendous issues are before us, yea, and right upon us. Let our prayers ascend to God that the four angels shall be commissioned to hold the four winds, that they may not blow to injure or destroy. The call is to be made. The truth for this time is to do its work of separating from the churches a people who will take their position upon the platform of eternal truth. A great work is to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 8)
Our sanitariums are to be planted in suitable places, and then the physicians, imbued with the Spirit of God, are to show their faith by their works. There is to be nothing in any of our institutions that will lessen the force of the truth for this time. Present truth is to be our burden. Those who have charge of our sanitarium in this country are not to gather in their arms burdens which the Lord has not given them, so that the very work to which they are appointed cannot be done solidly and perfectly. The sanitarium is God’s instrumentality, and it is to stand out firmly in defense of the truth, till its weight of influence enables it to do its important work. It is to be as the living demonstration of the gospel. The power is to be placed in the sanitarium itself. Make it that which it should be in God’s great plan—elevated, pure, holy, carrying forward the work of God in reformative lines. If the physician will give his talents to the work so essential to be done in the institution, if he will labor for the saving of the soul as well as of the body, the power of God will be manifested.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 9)
There is to be an impression made upon all who shall come to the sanitarium that Christianity, under a large communication of the Holy Spirit, is doing its work in the highways as well as in the hedges. This is a work of the highest importance, because it reaches a class of people who have an opportunity to see the influence of the truth upon human minds. All connected with the sanitarium, physicians, managers, helpers, nurses, are to be living channels of light.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 10)
How strong is the need for intense diligence and entire consecration on the part of physicians and managers! Nothing will work so powerfully for the advancement of God’s instrumentality as a standing, as faithful servants of God on the part of those connected with it. Never let the idea be entertained that it is essential to put on an appearance of being wealthy. God cannot work by His Holy Spirit with those who ape other physicians in dress or in display. God recognizes every physician who practices the self-denial and self-sacrifice which He has enjoined upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 11)
I am instructed to say that efforts made to put on an appearance, with the thought that this will give influence, will have just the opposite effect. There must be no conformity to the world. All who dishonor God by lifting up themselves set an example to others that is misleading. Physicians are to understand that their power lies in their meekness and lowliness of heart. God will work with those who make Him their dependence.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 12)
The physicians who connect with the sanitarium should feel that as physicians they can do nothing without the help of the great Master-worker. They are to practice the truth for this time, binding up their work with the gospel ministry. God has given His physicians the work of drawing the people to Christ through the various influences by which they are brought in contact with the great and testing truth for this time. Let no physician suppose that his influence would increase if he should separate himself from this work.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 13)
It is the Lord’s plan that men and women of wealth and influence shall feel a safety in a sanitarium where prayer is offered up to God. They are to see that there is a people in the world having talent and knowledge who are not vain and self-exalted, who follow the pattern Christ has given. Seventh-day Adventists are to be represented in our world by the advanced principles of health reform which God has given to us. In all places the work is to be in harmony with the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Truth is refining, cleansing, sanctifying in its work, and those who believe the truth will not be like a steam engine working at low pressure. The breath of God, the Holy Spirit, will be upon the workers.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 14)
Divine power is needed to give force and intensity to the living agencies who are to be representatives of the great Worker. Christ calls for unequaled growth in spiritual power, that Satan shall not work his will to mold men and women after his similitude. He is already sowing his tares among the wheat. By selfishness, pride, and self-indulgence people will testify that he has sown his seed in their hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 15)
Diversions from the straightforward path marked out by Christ have and will turn aside the current that is set flowing earthward for the purpose of accomplishing a work that no other people outside of Seventh-day Adventists can do. But these reactions need not be. God will not give mental strength and physical power to those who gather burdens that He has not appointed. They try to do a work which they have not sufficient force to carry. They spoil God’s great plan by gathering so many responsibilities that they cannot do their appointed work.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 16)
God wants those who preach the gospel to show to the world a pattern of a Christlike life. He calls for men who can act as physicians of the soul as well as of the body. But men set God aside as not sufficient for them. They must resort to worldly men for recognition. They think that by the influence gained from the world they will do some great thing. But they make a mistake. By leaning on the arm of the world instead of on the arm of the Lord, they turn aside the work God desires to accomplish through His chosen people. Those who try to destroy the peculiarities of God’s people by their human ideas will lose their spiritual life, and will be no more upheld by God.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 17)
We are either standing under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel or under the black banner of Satan. Whom will we choose? Truth as it is in Jesus will distinguish us from worldly policies. Have we not a strength from above? Need we plan how we can bind ourselves up with worldly confederacies? The Lord does not require of finite men the work which God must do. He asks that each shall do his appointed work. “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] Man is not to work the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is to work man. The Word made heaven and earth and all things that are therein; and the Word will do its cleansing work with human beings, sanctifying them through Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 18)
We cannot put confidence in any man, however learned, however elevated he may be, unless he holds the beginning of his confidence firm unto the end. What must have been the power of the enemy upon Solomon, a man whom God has thrice called the beloved of God, and to whom He committed the great work of building the temple. In that very work Solomon made an alliance with idolatrous nations. He bound himself up with women of heathen education, and forsook the temple of God to erect groves to their idols.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 19)
Men suppose they know how to fix up matters, and they arrange things after their own minds, thinking to bring about wonderful results. But if they would depend on God, and not on themselves, if they would feel that the time spent in prayer is not lost, but is uniting the human agency with the divine, they would receive heavenly wisdom. Those who are so engrossed in their work that they cannot find time to press themselves to the throne of grace and obtain divine counsel, will sway the work in wrong channels. Men need to pray more, to lean upon God, else self, which cannot be depended upon, will become all sufficient. Let this fact be ever before the mind. The Lord He is God, and beside Him there is none else. He reads every motive of the mind, and knows every impulse of the human heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 20)
When the Lord signified that there should be medical missionary institutions in our ranks, He designed that these institutions should stand as witnesses to the truth, to give character to the work which must be carried forward in these last days in restoring man through a reformation in the habits, appetites, and passions. All the reformatory work is to be connected with the message of salvation which is to prepare a people to stand in this day of trial and temptation.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 21)
Under the supposed wisdom of men, nature is placed where she becomes a destructive agency. The good things which were given to man only to bless him are converted into a curse. By the use of wine and liquor men become slaves to appetite. God does not interpose and work a miracle to convert evil into good, for He has laid all nature under His eternal laws. Let there be no peace to the wicked, He says. Let everything be at war with him. And nature responds, “There shall be none.” [Ezekiel 7:25.] If man takes himself in his own hands, to do with himself as he pleases, if he works against God and nature, his indulgences will become to him the instruments of death.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 22)
Under the hand of God, nature ministers against the transgressors of God’s law. She holds her destructive elements in her bosom till the time when they shall break forth to destroy man and purify the earth. When Pharaoh defied God through Moses and Aaron, saying, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go” [Exodus 5:2], nature expressed her sympathy with her injured Maker, and co-operated with God to avenge the insult to Jehovah. All Egypt was laid desolate because of the stubborn resistance of Pharaoh.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 23)
Herod exalted himself as a god, and denied not the adulation given him when the admiring throng declared, “It is the voice of a god and not of a man.” [Acts 12:22.] But an avenging angel, jealous of Jehovah’s honor, smote the blasphemous king, and he was eaten of worms while life was in him. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” the Lord declares. [Exodus 20:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 24)
The Lord has a special message for us to bear to the world, even the third angel’s message. “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet,” He says, “and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.” [Isaiah 58:1.] The trumpet is to give a certain sound. While the churches profess to believe in Christ, they are violating the law of God, which Christ proclaimed from Sinai. Our condition through sin has become preternatural, and the wisdom which must restore to man that which he has lost must be supernatural, else it is a physician of no account. Said Christ, “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee; but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.” [John 17:25.] “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” [Verse 6.] This is our work in the world. We are to reveal Christ in spirit and action. The knowledge of God is the peculiar gift of Jesus Christ, and this gift He gives to His followers, to be communicated by them to the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 209, 1899, 25)
Lt 210, 1899
Brethren in the Work of God “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 20, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 5BC 1139. Dear Brethren in the Work of God:
I have been very much burdened in regard to the future of the work. Our camp meetings should be made all that God designed they should be. The spiritual necessities of those who attend should not be neglected. From the very commencement of the meeting, social meetings for prayer, confession, and spiritual awakening should be held.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 1)
Let all seek to understand the meaning of the words, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] There is the giving and there is the finding of the rest that Jesus longs to have every one of His children find.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 2)
“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the tower wherewith he was girded.” [John 13:3-5.] This humiliation was Christ’s exaltation. There are lessons of humility for us to learn. Those who are in the most exalted positions are the ones who should practice humility and walk in humbleness of mind. They should speak in simple language, that even the children may understand them.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 3)
Let none who do not have humility talk humility. Humility talked may become inrooted vanity. We have no need any of us to claim humility, but we are to be in reality humble.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 4)
Humility is an active principle growing out of a thorough consciousness of God’s great love, and will always show itself by the way in which it works. By taking part in the ordinance of feet washing, we show that we are willing to perform this act of humility. We are doing the very thing Christ did, but this is not to be talked of as an act of humiliation. It is an act which symbolizes the condition of the mind and heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 5)
“All ye are brethren.” [Matthew 23:8.] As brethren we are identified with Christ and with one another. As brethren we are identical with christ, and through His grace identical with one another. And as we wash the feet of Christ’s followers, it is as though we were indeed touching the Son of God. We do this act because Christ told us to do it, and Christ Himself is among us. His Holy Spirit does the work of uniting our hearts. To become one with Christ requires self-denial and self-sacrifice at every step.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 6)
The performance of the ordinance of humility calls for self-examination. The noble principles of the soul are strengthened on every such occasion. Christ lives in us, and this draws heart to heart. We are led to love as brethren, to be kind, tender, courteous in daily service, having hearts that can feel another’s woe.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 7)
It is having the living breath of the Holy Spirit that makes the humble man’s human life noble, pure, and after the likeness of Christ’s life. Much knowledge does not elevate a man in the sight of God. To be daily crucified with Christ, daily a partaker of His sufferings, is what wins souls to the truth. He who manifests childlike simplicity and Christlike humility is great in God’s sight. He who is most nearly a child in faith and trust and devotion is highest in God’s kingdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 210, 1899, 8)
Lt 211, 1899
Rand, Dr. S. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 21, 1899 Previously unpublished. +
To Dr. Rand and those who are interested in the work of finding a place in Newcastle where medical missionary work can be carried forward.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 1)
Dear Brethren:
Yesterday we visited Newcastle for the special purpose of seeing the places which were regarded as having favorable accommodations for giving treatment to the sick and suffering. We looked at the place opposite the office which Dr. Rand now occupies. After careful consideration, we can see no light in taking this place, with all that it involves. The money that would be necessary to fit it up for use would be more than we would feel justified in spending.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 2)
Then there are other considerations. The relation which Dr. Rand sustains to the work and cause of God at this time should connect him with his work. He needs all the help possible to give solidity to his spiritual strength, and to keep him wide-awake to the great and solemn subjects which have a bearing upon the mind and conscience at this time. He must place himself in right relation to the church. He must link himself up with the church. Then, standing on the platform of eternal truth, he must shape his course of action with reference to his present and eternal interests. This is of far greater moment to him than any other problem that he can entertain. Everything that he does must be done with reference to solid connection with the truth. In all his arrangements he is to represent the truth. This is not to become a matter of secondary consequence, but is to be made the very first interest.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 3)
Dr. Rand, you need to bind up with the people of God, for you are surely in peril if you do not do this. The fight of faith will be harder for you if you do not, because you have been under serious temptation, and are still under the attacks of Satan. All this needs to be carefully considered.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 4)
The place [is] in the heart of the city, but [there are] many more disadvantages. You need to have connected with you persons who can be a help to you in giving treatment, and you need a place furnished with facilities with which to give treatment. The building we looked at in Hamilton will be much better in many respects than the one in the city. To give treatment is not the whole of the matter. Your work should give character to the work of God and the work of God give character to your work. In whatever work may be done in medical missionary lines, there should be a connection with those who are standing on the platform of eternal truth. The last building we looked at is not far from the church. The patients you shall have under your care should have the privilege of attending our meetings. Their salvation is one great object God would have us consider. If one soul is of such value that the world sinks into insignificance in comparison with it, should not medical missionary work be placed in close connection with ministerial work?
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 5)
This matter has come so vividly to my mind that I dare not hold my peace. Every effort made in medical missionary work should be made with reference to drawing souls into connection with the truth. If our medical missionary work is carried on after worldly policy plans, separation from God will result. If the world or the denominational churches are to be our strength, and give influence to our medical work, then we must act in accordance with this, and let the medical missionaries take their position with the world and serve the world. When physicians feel that they must conceal their colors in order to obtain influence, they should stop to consider. We cannot afford to maintain sanitariums at such an expense as this, for we should gain nothing in the way of declaring the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 6)
This matter must be considered. Newcastle is an important center, and therefore the medical missionary work there must be bound up with the work of the message for this time. The Hamilton church needs all the strength that every soul can give it. I am deeply concerned for this church. These are serious matters we are settling. Satan will come in with all his sophistry if we give him opportunity. May the Lord help us to stand firmly on the platform of eternal truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 7)
Again, from the light the Lord has given me, our sick should be cared for out of the bustle of the city. The noise of trams and carts and carriages is very annoying to people who have come from their homes in the country. And in retirement from the bustle and confusion of the city, the patients will be more favorably impressed. Their minds will be more easily influenced by the Spirit of God. This reason was urged upon me so strongly yesterday that I felt I must see you or write to you. The place shown us yesterday in Hamilton, with its facilities for work, its city water and tank water, can be set in operation very soon. Some changes may have to be made, but these will not cost a large sum of money. Then, our church is quite near, and the Lord would have Dr. Rand arise and come to God in faith, uniting all his strength to help the church.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 8)
I have presented this matter in brief. May the Lord strengthen you and help you to get away from the bustle of the city. Away from this bustle, the Lord would have His medical missionary workers carry on decided lines of work. My brother, have faith in God. Do not be discouraged. This idea that you must be confined to small premises and do very little work is not to be entertained. Harness up your powers and do all that you possibly can. Come into close relation to God. I ask the Lord to put courage into your heart. If God holds you up, you will stand. When once you have the facilities, you will have patients, and we will stand by you. But you must stand under Christ’s banner.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 9)
I felt so much impressed with this matter that I could not forbear writing to you. May God give you wisdom. When you have the facilities for work, the workers in Maitland can say that you are now prepared to take patients. You will have patronage. This is my faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 10)
With respect.
(14LtMs, Lt 211, 1899, 11)
Lt 212, 1899
Lacey, Brother and Sister [H. C.] Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Lacey:
I know a letter is due you from me, but so many things have been crowding upon us that we have scarcely known what to do or what to leave undone. There are so many things that have to be done that it is impossible to enumerate them. I am up nearly every morning at two o’clock. Sara and I have travelled over the road to Maitland so often that we have neglected our letter writing and other necessary things. We have driven four times to Maitland and back again with our horse and carriage. This is a journey of twenty-seven miles. This drive is always a rest to me if the weather is not too hot. But I become quite tired riding in the heat. Therefore we commence our journey at an early hour, three o’clock in the morning. The last time we drove from Maitland, we rose at one o’clock, entered our gates at Sunnyside at seven o’clock, and took breakfast with our family.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 1)
We are thankful to state that we are all keeping well. We have had some exceedingly hot weather, but the last few days have been much cooler, and we enjoy it.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 2)
We are all endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. How are you progressing? We are desirous of hearing from you. Are you obtaining a precious experience in the work of the Lord? I am anxious to learn what progress you are making in winning souls for Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 3)
The Lord is still on the giving hand. Whosoever will may come and partake of the water of life freely. And we must invite, instruct, and draw souls to Jesus. We will have to urge upon them the matter of their salvation. Men and women are in peril, and God will bless every effort we shall make for their recovery from sin. If they refuse the heavenly invitation, the accountability rests upon them.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 4)
We must wrestle with the Lord in prayer, asking that for Christ’s sake He will give us souls. Urge upon the people their peril. We have too little faith. We shall find great comfort in appropriating the promises of God to ourselves. If we encourage the meekness and lowliness of Christ, it is our privilege to appropriate God’s promises by faith. There is no true faith that is not personal, no true faith that does not appropriate God’s words. We are to believe in Christ as our personal Saviour, believe that He died for us personally. What rich and full promises are ours if we will accept them.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 5)
But let us never lose sight of this fact—that we are to receive to impart. We can only reach the people through God. They are dead in trespasses and sins, and we must carry with us the remedy for the sin-sick soul. You can both be a blessing where you are, but you must increase in faith, and in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ the Sent of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 6)
There is a great and solemn work to be done for the very ones who claim to believe the truth. There is need that they be converted to real, practical Christianity. They must be transformed into the likeness [of] Christ. Their words and deportment are not the most pleasing to God. Had they been, an altogether different impression would have been made upon their neighbors and those with whom they associate. Self must be crucified. Christ must become the life, the hope, the strength of the soul. Then, with an abiding Christ in the heart, believers can be living representatives of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 7)
Had the believers in Toowoomba exerted the influence they should have exerted, the Lord would have made them channels of light, blessings to those who do not know the truth. It is the duty of believers to manifest the Spirit of Christ in all they do and in all they say. The Bible reveals the duty of the church, and when those who claim to believe the truth practice this truth, a power will go forth from them. It is right actions that are needed to make the correct impression on the world. Every true Christian will reveal the simplicity of true godliness.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 8)
Do the believers in Toowoomba really believe present truth? Have they that faith which works by love and purifies the soul? Truth in the soul will control the conscience. O, let us all realize the solemn responsibilities that rest upon us individually. Let there be a close inspection of the motives that prompt us to action. Believers are to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. They are to put on His character, represented by the white linen, which is the righteousness of the saints.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 9)
Has not Christ left His gospel to the piety of His followers? He has done this. He has presented no other plan. He has provided no other agency. He says, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” [Mark 16:15.] “And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:20.] It is the human agent who must be a channel of light to others. This is the gospel commission. And entire surrender to God, entire dependence upon Him, to work with Him and for Him, will be recognized by the world. But many keep the truth in the outer court. They give only a superficial consent to it. There are souls whom the Lord loves, who know the truth, but who do not honor the God of truth by daily practicing the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 10)
When the few believers in Toowoomba shall see the need of practicing the truth in word and in deed, they will be witnesses for the truth, and the truth will make them free. The Lord is soon coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? All those who have been born again have a sacred, holy ministry to perform. If the believers in Toowoomba have not received the new birth, let them open the door of the heart to the Holy Spirit, and be converted. Every soul is to be wide-awake now. Every soul is to be daily converted anew to God, cleansed from every habit, every practice, that is a hindrance to his influence. “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 11)
My brethren and sisters in Toowoomba, look, O look your responsibilities full in the face. See where your delinquencies have been, and make improvement. God holds those who know the truth responsible for the souls with whom they associate. You need now to draw nigh unto God. God made the Jewish nation a depository of sacred trust. To this people were committed the oracles of God. But they were not faithful, and the Lord committed to the Gentiles the work which it was their privilege to do, but which they did not do.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 12)
Upon the disciples of Christ rests a precious, sacred charge. As Christ’s followers they are the depositories of His truth and His grace, which they hold in trust to communicate to others. In the highest sense we are our brother’s keeper, and if our duties are left undone, his blood will be required at our hand.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 13)
My brother, my sister, those around you may be insensible to the peril of their souls, but because of this, do not neglect your duties. Be instant in season, out of season. We must stand side by side around the throne of God, to give account of the use we have made of the blessings bestowed upon us. At that day shall we see souls unsaved that might have been saved if our hearts had been worked by the Holy Spirit?
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 14)
God help you to awaken the believers and unbelievers in Toowoomba to their peril. Will souls prove inaccessible to the Holy Spirit’s working? God help you and the other workers, that souls may be saved as the result of your labors.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 15)
Please write to us. I am anxious to know in reference to your work. With much love to yourselves and all connected with you in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 212, 1899, 16)
Lt 213, 1899
Wilson, Sister [G. T.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Wilson:
I thought I might go up to Maitland this week, but I do not see how we can do this. We feel a deep interest in the work there, and we are determined to do all we can to make it a success. I want to hear from you. I think the weather has been more favorable for several days for your work of visiting. I am glad that both you and Sister Robertson are both to work in Maitland. I had not a ray of light for Sister Robertson to go to Melbourne. When you have all that you can do, and a field all white for the harvest, how then can you leave that field unless the Lord specifies it to be your duty.
(14LtMs, Lt 213, 1899, 1)
I am very glad that Brother and Sister Colcord are in Maitland. We hope that many souls will come to a knowledge of the truth. If we can help in any way, we shall be glad to do so. Many souls are inaccessible to the efforts made in their behalf, but the Macedonian cry will come from all the settlements from Cooranbong to Queensland. My heart yearns after souls. We cannot call our missionaries from the work because of the dearth of means. No; we will keep them in the field, and we will trust in God, who holds in His hands all the resources. If the men who ought to help will not help, there will be others who will help. The silver and the gold are the Lord’s. The church is never the poorer for the multitude and costliness of its offerings. Self-denial and self-sacrifice was constantly seen in the life of Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 213, 1899, 2)
We will work, we will watch, and we will pray. We remember you in our prayers morning and evening. O, if we would only arouse to our God-given responsibilities, I know that we would see a great work done. I have seen before me in the congregation those to whom God has given talents. If they would give themselves, soul, body, and spirit, to God, the Holy Spirit would impress their minds and set them to meditating on the great truths of salvation. They would be led to lay comprehensive plans for helping their fellow men to see the uplifted Saviour. They would accomplish a work for the Master that would be as enduring as eternity. Insensibly to themselves they would acquire an expansion and a practical cast of mind well adapted to the great work of saving souls ready to perish.
(14LtMs, Lt 213, 1899, 3)
I long for souls because I want them to be saved. Souls saved to Jesus Christ will certainly work earnestly to save other souls ready to perish. The Lord will make every man’s business a test and trial. Every one will be called upon to settle the question, “How much owest thou unto my Lord?” [Luke 16:5.] Christian enterprises are presented before the human beings for whom Christ gave His life, to test the soundness of their conversion, the soundness of their religious principles, and the strength of their loyalty to God. Let us work earnestly, but do not overdo.
(14LtMs, Lt 213, 1899, 4)
Sister Wilson, will you and Sister Robertson visit Mrs. Winters and talk with her?
(14LtMs, Lt 213, 1899, 5)
Lt 214, 1899
Tenney, Brother and Sister [G. C.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. + Dear Brother and Sister Tenney:
I long very much to see you and converse with you, but as this does not seem possible, I will write and ask you how you are prospering healthwise and in your work. We hope that you are of good courage in the Lord. We have in Maitland a very promising field. No less than twelve have decided to keep the Sabbath. Elder Colcord now takes the place of Brother Starr, who is to labor for a time in Melbourne. Elder Robinson and his wife will connect with the school here.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 1)
I feel somewhat anxious in regard to your health, my brother and sister. We have had very great heat in this colony. It has been cooler for a few days, and cloudy, which is a great relief. But although the atmosphere has seemed like a blast from a furnace, none of us have become sick under it. What has been your experience? Has the heat been severe? I fear that it has.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 2)
Nearly every week since camp meeting, I have gone to spend the Sabbath and Sunday in Maitland. There is an interest far and near in the settlements round about Maitland, extending from Maitland to Cooranbong. East Maitland is yet to be entered and worked, and in many places the people are calling for help. Brother Hickox and his wife are working in Maitland and the settlements around.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 3)
There is a mining district near Maitland, and the work there and in the farming settlements is very promising. All the people seem so courteous, so kind, and so sociable. If the truth can gain a foothold in these places, the objections that arise in many places will not be nearly as strong here, because there are so many families who do not depend upon employers who can give them work or throw them out of work as they please.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 4)
Sisters Wilson and Robertson are most earnest workers, and are doing much good. We are pleased with the souls that have taken their stand. We feel deeply over the many who have heard the truth, and who know the truth, but who do not take their stand upon the truth. There are three brothers, merchants in the drapery business, who have manifested a deep interest in the meetings, but they do not decide. Ministers are doing their very best to circulate falsehoods and misinterpret the Scriptures. As in Christ’s day, they teach for doctrine the commandments of men.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 5)
Sara and I have driven four times with horse and carriage to Maitland and back again. I have spoken five Sabbaths and five Sundays. I have not been there for the past two weeks.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 6)
We were in Newcastle on Wednesday, to see if a place could be selected for Dr. Rand, where he can receive patients for treatment. His mind is upon a small place across the road from where he is now, but it needs an investment of three hundred pounds to fit it up, and then it is right in the heart of the city, amid the noise and bustle and confusion. I wrote him a few lines last evening in regard to this matter. Will send you a copy.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 7)
We hope you are pleasantly situated. I would say, Keep up good courage. The Lord is on our side, and we are sure of helpers in the heavenly intelligences. I am so very thankful that we have One who knows all our infirmities, and who healeth all our diseases; One who is our very best friend, our Counsellor and Guide. He will never leave us nor forsake us while we cling to Him. Be hopeful and courageous in the Lord. Our work is a grand and elevated work.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 8)
I often praise God for the privilege of acting a part in this work. And when we know that our precious Saviour had so many discouragements because of the wicked spirit of the Jewish nation, and because so few responded to His message and His ministry in their behalf, can we not consent to be partakers with Him in His sufferings? We can understand Christ’s sorrow as He searched for fruit on the flourishing, pretentious fig tree, and found none to satisfy His soul hunger. We must never forget that our blessed Saviour, with hunger of soul, said to those for whom He had done so much, “Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life.” [John 5:40.]
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 9)
It is our work, with faith and hope and earnest, persevering entreaties to see to draw souls to the Lord Jesus. But after we have done all that is possible, then we must not worry and fret because we are often disappointed. The resting and trusting and believing is our part. The Holy Spirit will work with the souls for whom we labor. I thank the Lord that we can approach Him in prayer, and know that He hears us and loves us.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 10)
We hope that you are all happy and cheerful, hopeful and thankful, because we are the Lord’s purchased possession, and our rest is coming soon. We know not how soon, but we must be ready for the Master’s call at any time. What a privilege to contemplate, that we shall see His face. I want to be indeed a member of the family of the saints in light. I want to bring all the peace and confidence and assurance and love into my life here, so that I can be a blessing by letting my light shine to others.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 11)
May the Lord bless your mother and daughter, and your son and his family. Be of good courage in the Lord. In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 214, 1899, 12)
Lt 215, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 12, 1899 See also Lt 206, 1899 and Lt 215b, 1899. This letter is published in entirety in KC 87-94 (8T 180-191). + My Dear Brother:
You speak as though you had no friends. But God is your Friend, and Sister White is your friend. You have thought that I had lost confidence in you; but, my dear brother, as I have before written to you, I know that the Lord has placed you in a very responsible position, standing as you do, as the greatest physician in our world, a man to whom the Lord has given understanding and knowledge, that you may do justice and judgment, and reveal the true missionary spirit in the institution which is to represent truth in contrast with error.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 1)
My brother, the Lord has not left you to go on a warfare at your own charges. He has given you wisdom, and favor with God and man. He has been your helper. He has chosen you as His agency to exalt the truth in the Battle Creek Sanitarium, as it is not represented in other medical institutions. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was to be known as an institution where the Lord was daily acknowledged as the monarch of the universe. “He doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven, and also among the inhabitants of earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” [Daniel 4:35.]
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 2)
The Lord designs that the proclamation of the third angel’s message shall be the highest, greatest work carried on in our world at this time. He honored you by placing you in a very responsible position. You were not to separate your influence from the ministry of the gospel. In every line of your work you were to understand and practice the truth. You were to make God first and ever obey His Word. In this would be your strength.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 3)
You were to be a faithful physician of the souls as well as of the bodies of those under your charge. Had you fulfilled this responsibility with all the keen talent God gave you in trust, you would not have worked alone. One who never makes a mistake was presiding. Only the Holy Spirit’s power can keep your spirit sweet and fragrant, soft and subdued, ever trusting in God, ever speaking the right words at the right time.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 4)
You were not faultless. Often you lost control of yourself. Then your words were not what they should have been. At times you were arbitrary and exacting. But you were striving for the mastery over self, and angels of God co-operated with you, because, through you, God was to work to exalt His truth and cause it to receive honored recognition in the world. God gave you wisdom, not that your name should be magnified, but that those coming to the sanitarium in Battle Creek might carry away with them favorable impressions of Seventh-day Adventists. The honor given you did not come to you because you were righteous above all men, but because God desired to use you as His instrument.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 5)
In His providence the Lord has drawn many to the Sanitarium, that they may become acquainted with the truth, and be converted, and then carry away with them the evidence of the miraculous power of God on body and soul. This has stirred the ire of Satan. It does not please him that it should be shown that God is working to magnify the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 6)
It was God’s purpose that, in the Sanitarium, missionaries, teachers, and physicians should become acquainted with the third angel’s message, which embraces so much. Angels of God were to be your strength in the work that was to be done in order that the Battle Creek Sanitarium might be known as an institution under the special supervision of God. The missionary feeling and sympathy that prevailed in this institution was a result of the work of invisible heavenly agencies there. God said, “I thought it good to show signs and wonders. In My might I wrought to glorify My name.” Many have gone away from the Sanitarium with new hearts. The change has been decided. Those, returning to their homes, have been as lights in the world. Their voices have been heard saying, “Come, all ye that fear God, and I will make known to you what He hath done for my soul. I have seen His greatness; I have tasted His goodness.”
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 7)
The Lord has appointed the physicians in the sanitarium to stand me faithful sentinels. Through them God desires to do the work that must be done. Through them impressions are to be made in regard is the work of relieving suffering humanity.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 8)
But you needed the counsel of others than your colleagues. Fresh, new ideas were needed in your councils, for not all your ideas bore the divine credentials. You have been swaying the minds of those connected with the medical missionary work, until you and others became like men lost in the fog of uncertainty.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 9)
The dangers of your plan of operation in connection with the conference held in South Lancaster were presented before me. I saw that you could not plan and devise as you had been doing, or carry out your ideas, without injury to yourself and to the cause of God. I was instructed by the Lord that your temptation would be to make your medical missionary work stand independent of the conference. But this plan was not right. You were tempted by the enemy, and I hastened to write to you. I sent a copy of the letter to Elder Irwin, for it was necessary that some one besides yourself should know your danger, that efforts might be made to save you from the course of action you had premeditated.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 10)
I would help you if I could, but I do not know how to help you. I write to you as a mother would to her son. I would go to see you if I could feel it my duty to leave the work here, but I dare not do this. You have built up hopes and nurtured plans without due consideration of how the tower is to be finished and supported. As one who knows, as one who has been permitted to have an insight into the future and results of the work you have taken upon you, I call upon you to stop and consider. God knows your frame. He knows that you are but dust, even the small dust of the balance. You will certainly need the counsel, not of those who have permitted you to go on in the work which you deem so important, but the counsel of men who at the present time are able to see more clearly than you do the results that will follow various undertakings.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 11)
I wish to state, Dr. Kellogg, that if you will receive the messages of warning given you, it will same you from great trial and mortification, and will be to the saving of your soul. Cast not behind you as of no consequence the warnings which as yet you do not understand. I tell you plainly that you are carrying forward that which you call missionary work according to misconceived judgment and opinions. The sanitarium will suffer because you have given yourself up to do a work for which God will call you into account. I have been instructed that you have been doing a work which the Lord never appointed you to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 12)
Means drawn from the Sanitarium to erect buildings for the care of people who can never be relied on to fill places in the ministry or on councils. They have not a knowledge of the work of character building, and they cannot be relied on as men of forethought. They have ruined their mental powers and nearly destroyed their spiritual discernment by the indulgence of appetite and passion, and this makes them weak. They are fickle and changeable.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 13)
The Lord has shown me that if the enemy can by any means divert the work into wrong channels, and thus hinder its advancement, he will do so. The place assigned you by the Lord was under Him in the divine Theocracy. You were to learn of Jesus, the great Teacher. You were to be and do after His character and example.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 14)
I have been forced to inquire why several of our canvassers in this field, who were canvassing for The Home Hand-Book, have left the field having only paid their expenses. Some did not even do this. They stated that when the time came for them to deliver their books, they could not obtain copies to deliver. They were themselves greatly disappointed, and the people who were expecting the book were also disappointed. What shall we do about this? I have talked to the men in the Echo office about it, and they say that they cannot obtain copies of The Home Hand-Book.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 15)
At every camp meeting we make special efforts to get before the people the light upon health reform as contained in your publications. But while you have been consuming, you have not been producing. Never was there a time when a greater interest was shown in regard to questions relating to health. What is it that hinders your books from being supplied to our offices, to be furnished to the canvassers? Shall this delay continue? Shall the people still be disappointed?
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 16)
I have been instructed to say that you have drawn your time and strength and money away from enterprises which, if they had been advanced, would have done tenfold more good than the enterprises that you have carried forward. Invention after invention has taken your time and means. Your money has been used in a way which has done more harm than good. The setting of men to work in various ways in what is called medical missionary work has consumed much time and money, but has produced next to nothing. The Lord entrusted capital to you, to be used in advancing His kingdom in our world, and if you misuse this capital, you must settle with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 17)
Investments have been made without sitting down and counting the cost, without finding out whether there was enough money to carry forward the work started. A shortsightedness has been shown. Men have failed to see that the Lord’s vineyard embraces the world. There is such a thing as investing money in that which it is hard to say is not a good work, because explanation cannot always be made to the one whose brain has been constantly at work to create and invent, but who has not the income to sustain the enterprises started.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 18)
The income of the sanitariums that have been established must not be drawn upon to sustain the work called medical missionary work. The means that has been used to sustain this large and ever-increasing work should, by the Lord’s order, have been used in making plants in other countries, where the light of health reform has not shone. Sanitariums, less costly than the large ones erected in America, should have been built. Thus plants would have been made which would have produced fruit and, when strong, would have established plants in other localities.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 19)
The Lord is not partial. But He has been misrepresented. The work that should have been done in the different parts of His vineyard has been hindered because men have failed to see how the work could be advanced in these parts of the vineyard. In some parts the work has been overdone. In this way money has been absorbed that should have been used to enable workers on other parts of the vineyard to move forward without hindrance in the work of elevation the standard of truth. Some portions of the vineyard are not to be robbed in order that the means may be absorbed in one spot.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 20)
Man judges in accordance with his finite judgment. God looks at the character of the fruit borne and then judges the tree. In the name of the Lord, I call upon all to think of the work we are required to do and how this work is to be sustained. The world is the Lord’s vineyard, and it is to be worked. Suppose in every place where there is a large center, the work which has been done in America should be made the pattern. Where would be our memorials of truth, which are to make a proper impression on the world?
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 21)
There are those who are in danger of bringing into the work the objectionable sentiments received in former education. They need to practice the principles laid down in the Word, else the work will be marred and spoiled by their preconceived ideas. When we work with all the sanctified ability God has given us, when we put aside our will for the will of God, when self is crucified day by day, then actual results are seen. We move forward in faith, knowing that our Lord has promised to undertake the work entrusted to Him, and that He will accomplish it, for He never makes a failure.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 22)
The Lord’s servants are merely stewards. The Lord will work through them when they surrender themselves to Him to be worked by the Holy Spirit. When by faith men place themselves in the Lord’s hands, saying, “Here am I; send me” [Isaiah 6:8], He undertakes this work. But men must get out of the Lord’s way. They must not hinder His purposes by their devising. For years the Lord has had a controversy with His people, because they have followed their own judgment and have not relied on divine wisdom. If the workers get in God’s way, hindering the advancement of the work, thinking that their brain power is sufficient for the planning and carrying forward of the work, the Lord will correct their error. By His divine Spirit He enlightens and trains every worker. He shapes His own providences to carry forward His work according to His mind and judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 23)
If men would only humble themselves before God, if they would not exalt their judgment as the all-controlling influence, if they would make room for the Lord to plan and work, the Lord would use the qualifications He has given them in a way which would glorify His name. He will purify His workers from all selfishness, trimming down their superfluous plans, cutting off the branches that would entwine around this and that undesirable object, pruning the vine so that it will produce fruit.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 24)
God is the great Husbandman. He will make everything in the lives of those who are laborers together with Jesus Christ subservient to His great purpose of growth and fruit-bearing. It is His plan, by conforming His servants day by day to the image of Christ, by making them partakers of the divine nature, to cause them to bear fruit abundantly. He desires His people, through actual experience in the truth of the gospel, to become true, solid, trustworthy, experimental missionaries. He would have them show results far higher, holier, and more definite than have been revealed in the last fifteen years.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 25)
The potter takes the clay in his hands, and molds and fashions it according to his own will. He kneads it and works it. He tears it apart and then presses it together. He wets it and then dries it. He lets it lie for a while without touching it. When it is perfectly pliable, he continues the work of making from it a vessel. He forms it into shape, and on the wheel trims and polishes it. He dries it in the sun and bakes it in the oven. Thus it becomes a vessel unto honor, fit for his use. So the great Master desires to mold and fashion us. And as the clay is in the hands of the potter, so we are to be in His hands. We are not to try to do the work of the Potter. Our part is to yield ourselves to the molding of the Master-worker.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 26)
It is not a great number of institutions, large buildings, and wonderful display that God requires, but the harmonious action of a peculiar people, a people chosen by God and precious, united with one another, their life hid with Christ in God. The Lord will never place one man as a controlling power over another man. Every man is to stand in his lot and in his place, exerting a right influence in thought, word, and judgment. When all God’s workers do this, and not till then, will the work by a complete, symmetrical whole. Individually we need a solid faith, which is in perfect harmony with the first declaration of the first, second, and third angels’ messages.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 27)
The work that the gospel embraces as missionary work is a straightforward, substantial work, which will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. God does not want the faith of His peculiar people to take on the features or appearance of the work now called medical missionary work. The means and talents of His people are not to be buried in the slums of New York or Chicago. God’s work is to be carried on in right lines. Self-denial, self-sacrifice, and the true missionary spirit are to be shown. We are to work as Christ worked, in simplicity and meekness, in lowliness and sanctified moral elevation. Thus we can do a work distinct from all other missionary work in our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 28)
My brother, you have not as much firmness and assurance as you have had. You have the most critical cases to handle, and at times a dread comes upon you. To perform these difficult duties, you know that rapid work must be done, that no false moves must be made. Again and again you have had to pass swiftly from task to task. Who has been by your side during these critical operations? Who has kept you calm and self-possessed in the crisis, giving you quick, sharp discernment, clear eyesight, steady nerves, and skillful precision? The Lord Jesus has sent His angel to your side to tell you what to do. A hand has been laid upon your hand. Jesus, and not you, has guided the movements of your hand. At times you have realized this, and a wonderful calmness has come over you. You dared not hurry, and yet you worked rapidly, knowing that there was not a second to waste.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 29)
The Lord has greatly blessed you. Others who knew not of the presiding Presence working with you gave you, all the glory. Eminent physicians have witnessed your operations and praised your skill. This has been pleasant to you. You have not always been able to endure the seeing of the Invisible by faith. You have been under divine guidance. You have been greatly honored by God, that His name, and not yours, should be magnified. But you have had a great desire to distinguish yourself. You have not placed your entire dependence upon God.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 30)
You have not been willing to heed the counsel of the Lord’s servants. With your own brain you have planned many things. The Lord would have you respect the gospel ministry. At the very time you needed discerning eyes, that you might see, not only one side of the work, but all sides, you chose for counsellors men under the reproof of God, as did Elder Olsen. If they would second your propositions, you would link up with them, to start enterprises that the Lord placed no burden on you to start.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 31)
The Lord gave you your work, not to be done in a rush, but in a calm, considerate manner. The Lord never compels hurried, complicated movements. But you have gathered to yourself responsibilities that the Lord, the merciful Father, did not place upon you. Duties He has never ordained chase each other wildly. Never are His servants to leave one given duty marred or incomplete in order to seize hold of another. He who labors in the calmness of the fear of God does not work in a haphazard manner, for fear something will hinder an anticipated plan.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 32)
Praying and seeking the Lord, the surrender of yourself to the guidance of God, would have prevented the creating of many things which have been born, not of the will of God, but of the will of man. You were given your appointed work. But you have neglected things of great importance to take up, with impulsive spirit, unadvised of the Lord or by your brethren, things of minor importance. Your brethren could have given you counsel, but you despised any word that interfered with your schemes, which have placed you in an intricate position. Had you done your appointed work, God would have made you more and more a laborer together with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 33)
The Lord wants your mind to blend with other minds. His servants have sometimes attempted to differ with you. This was the very thing God required them to do. But you treated their advice in such a way that they remained silent when they should have spoken. God desires those He has placed in positions of trust as stewards not to use your brains, but the talents He has given them personally. They are to do justice and judgment in all wisdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 34)
You do not allow men to think and act on their individual responsibility. You and Brother Haskell and Brother Butler saw the difficulties in Elder James White and the necessity of uniting together to remove responsibilities from him. If he needed this, you have come to the place where you need it tenfold more. And yet no one associated with you dares to tell you this truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 35)
If you are determined to carry on the same kind of warfare that you have been carrying on, straining nerve, brain, and muscle to come out ahead and prove that the message the Lord sent was not true, you will find that your plans will be counterworked by Him who for years has been giving you warnings.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 36)
The Lord has not laid upon you the burden you have been carrying. The result of your carrying these burdens is felt all through the vineyard of the Lord. God has not called His people to ignore present truth for these last days, and take up a work that so absorbs workers and means that the Lord is not represented as He would otherwise be. Never would a rival sanitarium have been, through Satan’s devising, planted close to the Lord’s institution, if you had kept at your work for the class of people whom the Lord desires to become, through the Sanitarium, acquainted with present truth, with the message God has given to those who follow Him, to be communicated to the world. The Sanitarium in Battle Creek was to bring the chosen people of God before men of high standing, to represent the ways, and works, and power of God. It was to be His witness in behalf of truth, elevated, sanctifying truth. The Lord made you, my brother, His honored instrument. He has never required from you one task that would crowd out your work in connection with the institution that was to stand for the truth, to do a certain work for God, flashing light upon the pathway of thousands.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 37)
The Lord would have kept the Sanitarium pure and true, to represent the truth for these last days. But the very ones who could have helped you do this work, you have despised and turned from as unworthy of your notice. God sees that His work is being lowered into the slums, as Satan wants it to be; that the elevated sanctification of the truth will become so mingled with tares that its peculiar, holy character will sink out of sight. The Lord saw how this would be, and He has been sending you warnings. Yet you are tempted to go right on in your own way and pick flaws in the message, just as others have done before you.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 38)
You have a great and sacred work to do. If you hold faithfully to the work God has assigned you, through the skill given you you will be enabled to work swiftly, though never appearing to be in haste. When your eyes are opened, you will see too deep poverty of the mission fields. You will see that the workers there are hampered at every step, while the Lord’s money is being used to sustain other inventions and institutions, so that the message which should be given to the world, the first, second, and third angels’ message, are lost sight of.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 39)
God impresses different men to be laborers together with Him. One man is not authorized to gather too many responsibilities upon himself. The Lord would have the physician, upon whom so much depends, so closely connected with Him that the spirit will not be stirred by little things. The Lord desires Dr. Kellogg to be one of the most efficient workers in the medical profession, slurring nothing, marring nothing, knowing that he has a Counsellor close by his side, to sustain, to strengthen, to impart a quietness and calm to the soul. Feverishness of spirit and uncertainty will make the hand unskillful. The touch of Christ upon the physician’s hand brings vitality, restfulness, confidence, and power.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 40)
God desires His institutions and His chosen and adopted children to do Him honor by representing the attributes of Christian character. Many of those who are supposed to be rescued from the pit into which they have fallen cannot be relied upon as counsellors, as those who can be trusted to engage in the sacred work done in these last days. The enemy is determined to mix error with truth. To do this, he uses the opportunity given him by the debased class for whom so much money is expended, whose appetites have been perverted through indulgence, whose souls have been abused, whose characters are misshapen and deformed, and whose habits and desires are grovelling, who think habitually upon evil.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 41)
Such ones can be transformed in character, but few ever are. Many make a superficial change in their habits and practices, and then suppose that they are Christians. They are received into church fellowship, but they are a great trouble and a great care. Through them Satan tries to sow in the church the seeds of jealousy, dishonesty, criticism, and accusing. Thus he tries to corrupt the other members of the church.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 42)
The same disposition that mastered the man from childhood led him to break away from all restraint, and brought him into the place where he was found. He is reported to be rescued. But time shows that the work done for him did not make him a submissive child of God. Resentful feelings rise at every supposed slight. He cherishes bitterness, wrath, malice. By his words and spirit he shows that he has not been born again. His tendencies are downward, tending to sensuality. He is untrustworthy, unthankful, and unholy. Thus it is with all the debased who have not been soundly converted. Every one of these marred characters, untransformed, becomes an efficient worker for Satan, creating dissension and strife.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 43)
The Lord has marked but His way of working. As a people we are not to imitate and fall in with the Salvation Army methods. This is not the work the Lord has given us to do. Neither is it our work to condemn them and speak harsh words against them. There are precious, self-sacrificing souls in the Salvation Army. We are to treat them kindly. There are in the [Salvation] Army honest souls, sincerely serving the Lord, who will see greater light, and advance to the acceptance of all truth. Those in the Salvation Army are trying to save the neglected, downtrodden ones. Discourage them not. Let them do that class of work by their own methods and in their own way.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 44)
The Lord has plainly stated what Seventh-day Adventists are to do. Camp meetings are to be appointed and a series of tent meetings held. All who can should work in connection with the camp meeting. There should be no hesitancy in preaching the truth applicable for this time. A decided testimony is to be borne. The discourses given should be so simple that children can understand them.
(14LtMs, Lt 215, 1899, 45)
Lt 215a, 1899
Kellogg, J.H. Refiled as Lt 4, 1899.
Lt 215b, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. NP December 12, 1899 See also Lt 215, 1899. This letter is published in entirety in BCL 29-36. + Dr. J. H. Kellogg:
I write to you as a mother would to her son. I would go to see you if I could feel it my duty to leave the work here, but I dare not do this. You have built up hopes and nurtured plans without due consideration of how the tower is to be finished and supported. As one who knows, as one who has been permitted to have an insight into the future and result of the work you have taken upon you, I call upon you to stop and consider. God knows your frame. He knows that you are but dust, even the small dust of the balance. You will certainly need the counsel, not of those who have permitted you to go on in the work that you deemed so important, but the counsel of men who at the present time are more levelheaded than even J. H. Kellogg.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 1)
I wish to state, Dr. Kellogg, that if you will receive the messages of warning given you, it will save you from great trial and mortification, and will be to the saving of your soul. Cast not behind you as of no consequence the warnings which as yet you do not understand. I tell you plainly that you are carrying forward that which you call missionary work according to misconceived judgment and opinions. The Sanitarium will suffer because you have given yourself up to do a work for which God will call you into account. I have been instructed that you have been doing a work which the Lord never appointed you to do.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 2)
Means have been drawn from the Sanitarium to erect buildings for the care of people who can never be relied on to fill places in the ministry or on councils. They have not a knowledge of the work of character building, and they cannot be relied on as men of forethought. They have ruined their mental powers and nearly destroyed their spiritual discernment by the indulgence of appetite and passion, and this makes them weak. They are fickle and changeable.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 3)
The Lord has shown me that if the enemy can by any means divert the work into wrong channels, and thus hinder its advancement, he will do so. The place assigned you by the Lord was under Him in the divine Theocracy. You were to learn of Jesus, the great Teacher. You were to be and do after His character and example.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 4)
I have been forced to inquire why several of our canvassers in this field, who were canvassing for The Home Hand-Book, have left the field having only paid their expenses. Some did not even do this. They stated that when the time came for them to deliver their books, they could not obtain copies to deliver. They were themselves greatly disappointed, and the people who were expecting the book were also disappointed. What shall we do about this? I have talked to the men in the Echo office about it, and they say that they cannot obtain copies of The Home Hand-Book.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 5)
At every camp meeting we make special efforts to get before the people the light upon health reform as contained in your publications. But while you have been consuming, you have not been producing. Never was there a time when a greater interest was shown in regard to questions relating to health. What is it that hinders your books from being supplied to our offices, to be furnished to the canvassers? Shall this delay continue? Shall the people still be disappointed?
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 6)
I have been instructed to say that you have drawn your time and strength and money away from enterprises which, if they had been advanced, would have done tenfold more good than the enterprises that you have carried forward. Invention after invention has taken your time and means. Your money has been used in a way which has done more harm than good. The setting of men to work in various ways in what is called medical missionary work has consumed much time and money, but has produced next to nothing. The Lord entrusted capital to you, to be used in advancing His kingdom in our world, and if you misuse this capital, you must settle with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 7)
Investments have been made without sitting down and counting the cost, without finding out whether there was enough money to carry forward the work started. A shortsightedness has been shown. Men have failed to see that the Lord’s vineyard embraces the world. There is such a thing as investing money in that which it is hard to say is not a good work, because explanation cannot always be made to the one whose brain has been constantly at work to create and invent, but who has not the income to sustain the enterprises started.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 8)
The income of the sanitariums that have been established must not be drawn upon to sustain the work called medical missionary work. The means that has been used to sustain this large and ever-increasing work should, by the Lord’s order, have been used in making plants in other countries, where the light of health reform has not shone. Sanitariums, less costly than the large ones erected in America, should have been built. Thus plants would have been made which would have produced fruit, and when strong, would have established plants in other localities.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 9)
The Lord is not partial. But He has been misrepresented. The work that should have been done in the different parts of His vineyard has been hindered because men have failed to see how the work could be advanced in these parts of the vineyard. In some parts the work has been overdone. In this way money has been absorbed that should have been used to enable workers on other parts of the vineyard to move forward without hindrance in the work of elevating the standard of truth. Some portions of the vineyard are not to be robbed in order that the means may be absorbed in one spot.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 10)
Man judges in accordance with his finite judgment. God looks at the character of the fruit borne, and then judges the tree. In the name of the Lord, I call upon all to think of the work we are required to do and how this work is to be sustained. The world is the Lord’s vineyard, and it is to be worked. Suppose in every place where there is a large center, the work which has been done in America should be made the pattern. Where would be our memorials of truth, which are to make a proper impression on the world?
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 11)
There are those who are in danger of bringing into the work the objectionable sentiments received in former education. They need to practice the principles laid down in the Word, else the work will be marred and spoiled by their preconceived ideas. When we work with all the sanctified ability God has given us, when we put aside our will for the will of God, when self is crucified day by day, then actual results are seen. We move forward in faith, knowing that our Lord has promised to undertake the work entrusted to Him, and that He will accomplish it, for He never makes a failure.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 12)
The Lord’s servants are merely stewards at work. The Lord’s part of the work is to do that which is entrusted to Him when His followers surrender themselves to Him to be worked by the Holy Spirit. When by faith men place themselves in the Lord’s hands, saying, “Here am I; send me” [Isaiah 6:8], He undertakes this work. He does that which is entrusted to Him. But men must get out of the Lord’s way. They must not hinder His purposes by their devising. For years the Lord has had a controversy with His people because they have followed their own judgment and have not relied on divine wisdom. If the workers get in God’s way, hindering the advancement of the work, thinking that their brain power is sufficient for the planning and carrying forward of the work, the Lord will correct their error. By His divine Spirit He disciplines and trains every worker. He shapes His own providences to carry forward His work according to His mind and judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 13)
If men would only humble themselves before God, if they would not exalt their judgment as the all-controlling influence, if they would make room for the Lord to plan and work, the Lord would use the qualifications He has given them in a way which would glorify His name. He will purify His workers from all selfishness, trimming down their superfluous plans, cutting off the branches that would entwine around this and that undesirable object, pruning the vine so that it will produce fruit.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 14)
God is the great Husbandman. He will make everything in the lives of those who are laborers together with Jesus Christ subservient to His great purpose of growth and fruitbearing. It is His plan, by conforming His servants day by day to the image of Christ, by making them partakers of the divine nature, to cause them to bear fruit abundantly. He desires His people, through actual experience in the truth of the gospel, to become true, solid, trustworthy, experimental missionaries. He would have them show results far higher, holier, and more definite than have been revealed in the last fifteen years.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 15)
The potter takes the clay in his hands, and molds and fashions it according to his own will. He kneads it and works it. He tears it apart and then presses it together. He wets it and then dries it. He lets it lie for a while without touching it. When it is perfectly pliable, he continues the work of making from it a vessel. He forms it into shape, and on the wheel trims and polishes it. He dries it in the sun and bakes it in the oven. Thus it becomes a vessel unto honor, fit for his use. So the great Master desires to mold and fashion us. And as the clay is in the hands of the potter, so we are to be in His hands. We are not to try to do the work of the potter. Our part is to yield ourselves to the molding of the Masterworker.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 16)
It is not a great number of institutions, large buildings, and wonderful display that God requires, but the harmonious action of a peculiar people, a people chosen by God and precious, one with each other, their life hid with Christ in God. The Lord will never place one man as a controlling power over another man. Every man is to stand in his lot and in his place, exerting a right influence in thought, word, and judgment. When all God’s workers do this, and not till then, will the work be a complete, symmetrical whole. Individually we need a solid faith, which is in perfect harmony with the first declaration of the first, second, and third angels’ messages.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 17)
The work that the gospel embraces as missionary work is a straightforward, substantial work, which will shine brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. God does not want the faith of His peculiar people to take on the features or appearance of the work now called medical missionary work. The means and talents of His people are not to be buried in the slums of New York or Chicago. God’s work is to be carried on in right lines. Self-denial, self-sacrifice, and the true missionary spirit are to be shown. We are to work as Christ worked, in simplicity and meekness, in lowliness and sanctified moral elevation. Thus we can do a work distinct from all other missionary work in our world.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 18)
My brother, you have not as much firmness and assurance as you have had. You have the most critical cases to handle, and at times a dread comes upon you. To perform these difficult duties, you know that rapid work must be done, that no false moves must be made. Again and again you have had to pass swiftly from task to task. Who has been by your side during these critical operations? Who has kept you calm and self-possessed in the crisis, giving you quick, sharp discernment, clear eyesight, steady nerves, and skillful precision? The Lord Jesus has sent His angel to your side to tell you what to do. A hand has been laid upon your hand. Jesus, and not you, has guided the movements of your hand. At times you have realized this, and a wonderful calmness has come over you. You dared not hurry, and yet you worked rapidly, knowing that there was not a second to waste. The Lord has greatly blessed you. Others who knew not of the presiding Presence working with you gave you all the glory. Eminent physicians have witnessed your operations and praised your skill. This has been pleasant to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 19)
You have not always been able to endure the seeing of the Invisible by faith. You have been under divine guidance. You have been greatly honored by God, that His name, and not yours, should be magnified. But you have had a great desire to distinguish yourself. You have not placed your entire dependence upon God. You have not been willing to heed the counsel of the Lord’s servants. With your own brain you have planned many things. The Lord would have you respect the gospel ministry. At the very time you needed discerning eyes, that you might see, not only one side of the work, but all sides, you chose for counselors men under the reproof of God, as did Elder Olsen. If they would second your propositions, you would link up with them, to start enterprises that the Lord placed no burden on you to start.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 20)
The Lord gave you your work, not to be done in a rush, but in a calm, considerate manner. The Lord never compels hurried, complicated movements. But you have gathered to yourself responsibilities that the Lord, the merciful Father, did not place upon you. Duties He has never ordained chase each other wildly. Never are His servants to leave one given duty marred or incomplete in order to seize hold of another. He who labors in the calmness of the fear of God does not we work in a haphazard manner, for fear something will hinder an anticipated plan
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 21)
Praying and seeking the Lord, the surrender of the man J. H. Kellogg to the guidance of God, would have prevented the creating of many things which have been born, not of the will of God, but of the will of man. You were given your appointed work. But you have neglected things of great importance to take up, with impulsive spirit, unadvised by the Lord or by your brethren, things of minor importance. Your brethren could have given you counsel, but you despised any word that interfered with your schemes, which have placed you in an intricate position. Had you done your appointed work, God would have made you a laborer together with Him.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 22)
The Lord wants your mind to blend with other minds. His servants have sometimes attempted to differ with you. This was the very thing God required them to do. But you treated their advice in such a way that they remained silent when they should have spoken. God desires those He has placed in positions of trust as stewards not to use your brains, but the talents he has given them personally. They are to do justice and judgment in all wisdom, because they see the necessity of your changing your course of action.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 23)
You do not allow men to think and act on their individual responsibility. You and Brother Haskell and Brother Butler saw the difficulties in Elder James White and the necessity of blending together to remove responsibilities from him. If he needed this, you have come to the place where you need it tenfold more. And yet no one associated with you dares to tell you the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 24)
I bore the testimony given me by the Lord, and you, J. H. Kellogg, declared that it was not true. You took the message in such a way that the effect of it nearly unbalanced your mind. Every word that was written to you was true, and some time you will see that the message was sent you in mercy, to save you from dishonoring yourself and dishonoring God. If you had received the light, in the place of trying to pick flaws in the words given, the Lord would have blessed you. But your course of action cast a reflection on me; and you are still trying to criticize and prove, if possible, that the warning was not from God, but was the report of some one who had written to me. You are going over the ground gone over by every other man who has not wanted to be interfered with by counsel or reproof. You are showing that the testimony of warning was not premature, and was sent at the right time.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 25)
If you are determined to carry on the same kind of warfare that you have been carrying on, straining nerve, brain, and muscle to come out ahead and prove that the message the Lord sent was not true, you will find that your plans will be counterworked by Him who for years has been giving you warnings.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 26)
The Lord has not laid upon you the burdens you have been carrying. The result of your carrying thee burdens is felt all through the vineyard of the Lord. God has not called His people to ignore present truth for these last days, and take up a work that so absorbs workers and means that the Lord is not represented as he would otherwise be. Never would a rival sanitarium have been, through Satan’s devising, planted close to the Lord’s institution if you had kept at your work for the class of people whom the Lord desires to become acquainted with present truth, the message God has given to those who follow Him to be communicated to the world. The Sanitarium in Battle Creek was to bring the chosen people of God before men of high standing, to represent the ways and works and power of God. It was to be His witness in behalf of truth, elevated, sanctifying truth. The Lord made you, my brother, His honored instrument. He has never require from you one task that would crowd out your work in connection with the institution that was to stand for the truth, to do a certain work for God, flashing light upon the pathway of thousands.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 27)
The Lord would have kept the Sanitarium pure and true, to represent the truth for these last days. But the very ones who could have helped you do this work, you have despised, and turned from as unworthy of your notice. God sees that His work is being lowered into the slums, as Satan wants it to be; that the elevated sanctification of the truth will become so mingled with tares that its peculiar, holy character will sink out of sight. The Lord saw how this would be, and He has been sending you warnings. Yet your study is to go right on in your own way and pick flaws in the message, just as others have done before you. I dare not trust the messages in your hands. You read that portion that sustains you, but the portions which warn and caution and give the note of alarm you do not bring before those who should hear them.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 28)
You have had a great and sacred work to do. If you hold faithfully to the work God has assigned you, through the skill given you you will be enabled to work swiftly, though never appearing to be in haste. When your eyes are opened, you will see the deep poverty of the mission fields. You will see that the workers there are hampered at every step, while the Lord’s money is being used to sustain other inventions and institutions, so that the message which should be given to the world, the first, second, and third angels’ messages, are lost sight of.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 29)
Faith and works are closely united. Men must be taught, not only by words but in practice, that they are not to defer in everything to you. Elder Butler thought that everybody must yield to him. He came to think that he must command nearly everything. This destroyed his brain power. He was only a finite instrument. He could not impart what he had not received.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 30)
God impresses different men to be laborers together with Him. One man is not authorized to gather too many responsibilities upon himself. The Lord would have the physician, upon whom so much depends, so closely connected with Him that his spirit will not be stirred by little items which common sense would teach people how to deal with. The Lord desires Dr. Kellogg to be one of the most efficient workers in the medical profession, slighting nothing, marring nothing, knowing that he has a Counsellor close by his side, to sustain, to strengthen, to impart a quietness and calm to the soul. Feverishness of spirit and uncertainty will make the hand unskillful. The touch of Christ upon the physician’s hand brings vitality, restfulness, confidence, and power.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 31)
God desires His institutions and His chosen and adopted children to do Him honor by representing the attributes of Christian character. Those who are supposed to be rescued from the pit into which they have fallen cannot be relied upon as counsellors, as those who can be trusted to engage in the sacred work done in these last days. The enemy is determined to mix error with truth. To do this, he uses the opportunity given him by the debased class for whom so much money is expended, whose appetites have been perverted through indulgence, whose souls have been abused, whose characters are misshapen and deformed, whose habits and desires are grovelling, who think habitually upon evil.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 32)
Such ones can be transformed in character, but few ever are. Many make a superficial chance in their habits and practices, and then suppose that they are Christians. They are received into church fellowship, but they are a great trouble and a great care. Through them Satan tries to sow in the church the seeds of jealousy, dishonesty, criticism, and accusing. Thus he tries to corrupt the other members of the church.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 33)
The same disposition that mastered the man from childhood led him to break away from all restraint, and brought him into the place where he was found. He is reported to be rescued. But time shows that the work done for him did not make him a submissive child of God. Resentful feelings rise at every supposed slight. He cherishes bitterness, wrath, malice. By his words and spirit he shows that he has not been born again. His tendencies are downward, tending to sensuality. He is untrustworthy, unthankful, and unholy. Thus it is with all the debased who have not been soundly converted. Every one of these marred characters, untransformed, becomes an efficient worker for Satan, creating dissension and strife.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 34)
The Lord has marked out His way of working. As a people we are not to imitate and fall in with the Salvation Army methods. This is not the work the Lord has given us to do. Neither is it our work to condemn them and speak harsh words against them. There are precious, self-sacrificing souls in the Salvation Army. We are to treat them kindly. There are in the [Salvation] Army honest souls, sincerely serving the Lord, who will see greater light, and advance to the acceptance of all truth. Those in the Salvation Army are trying to save the neglected, downtrodden ones. Discourage them not. Let them do that class of work by their own methods and in their own way.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 35)
The Lord has plainly stated what Seventh-day Adventists are to do. Camp meetings are to be appointed and a series of tent meetings held. All who can should work in connection with the camp meeting. There should be no hesitancy in preaching the truth applicable for this time. A decided testimony is to be borne. The discourses given should be so simple that children can understand them.
(14LtMs, Lt 215b, 1899, 36)
Lt 216, 1899
Irwin, G. A. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 9, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Irwin:
I have a few moments time, and will write a few lines. I have sent some things in regard to canvassers for our books. I have more matters to search up which I am entirely unable to do for this mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 1)
We are yet greatly in need of money to carry forward the work. The statement was made in the Bulletin by the president of the California Conference that the California Conference has sent to Sister White fourteen hundred dollars. He should not have made that statement, as if it was a bonafide gift. This was not so. It was money that was owed me by Mrs. Scott for a place she had purchased of me, and the principle and interest had accumulated to fourteen hundred dollars. Brother Jones had thought Mrs. Scott was planning to make the Healdsburg people trouble because of gifts she had made to the school—putting the case in law. [He] asked if I would purchase of the Healdsburg College shares to the amount of her indebtedness to me, and that might pacify the woman. And they would, at the next general meeting, make the effort to have these shares divided among our brethren in California. He thought this could be done. I responded [that] he could follow out his plan which he did, and closed up my accounts, for which I am very grateful.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 2)
I should not have called for this money, but we were very severely pressed. The providence of God was opening the way for us to work, and we had no means to work with. Distress and complications were on every hand. I begged of them to help me in this matter, and to interest the many families in California to each take one share. I think this might have been done if they had taken hold of it interestedly and set it before the people, but they did not do this, which they might have done. They did not respond to my solicitations, which should not have been disregarded. Their doing nothing compelled me to humiliate myself to keep pressing the matter until the money was sent me. And if that money came from the conference as a gift, it was because those who had a duty to do did not do it—seeking to have families take shares, as they should have done, to release me from the pressure that was upon me.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 3)
When the money came we were in dire necessity and I handed over two hundred pounds at once to the union conference to appropriate to the most pressing needs. I was never more thankful for the means than at that time. Every dollar of that which I considered mine was invested at once. Gladly was it invested, for we had nothing to use in the line of money.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 4)
The doctors of the Summer Hill Sanitarium talked with me and could scarcely speak without having tears in their voice. I was not pleased with that statement in the Bulletin. The conference need not lie out of that money, and should not lie out of that money, if the proper effort had been made to share the matter. Many taking one share would cancel the whole matter. Another statement was made that they had decided, or ordered, one thousand dollars to be sent to Sister White. Was it sent? I have not received it. What about this matter? Certainly nothing has come to us from California, [nor] from the conference. We have been called upon by our workers and referred to the Bulletin that the statement was thus and so. The workmen were really in suffering need for their wages, which they had patiently waited for, and now expected to receive. This places us here in a very unpleasant situation. Some donations of small sums have been received and appropriated, but it was from individuals, not the General Conference. There was five hundred dollars loaned me by Elder Loughborough, but it had to come to us through the Echo office, and they had no money, so there it hung. This has often occurred.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 5)
We must have money, I think, sent to us direct, for we are constantly in need of money to advance the work. Every church organized means so much more revenue eventually to carry forward the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 6)
Dr. Kellogg says that he sent half of the five thousand dollars to help. This has been received in the medical work.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 7)
If our brethren would be careful in their statements made, it might help our case some. At least, it would not leave impressions upon the mind that we have abundance of means to relieve present necessities. It is here in Cooranbong that we need money to work with.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 8)
Brother Irwin, will you please consider these things? I hope you will not drop your good resolutions to visit the churches and awaken them to a sense of their responsibility to God, to set us at work and keep us at work, to set the standard of truth in new places.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 9)
There are new localities in the widespread city of Newcastle, that are now to be worked. One new meetinghouse is to be erected in Hamilton. There is an old stone church, [needing] to be repaired at Wallsend, which can be purchased for fifty pounds; and it will take one hundred pounds to put it in order. This place is ten miles from Hamilton, and in a suburb that has not been worked. I spoke in the hall one week ago last Sunday to a good class of people. If we had another tent we could draw the crowd, but it is getting too late for the meetings to be held in the cool nights. We will use the hall and then, if we think best to use the stone church, we will go to work at once to fit it up.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 10)
The work is only begun at Newcastle, and we are very grateful that there are men who have means, who will donate and loan us money to build in Hamilton.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 11)
In Wallsend, we will have some donations. The scattered sheep without a shepherd must be gathered in. All the churches that are reared up will bring in the tithe which will help to build up the work and cause it to be self-sustaining.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 12)
We now have Elder Haskell and his wife, who have worked hard in Brisbane. They are now in Newcastle. Elder Starr will devote his time partially in Stanmore and partially in Newcastle. We have a dearth of laborers to labor in new localities, which we wish to work without delay.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 13)
I am speaking in the open air at Dora Creek and Martinsville. I spoke one week ago last Sabbath and Sunday at Newcastle, and last Sunday at Dora Creek had an assembly of some who had never been out before. This is the class we are trying to interest.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 14)
Three Sundays ago I spoke at Martinsville in the open air to a congregation of sixty. A small church must be built at Dora Creek and at Martinsville. There are some deeply interested, noble men and women, [who are] intelligent and will make good workers when they take their stand for the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 15)
We have Maitland in view that must be worked in connection with Newcastle. Twenty miles from Newcastle I am invited to speak at Mt. Vincent, between Cooranbong and Newcastle. There is Toronto, a place where there is a large hall in which meetings are held. This we can use, in which to speak the words of truth. We seem to lie in a center where towns and stations are to be worked close by us. We see souls embracing the truth right along, and we want to work these places right now.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 16)
Brother Irwin, do not, I beg of you, because donations have been made, give up, the matter of raising money for our people to press the work in new places. The fifteen thousand dollars will all be consumed in establishing a sanitarium which we are in suffering need of, as soon as it can be built and more means will be required than the fifteen thousand to get the sanitarium in working order. There will have to be a branch of the sanitarium in Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 17)
Brother Rand has had wonderful success in treating several cases that have been given up by all the physicians, and he has had complete success and this is having an influence upon the people, preparing the way to reach souls with the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 18)
We see that we must make haste slowly, for want of workers and means to carry forward the work in the name of the Lord. Your plans to visit the churches and raise means are good. We see the need of more means to advance the work in the openings nigh and the regions afar off.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 19)
The churches in America need to be aroused; let not there be a dead calm after the great arousing you have had. I feel deeply over this matter. Truth must triumph. Truth will bear away the victory if we will be faithful and true whole-souled workers. The Lord has manifested that He is turning His face toward His people. Press onward. Call for donations for there must be more to come to this field for us to carry forward the work. I state the matter as it is. This is our time to work. We have had some remarkable conversions to the truth, and we want more souls. We cry for all to come.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 20)
“I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the Bride say Come, and let him that heareth say, Come.” Yes, those who hear and receive the message will voice the messengers, saying, “Come.”“And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” [Revelation 22:16, 17.] The work must go, the call must be made. “Come.”“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” [Psalm 119:105.] The sunlight of heaven must come to the dark places of earth. We want everybody to hear the message of warning. We want consecrated men and women who will work to present the truth as it is in Jesus, that those they shall win to the truth may converse with Jesus through the medium of His Word, and the receiver of the truth will be sanctified and his whole nature ennobled.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 21)
I send you these words. May the Lord lead you to understand them.
(14LtMs, Lt 216, 1899, 22)
Lt 217, 1899
Irwin, G. A. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales November 21, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in Ev 259-260; 9MR 307. Dear Brother Irwin:
I have written these few lines in reference to our school in Battle Creek, and I feel deeply over these things. This Australian work is to go forward and not retrograde. We want proper helpers. We need strength and individuality sanctified. I would desire the very best gifts. If Sister Andre is the person that can carry forward a good work in our school, will you withhold her from us? We are most deeply disappointed that Dr. Lindsay did not come, and others who were expected did not come; but in the name of the Lord we advance. I do not feel very much flattered in regard to Elder Robinson, but I do hope he will be where he can be a helper and not a hindrance. The Lord give wisdom, is my prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 1)
The school here must be no second school. God helping it must be the best of schools.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 2)
I began to write you a letter about Maitland. It would do your soul good to see [the] earnest faces of hundreds intently listening in eager expectation—merchants, three brothers, have their stores in the drapery [business] in one row. There are other merchants, the mayor, and the town clerk, and businessmen, who seem to feel our intense interest that we should keep the meetings up. We have had three weeks’ meetings, then moved the tent into a paddock close by the house where Brother Starr is living. There is a large clubroom [near]. If it rains, or [the wind] tears down the tent, we can occupy that large room. The tent was moved yesterday.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 3)
[One of the] Kerr brothers—the eldest—said to us as we were sitting in the carriage, “I heard you thought of opening the work in East Maitland.” Said he, “I thought that would be a mistake, to divide the interest. Keep a live interest. Do not divide. The singing must be kept up. All enjoy the singing.” This sounds very pleasant. But the ministers are opening up their tirade, and against Mrs. White in particular. But this is only hurting themselves. We are more rejoiced than we can express. We begin to think we are not quite out of the world. To have such congregations of people in Maitland is marvelous. It is the Lord who is drawing the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 4)
I have spoken three Sabbaths and three Sundays in succession, and go again with my Jessie and Brother Haskell’s Jasper horses twenty-seven miles, crossing Mt. Vincent. May the Lord give me the word to speak to the people. The people, one and another, are asking, “When is that old lady to speak again?” Brother Caro follows me Sabbath and Sunday, and he takes wonderfully with the people. They seem to believe that which we tell them. I am placing Desire of Ages, Great Controversy, Patriarchs and Prophets, and Christ Our Saviour in families; so while the ministers are working against me, I will speak in my writings to the people. I believe souls will be converted to the truth. We are now turning them to the law and to the testimonies. If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 5)
An excellent spirit is in our meetings. Sundays there are one or two hundred children being educated in a large childrens’ tent. If we organize a church here in Maitland, we shall be strengthening our outposts. We inquire, Who will be found tenderly, yet earnestly and faithfully, lifting up their voice and proclaiming the third angel’s message? “And Jesus spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me, in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 6)
We shall commence work at Wallsend and Lambton; but while the interest is kept good, we must not divide our forces. Brother Hilliard and Brother Gates will labor with us anywhere it seems he is most needed. He will settle his family in the large home rented by Brother Haskell.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 7)
I will say to you and Brother Haskell, Keep your souls in the love of God, whatever happens. Keep joyful in God. Talk faith, courage, and do not fail nor be discouraged. Let the young men be encouraged to labor. The Lord wants men to go forth preaching everywhere. Do not remain in Battle Creek until your heart loses its soft, subduing, winning [influence]. Do all you can in speaking the Word of God with all boldness and clear, intelligent, straightforward truth. Let a man so account of us, the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. O, that all that minister in word and doctrine would show that they have the high commission which no man, no body of men, can confer. Every minister of the gospel whom the Holy Spirit has called to the work bears the divine credentials—not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, not given to filthy lucre.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 8)
But the word comes: “Must close.” God bless you and your wife.
(14LtMs, Lt 217, 1899, 9)
Lt 218, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia November 29, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PM 344; 3MR 275; 7MR 391. Dear Brother Haskell and Sister Haskell:
I have been visiting Maitland since the camp meeting. There are some of the very best people interested, and I am placing my books in these families. I gave the mayor [a] best-bound volume of Desire of Ages; and the Kerr brothers, three in number, each have one of my books, and can interchange one with another. I have placed my books into the hands of several others, and this, I think, is the very best way I can do to leave with them the light God has given me. This has been, all along, under the direction of God. A gift in this line is letting the light shine forth in many families, and the message is appealing to the whole family.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 1)
The great desire I have had is that Maitland shall be thoroughly worked. It is in so close touch with Cooranbong that it is our neighbor as decidedly as Newcastle. I have spoken on five sabbaths and Sundays in Maitland, and we see a large field to be worked. There are all kinds of material—wealthy farmers. Another class is composed of men and women, well-to-do, owning their own farms, and there is not that objection that is looming up before them that presents itself to people who have to work for those who employ them. Being their own masters, they are not dependent upon their employers.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 2)
We can appreciate the words of Christ as entirely applicable to Maitland: “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.... And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.” [John 4:35, 37.] This representation is true to the letter. The sowing and the reaping are going forward at the same time.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 3)
Elder Colcord is made president of the New South Wales Conference. Elder Starr is called to Melbourne. He will serve for one year serve as president of that conference, because they chose him to be thus. As Brother Robinson was coming to Cooranbong, that himself and wife should help in the school and in the church, all [thought] it a wise plan to connect him with us, and this pleases him; therefore we hope to be some help to Brother Robinson, and he [will] help us.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 4)
We are in for a continuous labor here in these fields, all new, but white for the harvest. We are now planning how to enter East Maitland. The work is only just entered upon in West Maitland. The old tent will serve as their place of meeting for a time, but it is now rotten and old, and we must, as soon as we can get means, replace it with [a] new tent. A smaller tent will be used in the settlement about ten miles between Newcastle and Maitland. This is a large place, and the higher classes are located in that place. But the soul of the big camp meeting has extended everywhere. Telegrams came to the people of Maitland from Singleton when the storm came upon the encampment, to know if the tents were damaged. That place is all white for the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 5)
Then there is the mining distinct, quite a settlement, but much improved from the miners in Newcastle. Twenty from one town came to the meeting one evening, and made a request for the ministers to come and speak to them, three miles away. They are at their mines all day, but they want evening meetings. Brother Hickox and wife will make that place their missionary ground, in connection with Maitland. Several meetings have been held there, with promising results. My word to the ministers and workers is, Hold fast with persevering effort Newcastle, Maitland, and the surrounding settlements.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 6)
Maitland is altogether the most favorable field to be worked, and we must, I tell them, surrender themselves without reserve to God. Once a fortnight we shall drive with our own team to those places, and I shall not confine myself to Maitland proper, but shall go out into the settlements. We never came across a people more kind and courteous, and more willing and anxious to be instructed—starving sheep. They are exactly as it has been represented to me. My soul hungers and thirsts to see decided fruit from all the efforts we are trying to make.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 7)
Elder Daniells is in New Zealand attending their camp meetings. He says he sees now why the Lord designated Cooranbong as the place for the school; for we are placed in one section of His great moral vineyard. Maitland is only twenty-seven miles from Cooranbong. This is a thriving city, and [the] farmers [are] independent. [They] can keep the Sabbath if they see the truth, and we mean to leave no stone unturned.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 8)
We must have a people and a strong church. A building must go up in Maitland as soon as possible. This is a city of churches, and this is a church-going people; and the people who have the breath of spiritual life in them are not satisfied. They say the shepherds do not feed the flock. Ministers are paid five hundred pounds per year, and they take their text and preach war sermons and politics. We, say they, are ignorant of the Bible and are ashamed that we know so little. Merchants purchased Bibles at our book stands, that they might mark the passages and study them in their homes.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 9)
We miss you in your labors. We oft wish you were here, for it would be in some respects a new chapter in your experience to see the sheep hunting for the shepherds to get the pure provender they needed. But I am glad you are where you are. Do not become discouraged. Meet the people with a courageous front. Keep the eye steadfastly fixed on your Leader. Dark and cloudy faces will confront you, but the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness will melt away this feature, and you will have the victory in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 10)
The Lord has a people in our churches in America, and they have become, some of them, discouraged and confused. But talk the truth. The third angel’s message is to go forth with power, and [it] will pierce the moral darkness black as velvet. Expect everything possible that God can give. Do not talk doubts; do not ponder doubts. God has a people true as steel to principle, but they are confused. They are walking like blind men. Help them, for Christ’s sake, help them. Walk with Jesus, talk with Jesus, and then you have light and comfort and love and power from your best Friend. O, it is such a privilege! “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing into everlasting life.” [Verse 14.] We need more faith. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness will disperse every dark cloud. May the Lord Jesus abundantly bless you, my brother and my sister. I miss you very much, but remain until your work is done. Then we welcome you back again, for there is a large work for you to do. How comforting it is to know that we do not need to stumble our way along in midnight darkness. Light is sown for the righteous, and truth and gladness for the upright in heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 11)
Now I am going to tell you what I am going to do—stop writing long letters after this mail goes. You may say to my friends [that] I have a work to do which forbids my writing letters. Sister Peck and I take right hold of my writings that have been accumulating for years—we are now determined to wait for no one to take up this work, and make our own books. I have waited for others to help, and delay, delay, delay is the result. Now the Testimonies are to come out. [A] book on education [is] to be brought out, and if it is not a perfect work, it shall be brought [out] to be criticized and improved. Better have it, if it is not perfect, than to keep the light in a napkin, hid away in the drawers and boxes.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 12)
No more, or very little, letter writing comes from me after this. My articles will be continued in the papers, and that is nearly all I can do. Now I will say, God bless you both. Pray for me; for I need your prayers.
(14LtMs, Lt 218, 1899, 13)
Lt 219, 1899
Irwin, G. A.; Haskell, S. N. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia September 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brethren Irwin and Haskell:
W. C. White has brought me the letter written to you in which [the] statement is made that the neglect of the men in responsible positions to heed the appeals that have been made for the Southern Field, and closing their senses [so] that they should not do the very work of God that they should do, left the burden upon the workers to feel free to go anywhere, in any part of the American field, and call directly upon the people and ask them to help—their means not to pass through any office or society. [Also] those who are workers in these destitute fields, if those who are as stewards over the works which should demand their interest and their help [neglect their responsibility]—[then] those who understand the necessities of the field have a perfect right to bring their case before the hearts of those who are not sealed and solicit help. I am sorry to have to say this, but the Lord’s work in His vineyard must be done. And if the men in responsible positions make no special effort to prepare the way for the workers, they must devise and plan to prepare their own way.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 1)
I am so sorry the wonderful liberality that expressed itself in the General Conference has been, after a limited donation, as disappointing as was acted in the Norman case. I think our people have had a representation, in the providence of God, of the depth of their repentance. God pity His cause, is my prayer. When the Conference show themselves as zealous as in their prayers and in their confessions at the General Conference, and bear the fruit that testifies of the character of a good tree, then the Lord will work, giving them that repentance that needeth not to be repented of.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 2)
I am very anxious to learn how Dr. Kellogg is conducting the work. His letter to Dr. Caro was read to me by the Doctor; and this letter expressed the same determination to not try to be connected with Seventh-day Adventists. He expressed his great disappointment in his feelings that they were not enthused with the meeting. He spoke of it as a grand meeting, appreciated by all but the ministers in our denomination. And he said this meeting at Gull Lake [?] had convinced him it was no use to expect co-operation from the Seventh-day Adventists. I have not directed any recently written letter to the Dr. Kellogg. This mail bears letters that may surprise you, but I dare withhold nothing. I wish I could see you and converse with you. Last Sunday we were looking around for a location for the sanitarium. We mean to begin as soon as we can find a location.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 3)
We were looking last Wednesday at Maitland for a place for camp meeting. We rode twenty-seven miles with the two Jessie’s. It was a hilly road, and we could not drive fast. We ate our lunches by the wayside; then in East Maitland stepped into our carriage with our tired horses to visit West Maitland. This had been, during the last rains, under water. The water came up fifteen feet, and Hunter River was as high as eighteen feet above its usual rise. The water did not do much damage, but not a bit of land could we find that was safe to have our camp meeting. The small fair grounds that had been flooded, were very sickening. This was [an] extra eight miles farther. Then we returned to East Maitland, and here are two desirable places I think we can obtain. There has been a large, roomy house secured on a high rise of ground, a beautiful flower garden and chicken house and outbuildings in excellent order, for the sum of fourteen shillings. It was thought best for Sarah and Elder Daniells and myself to take the cars directly to Newcastle and on to Sydney. We had just time to run from the wagon to the cars and just step on the train, and we were off.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 4)
Sabbath, I spoke at Ashfield. Expected to speak at Stanmore, but after all the journeying I was sick. We had an excellent meeting at Ashfield. Good meeting reported from Stanmore. Sunday Brother Starr met with church officers in Parramatta. He was much gratified with the meeting. Sunday evening Brother Daniells spoke in the hall at Leichhart. About three hundred were present. All listened with deep interest. These meetings are to be kept up, not lecturing or preaching in the little churches, but in securing halls and getting at the people. A collection was taken, which paid for hall and sixteen shillings beside. This effort is helping our people to see that it is not the will of God [for us] to be shut in so much with our own people in our labor, but take meetings to halls and make earnest efforts to let our light shine forth to those who are in darkness. The matter is urged upon me that we must press out in new places and arouse and educate the people. We must possess active energy to seek and to save the lost. Cast in the seed, and there is another powerful agency that works with our human effort through speech to communicate the Word and to sow the seed of truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 5)
The sleepless, ever-active, unseen agencies are at work to secure the great results, the saving of the soul. We must pray in faith, and trust, committing all to God after we have done our best. Man is not the mighty power of God, which takes care of the seed sown. We must pray and work and wait patiently, and watch unto prayer. Our work is aggressive.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 6)
[The] Sunday after, we took the nine o’clock morning train for Pennant Hills, and were out until the five o’clock train—Brethren John Wessels, Morse, Sharp, Sarah and I. Brother Radley met us with his team, and Brother Schowie’s son with his father’s team. Doctors Caro and Reekie joined us afterwards, and we rode all around to see what places would be favorable. There are some very beautiful places, but land is beyond our reach, I fear. O, if some good, liberal soul would only give us the land in some desirable location! Land is two, three, and five pounds a foot. We returned to Strathfield. I could not sleep after eleven o’clock, and commenced writing most earnestly in regard to the completion of an article on the overdoing of the picture making.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 7)
We had important meetings on Monday again. Monday afternoon we went in the two-wheel trap to Ryde—beautiful location for an institution; but we are to look again in a day or two. Returned home in evening train Monday evening.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 8)
Sister Wilson writes for me to come Sunday to Wallsend to speak in the tent Sunday afternoon. I must get off this mail matter before I can tell what to do. Elder Haskell, you may be interested to hear [that] several have embraced the truth in Wallsend. Sister Wilson is quite encouraged.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 9)
Elder Starr says the wife of a sea captain has embraced the Sabbath. Her sister also is on the point of deciding in Hamilton. This lady gave one pound before she embraced the Sabbath; then, after she embraced the Sabbath, she gave two pounds, and says she will have more money soon to give. This woman (wife of a captain) is an intelligent woman. O, how it makes my heart rejoice to have one soul turn unto the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 10)
In four weeks our school closes. Then the camp meeting commences in Toowoomba. I pledged myself to go last year, and I do not dare to disappoint them. After this there will be two weeks. Then the tents will be pitched, the Lord willing, in East Maitland. If we can see the Lord at work to create an interest in this place, and a church shall be raised up, it will be wonderfully strengthening to our forces. We are made very accountable and responsible in receiving the precious seed, for God requires every one to bring forth the fruit of the seed sown. We see a great work to be done. But I have been up since one o’clock, and I must stop. The Lord bless you. The meetinghouse in Hamilton we hope may be finished for dedication before we leave for Toowoomba. It may be that it will not be completed.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 11)
I cannot get this copied. It must go without copying.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 12)
Yours in love.
(14LtMs, Lt 219, 1899, 13)
Lt 220, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 24, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in PH139 17-18. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
Home again. We had a pleasant meeting for all our people who attended this camp meeting. The tents, new and clean, were pitched in a most beautiful park, which was secured for ten pounds. More than this would have been consumed in the outlay of timber to create the buildings essential for a campground. But we were much disappointed that so few people not of our faith attended this meeting. Everything was done that could be done to draw them. Thousands of Echoes were received and paid for by the people, with the notices also of the meeting, but very few came to the tent. They would promise to come but did not come. The brethren spoke well, and the Spirit of the Lord was in the meeting. But the very ones who ought to have heard this last message of warning to our world, did not attend.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 1)
Our people from Brisbane came to the meeting, and the congregation was small, but interested. I spoke six times. The last Sabbath and Sunday my message was upon practical godliness. I had much freedom as I tried to present what constituted true faith in God, irrespective of feeling. I related on Sabbath afternoon the experience I had in Basel, Switzerland—the dream for Sister Martha Bourdeau, in regard to gathering the roses and the lilies and the pinks, and not grasping the thistles which wounded and bruised her hands. You know, I think, all about this. Together with it I presented before them the necessity of keeping head and heart uplifted to God in living, active faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 2)
We must be laborers together with God, and act as faithful soldiers in this warfare against error and evil. All can do something. We must all be lightbearers to the world. Throw the whole soul and being into the masses, where there are the most souls who need to be won and saved.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 3)
After I had spoken above one hour, I left the meeting for others to carry on. I was informed by Brother Daniells that many testimonies were borne, all making reference to the instruction given. Gather the roses, the lilies, and the pinks. They said they were determined from henceforth to engage in this kind of work, for they could glorify God much better than to be troubling themselves in regard to thistles. They would let these alone.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 4)
For two or three days there were successful, satisfactory meetings in organizing Queensland believers into a conference. This was their wish.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 5)
Friday morning, as I was up before daylight writing, I decided to speak Sunday forenoon rather than afternoon, and then leave on the train for Sydney a quarter before one o’clock. Sabbath I told our brethren my purpose. I had received important letters that needed answering, but no mail was to go on the Sunday train. I could be in Cooranbong Monday at twelve o’clock and consult with Willie in regard to this matter so important to be settled right. Brethren Tenney and Daniells thought it the right thing to do, and so I spoke Sunday forenoon. The Lord gave His Spirit and power.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 6)
Sabbath I could not speak well. For half an hour the rain poured down in torrents. Many hymns were sung, and the singing could scarcely be heard. As soon as there was a little lull, and the thunder and lightning stopped, I commenced speaking. Then we had prayer and social meeting. Then without our dinner, we hastened on to the station. Sara had done all the packing when I was in the meeting. There was to be a baptism on Sunday. Sixteen were to be baptized. We had a safe journey. The brethren insisted that I should take the sleeper at six o’clock. Sara and I thought we would save the conference six dollars by not taking the sleeper, so we did not, and obtained [we] some rest during the night.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 7)
I have had conversation with W. C. White and made a proposition to him that I would give the royalty on my coming book, The Parables, if the Review and Herald and the Pacific Press would donate their press work, and making of the books in neat, saleable style, and let all the avails be used to help relieve the debts upon our schools. This book will never grow old, and the avails shall go to the schools everywhere to help them. I thought this movement on my part would provoke others to self-denial and to benevolence and mercy, to take right hold of this matter and get out The Parables to do this work. Well, the Lord is, I believe, willing to help us in this work. I shall only draw upon the books to give some to the poor that cannot buy. W. C. White enters into this plan with great satisfaction. Of course, we have not the time to get this all before you in definiteness as we will when we have time.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 8)
Brother Tenney and his wife came from Brisbane with horse and two-wheeled trap, and visited our people on the way. They are both pleased with the field, and mean to work as earnestly as possible. Quite a number have been converted to the truth—farmers living a few miles out of Toowoomba—through visiting in their homes. This work is to be carried on. Brother and Sister Herbert Lacey will remain and pitch the tent nearer the center of the city. Brother Tadish and wife will be his helpers, and several women will help in the work. Brother Herbert Lacey will speak in the tent, and then visit—both himself and wife—from house to house, laboring. Brethren Daniells and Tenney, with Brother Salisbury and Sister Graham, will complete the work of creating a conference in Queensland of itself. This is well, and as it should be.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 9)
Here I was a little sleepy; about daylight my pen would not go. I have slept a little. It is now daylight. I cannot get this copied, for I have other matters I must speak of with W. C. White. I do hope to be able to write you some real good news, and will try to let the thistles alone, and gather the roses and the lilies and the pinks. I feel somewhat weary after my journey. I hope to hear that you are well, and are doing the people a great deal of good. Brother Tenney is now thoroughly convinced of the truth of the testimonies given him, in regard to his not undertaking editorial work, and keeping active. He says he is thoroughly satisfied on that point. We feel that he will do good in visiting from house to house.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 10)
We shall expect you to return in one year from the time you left. I hope your visit will be a great blessing to our brethren and sisters in America.
(14LtMs, Lt 220, 1899, 11)
Lt 221, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 13MR 135-136. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I have not slept well during the past night; but I am thankful that I am able to write a little, yes, considerable. I think of you, but it is with pleasure, because you are, I believe, and am assured, in your going to America at this time, doing the will of God. May the Lord sustain and bless you at every step.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 1)
I have things to send to you in writing that I deem very important, and I think it will be prepared in a form so that many may be benefited by it. I should oft be so pleased to have talks with you upon matters that are intensely interesting to me, that I am trying to write out, in reference to the specifications in Scriptural injunctions in regard to the duties one to another in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. We must just call to our minds those [precepts on] actual, practical missionary work, and work intelligently, and do the very principles of Christianity, the gospel of the Old Testament.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 2)
And this some call the Dark Ages. If so, it is not because they had no communication from heaven. [See] Leviticus 25. The Lord was over the whole earth. Every seventh year was a sabbatical year. This would be a wonderful arrangement down in this age of great light. Not only the agricultural processes were to be intermitted, but the cultivation of the soil was not permitted. It lay in its spontaneous growth for the benefit of the poor. All had free access to it—the strangers and the flocks and the herds. This was to invigorate the productive, worn-out soil, and to teach the Hebrew nation that God was the Householder, and the people were His tenants. The land had a sabbath, or yearly sabbath.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 3)
Then the jubilee, the fiftieth. The lessons given were to encourage liberality and overcome all stinginess, and to give lessons to all that it was the Lord’s land. He was to be regarded as its owner, that He would make it productive, if they were obedient, by giving them His blessing upon their lands. The lesson given was that the Lord was taking care of the poor, and that He had made provision for them; and every seventh year the spontaneous crops were for them. This is the principle of liberality; a provision was made by special interposition of God. The sixth year, under God’s supervision, the land yielded provision for three years; and it was a constant lesson that God was the Householder, and the land was His.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 4)
I cannot write out all that is contained in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. But I think our people in this enlightened age of 1899, if they would go back to the period they call the “Dark Ages” and bring into their practical life the lessons that Christ gave to the Hebrews, they would act out the obedience God required of them. Their hearts would not be so full of selfish principles that when His brethren working in hard fields should ask a favor, that they would close the door of their heart and say, No.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 5)
This has been done. I have seen individuals, (I might call by name, but forbear) who asked simple advantages. Seeing they would not help, they would not express their sympathy in the work, or co-operate, only so far as wages was concerned—in a poverty-stricken field, where the poor must be helped in order to help themselves. But they were exactly like those who knew the dire necessities of the case, but passed by on the other side. The people have, when called upon, sent in barrels of goods in cast-off clothing.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 6)
Now, the way this matter has been treated has made it a duty for the workers in the Southern Field, [those] cultivating the very hardest part of the Lord’s vineyard (and yet so little bowels of mercy, so little compassion, so little help given the Lord, who has appointed them to this work), are to call direct upon the people who have hearts of compassion, who have evidenced they could feel, in that they gave them money to help the Southern Field—eleven thousand dollars which they have not yet received. I have myself given several hundred dollars of money to that portion where Edson has been working, to relieve the destitute in that field, when every dollar of the means should have been expended in this field where there is so much to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 7)
But I am reminded I must close up this matter. I was, a few nights since, presented with some illustration of the Norman great generosity. And it has come out that there are those that may study this as an object lesson and inquire are they disappointing the Lord, as that man has disappointed the General Conference. Is there not something to do in considering these things? We want hearts of flesh; tender hearts; kind, courteous hearts, that will feel the woes of others, and not be blind and deaf and dumb on this subject.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 8)
But you will excuse me from writing more, for I am very tried and must rest. Write me (I know you will) from America. Will you, my brother, ask Brother Irwin to let you see his letter, and then you will understand better about the matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 9)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 10)
[P.S.] I want in the next shipment of books that ten copies of The Review and Herald shall be sent to my address, to be sent to different churches that seldom have a minister. Charge to my account.
(14LtMs, Lt 221, 1899, 11)
Lt 222, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear children Edson and Emma White:
We have just received your letters. Thank you for writing. I enter into the pith of the matter at once. After reading your letter, Edson, I have no urging to do. I leave it in this way; When you have light from the Lord, come, and our hearts are open to receive you. You could be a great help to me in my preparation of books. You are going to right way to work. The Lord has worked with you, for you are in a hard field, but He gives you success. If it is His will, you should continue in the field still. He will work with your efforts if you trust in Him, and He has not left you to toil and struggle alone. Angels of God have been your defense, and will work with you if you will keep meek and lowly of heart. He is your defense.
(14LtMs, Lt 222, 1899, 1)
When I was brought to see the principles that were controlling the minds and some hearts of those who are in important positions of trust, that there was so great absence of the love of Christ, and of His kindness and courtesy and genuine Christian politeness, I wrote a letter to them and one to you. As soon as they thought they had an excuse, because you made a mistake in the investing of means in the boat as you did, then the enemy came in to take possession of their hearts, to close them, to drive you into disagreeable positions, just as the enemy wanted they should. They felt they would not trust you whatever your position might be; not a favor would you have from them. While the Lord accepted your repentance, there were those who were as set as steel, but they knew not what spirit was controlling them.
(14LtMs, Lt 222, 1899, 2)
The Lord has cooperated with you in your work in the South, and done that, in cooperating with you, that no human power could do. And when they see the evidence by the fruit born (Ye shall know them by their fruit), they closed their eyes and senses to the evidence. But it is not the spirit that God would sanction in you or in them that has been exercised. They will need your pity rather than your blame, for they are greatly deceived and knew not, [that] while they have taken a course of vigor it is in Satan’s lines they are working. Christ is not in it, therefore never follow their example, for just as surely will the Lord bring every soul of them over the strait places they have allowed yourself and others in like circumstances to come in [to], when they made no effort to release you and others who were doing the very hardest kind of work.
(14LtMs, Lt 222, 1899, 3)
The Lord will not, cannot, bless any who go so contrary to His word and so contrary to the Spirit of Christ, who has sent His angels to work with you, and to bless you and your associate workers. I write you these things that you may never suppose that God has not had compassion, that God has not favored you. He has upheld you, and to His holy name be all the glory. But you must not, although some are working in wrong lines and have dropped the love of God and their brethren out of their hearts when it was needed so much, have the feelings of retaliation. It is because they need melting over. But you must not do after the same principles. They grieve the heart of Christ and must make thorough work for repentance. I should not vindicate their course for one moment, and yet I am so sorry for these men because they have not heeded reproofs and warnings to deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. The Lord will bring them over the same ground, every one of them, to realize what it means to have to pass through such hard places as you have without sympathy and love.
(14LtMs, Lt 222, 1899, 4)
Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. He will never disappoint you. Do not mind what others say or others do. Be free to love your brethren and do all the good you can, for we go through this world but once, and how much more pleasing to God and the heavenly universe to leave a fragrant influence behind you. Crowd all the good works into your life that is possible. Be cheerful, be pitiful, be courteous, help everyone you can help. You will see the charge of the Lord to His church in the wilderness, that they must love even the stranger who chose to dwell with them, and treat him tenderly and, if in need, help him.
(14LtMs, Lt 222, 1899, 5)
I have written an article on this subject for the papers. I hope it will do good, because the Lord is not now pleased with those in responsible places who are not searching and studying what the will of the Lord is, [and] fearing greatly lest they shall not do the things pleasing in His sight. Bear in mind: you are a servant of the heavenly King, and you must honor and glorify His name. You can make your speech eloquent with kind words coming from the heart. Catch the bright beams from the face of Jesus and live Christ. Let nothing discourage you. I will no longer urge you to come to Australia, but will help you, all [that is] in my power where you are. I am glad Brother Smouse is engaged in this work. I meant to have written him a letter in this mail. I cannot get this copied, but will send it to you, imperfect as it is, not being able to take the time to correct mistakes. I commit this to you, assuring you that we will keep your interest before us and with us, and do our best to help you in the Southern Field. This disjointed letter I am sorry to send, but the Lord knows I would do better if I had the time. I must close. God bless you.
(14LtMs, Lt 222, 1899, 6)
Mother.
Lt 223, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 22, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 20MR 85-86. Dear Children Edson and Emma:
I feel a great desire to see you and to have you connect with me in my work. I have been unwilling to write you, hoping and praying the Lord would send you. But the Southern Field has been presented to me as a difficult field to work, because of the white people who have the slave master’s spirit with the slave master’s cruelty in exercising the same, as if the blacks were not more than beasts; and to be treated worse than the dumb animals because they are in the form of man, having the marks of the black—Negro—race.
(14LtMs, Lt 223, 1899, 1)
As you have had so little cooperation in your work by those who should have helped you in all their power, and as there has been so little interest in your work, the Lord would not have you work to such disadvantage, for health and strength are failing, and there are places where you could do a good work for the Master. Some things were presented before me of a determination of men who, under their general, Satan, were full of hatred to you and to your work. This is the best evidence you can have that the work was of the Lord, that Satan stirred up the people as he did against Paul the Apostle.
(14LtMs, Lt 223, 1899, 2)
The Lord has preserved you, that they could not do you harm, but you now know what you will meet. It is enough to meet this against the enemies of the truth, but when those of our own faith show so little interest and their hearts are as selfish and unsympathizing as a stone, the Lord would not have you exposed to perils without and unsanctified, unconsecrated elements in responsible positions of trust. They have not yet hearts that have been worked by the Holy Spirit. I am so sorry, I am so sad for these brethren who have manifested the selfish, unsympathizing spirit, for in every case these individuals will be brought over the ground, the very same trials will come upon them, when they will be brought into positions where they will remember that their hearts were destitute of the love of Jesus Christ, and therefore they had none to flow out in free, rich currents toward their brethren in hard places.
(14LtMs, Lt 223, 1899, 3)
There is a work to be done for those who claim to be servants of God. The softening, subduing power of God is to come into their lives, but never will it be until they have humility. The Spirit cannot work with them until they are learners in the school of Christ. I was in an assembly where there were the responsible men in the publishing institutions. I was bearing a message from God; I was greatly burdened. I stood up in the power of God and read to them 1 Corinthians 13 [and] Hebrews 12:12-15.
(14LtMs, Lt 223, 1899, 4)
Mother.
Lt 224, 1899
White, J. E. Refiled as Lt 137, 1899.
Lt 225, 1899
Jones, C. H.; Sisley, W. C.; Tait, A. O.; Belden, F. E. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 8, 1899 Previously unpublished. Brethren Jones and Sisley, Tait and Belden:
Some matters have been presented to me of which I will speak. The question regarding the duty of the publishing houses has been brought before my mind. My attention was called to The Gospel Primer, which was prepared for the benefit of the people and the work in the Southern Field. The management of that little book has not been on correct lines, and those whose eyes are opened can better understand, now, the curious ways in which it has been handled.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 1)
The Gospel Primer was a cheap, simple book, which was prepared for a special purpose. Its large sale has proved that it is acceptable to many besides the people in the Southern Field. The profits from these sales should have been given to the work in the Southern Field. The work in that field needs all that can be brought to it from this source.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 2)
In the dealings with The Gospel Primer, justice and righteousness were disregarded, and the judgment of men was confused. Another book was brought in to crowd out the Primer, but it could not take its place, for the Primer had the A B C of gospel instruction to ignorant, benighted souls. A strange work has been done in regard to this little book, and this work stands recorded in the books of heaven, revealing the character of those who turned from its rightful place the means which should have gone to the South for the advancement of a worthy and needy work.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 3)
Another book has been published, in the hope that its sale would furnish means to help in the upbuilding of the work among the colored people of the South. But hardly had its work begun, when another book was brought out by Pacific Press, which will call the attention of the people away from The Coming King. I have not seen this new book, but from the light given me, I know that it will cut directly across the path of the book preceding it, because it covers almost the same ground and speaks almost the same things. I have been shown that evils which have existed in the past will press themselves into the work again. This new book cannot fail to get in the way of the other book which it is so much like.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 4)
These movements bear not the marks of the Spirit of God. They plainly reveal the devisings of men. Both authors and publishers should have foresight, and carefully weigh the results upon other books and other enterprises, before bringing out new works. These things are not regarded as they should be. Greater discretion is required in the management of these matters, if our work shall redound to the glory of God. Those appointed to responsible positions in the publishing work must now give careful consideration to these important matters. They must carefully discriminate between right and wrong, justice and injustice, that they may discern what is equality and fair dealing. Means which should have been used in the Southern Field have been diverted to other channels.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 5)
Fairness must be observed in the publishing work. Our brethren must not move in a haphazard manner, else they may do injustice to a brother who has worked hard and borrowed money to invest in a book.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 6)
There is danger of a recklessness coming into the publishing work, which will place it where it requires readjustment. The rule should be followed that a second book on any subject is not to be crowded into the market till the one preceding it has had a fair chance. I now leave with you these words of admonition and caution.
(14LtMs, Lt 225, 1899, 7)
Lt 226, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia March 15, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I have had a long hard pull of writing to the Conference in America. The burden has been great and has swallowed up every other matter. I dared not give strength or writing to anything else, and I fear we are now just two mails behind, but they must have the matter. I will, in this morning’s mail, send you copies so you can understand the matters we are treating. Our mail went last evening to Newcastle, to go down on the night train and catch the boat that leaves in the morning.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 1)
I have been up morning after morning at one and half-past one, and [have] written all the day. Yesterday was a most trying day for me, to complete the writings I had on hand, and I did not get nervous. All tried to help me quickly. The past two days have been earnest working days for me. Now I rest until Friday, and then go to Newcastle to attend Sabbath and Sunday meetings. If Brisbane were as near as Newcastle or Sydney, be assured I should be seen in your midst.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 2)
I am pleased that your meetinghouse is nearly finished. It is that which was a necessity, and we must arise and build in Newcastle. The dearth of means is at the present time felt, possibly, by us all; but the Lord understands this, and if we walk humbly with God, He will safely bless. But if we lift up our souls unto vanity and self-sufficiency, then we stand in our own finite strength. We each have our work to do, and we must trade on our talents and be faithful stewards. Work! There is plenty of work to do! Now is our day of trust. The Lord Jesus in His great mercy has allotted to every individual a special work to do, and He will assist every worker who will labor with his eye single to the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 3)
You speak of Judge being dismissed from the school. It was a right thing to do; unless it was done, his sly, deceptive practice would leaven the whole school. He was writing letters to Millie Edwards and trying to convey communications with her, notwithstanding he was making pretensions of having had a wonderful experience. He was a great perplexity in his case, and he was cautioned and warned. But while he made fair promises, he did not keep his word. You must understand we have altogether a different class of students than when you were in the school. Those were older, and were Christians not merely in name but in character, but are not attending the school this year.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 4)
[The] girls and boys—a large number came from farms, where they have never been confined in schools and are wild and ignorant—are undisciplined, more like wild colts, both girls and boys. The little Miss Christabel McCullagh is here and a handful to manage. She has to be watched vigilantly. She is wise to do evil, and ready to cut up any capers she can if she can do it on the sly. We wish we had more of the students as we had the first and second terms. I have only spoken twice in the school, but I shall hope to be able to talk to them oftener. There is a larger number of students than the two former terms.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 5)
There has been much carefulness, and there has been much labor to organize, which would bring things into order indoors. This light has been given me very decidedly as a thing that must be done: [that] everything indoors and out-of-doors must work by well-devised plans, that the Lord was looking down upon the school at this disorderly ways. Much time was lost hunting for working tools that were left scattered in any place. All these things have cost much care and much hard work to bring about system and school regulations out-of-doors and indoors. We think that the Lord presides and makes things felt, and the school will be handled more easily.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 6)
We ask: Can you come this way? And can you spend some labor in Ballarat? Just now you would be a great blessing to them there.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 7)
I have written very plainly to McCullagh and have not daubed with untempered mortar. I do not want [that] he should be put in trust as a shepherd of the flock until he has an opportunity to be enlightened in the Scriptures.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 8)
If you could not now visit us here, and especially at Newcastle, then visit Melbourne or, rather, Ballarat. It would do, I think, a great amount of good. Your Bible instruction would come in nicely. I have this in mind considerably, and if you can rest here a little, we will do all we can to make you comfortable. You can have our parlor, and we will put a bed in it, and then you can just go to Newcastle. Stay as long as you please. Just at this point your help would be greatly appreciated. But if you see no light in this, tell me so. I see light in it, and Elders Daniells, Starr, W. C. White, and myself have harmonious ideas on this point. Take the matter to the Lord, and come if you can.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 9)
If McCullagh could now have the lessons you give on Bible subjects, I believe it would now help him to rivet to the divine Book.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 10)
I am anxious for this to be. Just tell us quick as you can about it. This must go to the mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 226, 1899, 11)
Lt 227, 1899
Haskell, S. N. Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia January 7, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Haskell:
The past day has been one of deep interest. This has been the most interesting and promising camp meeting we have ever attended. The outside interest has been excellent from the first. There has been a variety in the meetings, and the outside attendance has exceeded all our expectations. Night after night during the week, even on the holidays, the large tent has been full. The attendance has been estimated at fifteen hundred—sometimes in the week days as high as twelve hundred. And Sunday afternoons and evenings, from fifteen hundred to two thousand have been in attendance. The earnest, interested faces turned toward the speakers with intense interest, has given us the expectation that this field is right for the harvest.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 1)
The three Sabbath meetings now past have been deeply interesting. In the afternoon there was a sea of heads intently listening to catch every word. After the words were spoken from the living oracles of God, then came the social meeting, giving all an opportunity to speak. Many church members arose, and said that they did not find food in the ministry of the churches.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 2)
But I have time to write only a few lines. Last Sabbath night Dr. Caro gave a lecture to three thousand people, with views showing the results of intemperance. These representations, with his very solemn remarks, were very impressive. Although the tent was crowded to its utmost capacity, the people were as orderly as in a church. God’s Spirit was in the meeting, making impressions of these object lessons. O what a crowd! Many were outside of the tent, but the pictures were so arranged that nearly all could see. They cheered the Doctor, but he quelled the demonstration.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 3)
Sunday afternoon I spoke to two thousand people, and God gave me liberty. I had dreaded this large gathering, but the Lord helped me. W. C. White called me to see the crowd leaving the tent. What a sight! I never expected to see such a sight in Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 4)
Last night Elder Daniells spoke to more than were in attendance in the afternoon. I cannot now remember his subject, but the most intense interest was manifested. This closed the camp meeting proper. Now comes the after working.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 5)
I have written you a letter, but I cannot now find it. I think it must have been packed, with the supposition that my writing was over.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 6)
We thank God for this meeting. It has closed with a full tide of interest. Now the tent will be retained one week longer, and by that time the new tent will be ready to set up. The tent is to be moved now to a new place, easy of access and near which Elder Starr will find rooms, which are not desirable, but the very best they can obtain. Just across the road from [the] tent, Brother and Sister Lacey are also located.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 7)
We must now work as never before. The country is stirred as far as Maitland, and in the suburbs all around here. The Lord is certainly at work, and we must do our very best. I do not see how I can go to Ballarat. The people will come to hear Mrs. White, and seem to be delighted with what I call my poor labor. Work is opened here, and a great circumference is to be worked. Newcastle is extended over a large district, and the Lord has a work to be done here for which we shall need much of His Holy Spirit, that we may teach line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. We know not which shall prosper, whether this or that.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 8)
We believe that God will work with your efforts in Brisbane. He alone can give success in the battle, whether there be many or few. I would be glad to labor right here at this time, and I cannot see why it is not my duty to do this. When the Sabbath question is brought home more closely than it is possible to do in a large crowd, then the test comes. Then decisions will be made. O my soul, what a work is before us! I fear; I tremble before God, lest we should make mistakes. But the Lord’s presence has been on this ground, and He is working through His human agents. Truth will triumph and bear away the victory. We will watch, we will pray, we will move forward, step by step, in His name, glorifying God. I must stop here.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 9)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 227, 1899, 10)
Lt 228, 1899
Haskell, S. N. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia May 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Haskell:
Your telegram came yesterday afternoon. I have thought the matter over, and cannot possibly leave my work and workers. We are called upon for advice and for the adjusting of the workers, finding places for them where they can be boarded and where they can room, and be kept in the best possible good feeling and spirit to do the work. But this is only one little item. Colcord has had to go to Sydney to have a tooth fixed. Elder Daniells is there now. There is not the least need of me, and I think they have all the preaching that will do them any good.
(14LtMs, Lt 228, 1899, 1)
But aside from all this, I must attend to my work. The cold is still upon me, but I am improving. But it is not that that would hinder my going. I am pressed with burdens that none can do but myself. I am to use my pen, and keep a clear, well-balanced mind to do the work on hand. I cannot leave this work for another to do, for it would not be done. I want every jot of strength and power now to cast out the net and draw in [the] fishes it may take. I speak next Sunday at Martinsville in the grassy paddock, then can come directly home; and that without confusion will be no tax. They need me here, and I am not needed in Sydney. The boat will be in from Auckland next Monday. It was at Auckland Tuesday night. That brings another mail for me to read, and answer letters.
(14LtMs, Lt 228, 1899, 2)
I feel no special burden for Sydney now, but I do feel a burden that souls nigh shall have the words of truth and efforts be made to bring them in. Cooranbong and stations between here and Cooranbong must be visited, and the truth must be preached. They have as yet had scarcely any labor. We must now work as we have never done before. I ask you to look at the fields just within reach of our arms, to see and understand their necessity. This must go to the mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 228, 1899, 3)
In haste.
(14LtMs, Lt 228, 1899, 4)
Lt 230, 1899
Starr, G. B. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in VSS 325; 2MR 24. Dear Brother Starr:
I gave a little talk to the church last Sabbath, telling them of the commission Christ gave to His disciples to labor for all people, tongues, and nations. There is no limit to our work, but we have a limited faith. I solicited out brethren and sisters to call upon the name of the Lord and pray most earnestly in genuine faith for the work and for the people for whom we work. If we obtain the victory we must be earnest ourselves and plead with God for His Holy Spirit. We must talk and pray in faith that we may have the precious anointment of the Holy Spirit. Brethren Hickox and Colcord and Starr, bear in mind the promise of divine agencies to work with our efforts, for this is needed, we know, when we have not to wrestle against flesh and blood, but “against principalities, and against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” [Ephesians 6:12, 13.] We must pray. We cannot depend upon our own finite strength. Be instant in prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 230, 1899, 1)
We do not exercise that faith, perseveringly claiming the Holy Spirit. I tell you, we must have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is for us, and we must have it. We are living in that time of this earth’s history when we must meet to pray for the special blessing upon us individually, and then we shall be in Christ, and through Christ victorious. We are too easily satisfied with limited, special, far-between blessings. We are to lay hold of God by faith and labor to bring souls [to Christ]. We are to dwell in our doctrinal discourses upon the truth as it is in Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 230, 1899, 2)
Present the truth for this time as an important message, from another world. Lift Him up, the Man of Calvary. Come in consecration to holier ground, and still holier. Preach the truth with the power of God sent down from heaven. Let the truth take hold of the spiritual part of our own nature, and then the current of divine power will be communicated to those whom we address. Bear in mind we must have increased faith. Our faith is too small. What can give us the aid the crisis demands as [like] the intelligent knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus? We want His nature—all our faculties and powers strengthened and vitalized by the Spirit of Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 230, 1899, 3)
The Lord means that we shall have feeling—our whole soul and being brought in complete unity with Jesus Christ. This present place and opportunity will turn with the best results for the future of our work, and will be placing the work on vantage ground if we will seek the blessings which Christ has promised [in order] to make our work a decided victory. Ever bear the message as Christ’s witnesses. Unless we do have the Holy Spirit in a decided manner in this effort, we shall meet with a great loss. Keep the work moving in simplicity, and this you will if the melting love of Christ breaks up the fallow ground of our own hearts. But have faith in God; take hold of the promise and never let go. W. C. White has come. Can write no more.
(14LtMs, Lt 230, 1899, 4)
I send these books to the Kerr brothers.
(14LtMs, Lt 230, 1899, 5)
Lt 231, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7MR 165-167. Dear Sister Henry:
I am not able to write much, but I desire to say that I was greatly pleased with your letter, in which you gave me the history of your experience with the W.C.T.U. When I read it, I said, “Thank the Lord. That is seed sowing which is of value.” I am pleased, so much pleased. The Lord has certainly opened your way. Keep it open if possible. A work can be accomplished by you. Preserve your strength for such efforts. Attend important gatherings when you can. These occasions will be very trying seasons, but when the Lord gives His ones a special work to do, He sends His angels to be round about them.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 1)
There are very many precious souls whom the Lord would have reached by the light of truth. Labor is to be put forth to help them to understand the Scriptures. I have felt an intense interest in the W.C.T.U. workers. These heroic women know what it means to have an individuality of their own. I desire so much that they shall triumph with the redeemed around the great white throne. My prayers shall rise in your behalf that you may be given special opportunities to attend their large gatherings, and that your voice may be heard in defense of the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 2)
I dare not give you advice in this important matter. You are on the ground and Christ is on the ground. Be assured that He will work with you and through you and by you.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 3)
My heart is made very tender as I read of the interest manifested by the Lord in Cornelius. He sent a special message from heaven to Cornelius, and instructed His angel to tell Peter to visit Cornelius and give him light. It ought to be a great encouragement to you in your work to think of the compassion and tender love of God for those who are seeking and praying for light. We should hold convocations for prayer to ask the Lord to open the way, that the truth may enter the strongholds where Satan has set up his throne, and dispel the shadow which he has cast athwart the pathway of those he is seeking to deceive and to destroy. We have the promise, or rather, the assurance, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” [James 5:16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 4)
We need not any vision to make more sure the substantial truth of this representation. Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us. No sooner does the child of God approach the mercy seat than he becomes the client of the great Advocate. At his first utterance of penitence and appeal for pardon, Christ espouses his case, makes it His own, and presents the supplication before His Father as His own request.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 5)
Can any one doubt Christ’s love? The Saviour presents the virtue of His mediation before the Father, and pledges Himself to the office of personal Intercessor. By proclaiming Himself as our Intercessor, He desires us to know that He places in the golden censor His merits and efficiency, that He may offer them with the sincere prayers of His people. How essential, then, that we pray much, for as our prayers ascend to the throne of God, they are mingled with the fragrance of Christ’s righteousness. Our voice is not the only voice heard. Before it reaches the ear of God, it blends with the voice of Christ, whom the Father always hears.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 6)
Christ assures us that He is pledged to intercede in our behalf. Thus He would encourage our faith and our belief in success. He said to His disciples, and the Word is for us, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. I am beloved by my Father, and for my sake He will refuse you nothing.” [See John 14:13, 14.] Let us not cease to pray. Let us believe the assurance of the Word of God. Let us receive the promise, and say, “I thank thee, my heavenly Father, that I receive the things I ask of thee.”
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 7)
The work in Maitland is still moving forward. I have now spoken to the people there five Sabbath and Sunday afternoons. Last Sabbath and Sunday, one week ago, the heat was intense. Few adults, only about thirty, were out. But soon there came in about forty children, as though the meeting were for their special benefit. They were neatly and nicely dressed, and their behavior was perfect. I determined to talk to them, and we had an excellent meeting. I never disappoint a company of children if I can possibly speak to them. I believe that some of these children, if labored for, will be converted.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 8)
I am so thankful to my heavenly Father that in Maitland several people have embraced the truth. They are most excellent people. Notwithstanding the intense heat, our workers have often walked three miles and back to give Bible readings. There are openings everywhere. Surely this field is white unto the harvest. Ministers are warning their congregations not to allow their children to go to the tent. But, nevertheless, the children come every Sunday, and all that come receive instruction. This is the seed-sowing. The future will reveal the harvest. We must sow in faith. A Paul may plant, and an Apollos water, but God giveth the increase.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 9)
As I look at the cities of Newcastle and Maitland and all the settlements which these cities embrace, and know, as has been represented to me, that they are as sheep without a shepherd, as I think of the pitiful sight of companies of people who with hands outstretched were saying, “Come and help us, open to us the Scriptures; we want the bread of life,” I long to do more to help. The words were spoken by my Instructor, “They are as sheep without a shepherd. To them the Word must be presented in the simplest way, in the beauty of holiness. Draw them, draw them by the cords of love.”
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 10)
I cannot get this people off my mind. I fear so much that our faith will not be as strong as it should be. Every soul is of such value in God’s sight that we must entreat men and women to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. We must watch, we must pray, we must believe, and never must our efforts relax. Life and death are before those for whom we are working, and if we can only arouse them to realize the danger of their true condition, as they trample upon the Sabbath of the Lord and exalt an institution of the Papacy, they will certainly take hold of the hope set before them in the gospel. Men may claim to be Christians, but are they Christians if they do not follow on to know the Lord? Christ says, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” [John 15:10.]
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 11)
I carry this people on my heart day and night. God is calling for them. “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations: that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, therefore; for it is holy unto you.” [Exodus 31:12-14.] How can we open the eyes that have so long been blinded? Shall Christ give this plain requirement in vain? Shall He be compelled to say to the people in Maitland and Newcastle, “Ye would not come unto me that ye might have life”? [John 5:40.] What is the life of which He speaks? A life that measures with the life of God. A treasure in the heavens that faileth not.
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 12)
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thin own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” [Isaiah 58:13, 14.]
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 13)
These truths should be urged upon the people. We know this answer means life or death to them, life to the receiver and death to the rejecter. Then shall we not urge it upon them. When we know that the salvation of the soul is at stake, shall we not be terribly in earnest?
(14LtMs, Lt 231, 1899, 14)
Lt 232, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. NP November 10, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 7BC 983; Ev 132; 4MR 423-426. + Dear Brother:
My spirit is not at rest. I am troubled on your account. The letters I have written to you have seemed to have such an effect that I scarcely know how to approach you. You have requested me to tell you all. This I cannot do; for you are not in a fit condition, spiritually or physically, to hear it.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 1)
I have been shown that you are in danger, in great peril, of becoming just what the enemy desires you to be—unbalanced in mind. It is not pleasant for me to speak of this by letter, but the Lord has used me to do this work, and I dare not keep silent. If I did, I should be as one who saw your danger, and lifted not up his voice to warn you.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 2)
Light has been given me that you have carried so-called medical missionary work altogether too far. For a long time warnings and cautions have been sent to you. You have made this work not the arm, but the body. God has instructed me that the work you have set yourself to do is not the work He has given you to do. The Lord has presented some things to me which, if I feel free, I shall send to you. If this matter has an influence over you similar to the influence of the letter sent to you at the time of the General Conference, it will be because you have set aside the warnings and have not heeded them, but have carried out your own plans and devising, irrespective of cautions and warnings.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 3)
By One who has authority, the question was asked, “Who has required this at your hands?” [Isaiah 1:12.] You do not see that you have become ambitious to carry forward a line of work which would result in great hindrance to the general work God would have you do. To you and those connected with you was given the work of making the Battle Creek Sanitarium a memorial of the truth to those in the highways of the world. Your power to devise, your ability to perform operations, were to be used in this line. Your standing among medical men God designed to be a witness for Him in higher circles. This work and the various lines it embraced was all you could carry. The work of embracing so much must be limited, else men will become unfitted to do throughly their part of the work which God designs should be done. If you fail it is because you would not heed the warnings God has been giving you.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 4)
When you dipped so deeply into work in the slums, to lift up the most degraded, you were not gathering with Christ as you supposed. To you was given the special work of standing at your post of duty in the Sanitarium as its manager, in connection with God’s appointed agencies. But you took so many responsibilities upon yourself that it was as though one man’s brain, and that your own, was brain for all the others. If your course was questioned, you did not receive the criticism offered, that plainly revealed that your judgment was not to be differed from, till finally no one dared to say, “Why do ye so?” Their silence has been registered in heaven as unfaithfulness. Many have viewed matters in the same light in which you have viewed them.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 5)
In the past I have not dared to hold my peace, and all I can do now is to enforce what I have already said to you. I know that you may class me with your enemies because I tell you the truth. This truth may conflict with your ideas, but nevertheless, it is the truth. The principles upon which you are working will not stand the test. The Lord does not call upon you to create interests which will not show the best results or accomplish the work that is to be done in proclaiming the last message of mercy to a deceived, perishing world. The Lord would not have any enterprise started which would not be for the healthfulness and solidity of the work which is to perfect a people to prepare the way of the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 6)
The Lord has not led you to take upon yourself such large responsibilities. I was made to understand that all available resources had been drawn upon to sustain the many interests you have set in operation. This hinders the advancement of the work. When accomplished, the work you have started would not have the best results, if carried forward in the way in which it is being carried. Had a portion of the means thus used been used in holding camp meetings, in lifting the banner of truth, in educating workers in regard to carrying on the work after the camp meetings, God would have been glorified. We are following the direction of God as to how the work shall be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 7)
In every place where the standard of truth is lifted, the missionary work needing to be done is to be advanced. But medical missionary work is not to be made the body. I say to you, in the name of the Lord, you are carrying forward this line of work in a way that is retarding the all-round work that is to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 8)
Your students are not receiving an all-round education. The minds of men and women must be disciplined in such a way that they can carry forward the work solidly. The work in all parts of the Lord’s vineyard is to be built up. In every gathering of our people there should be those who can plan and devise how to build up the work upon a sure foundation.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 9)
The enemy has been working and will continue to work to take advantage of circumstances. Thus he tried to create an emotional experience. He has tried to bring about a condition of things which would lead men to belittle the ministers of the gospel and criticize their work. This has already been done. A wild spirit of speculation and adventure will hurt the very work which should be regarded as most sacred.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 10)
The work done for outcasts may be so managed that it will not bear the very best aspect. Unless those rescued are taught that sin is the transgression of the law, unless they are educated to know what is truth, what will the work done for them amount to? It will be work done with very little result.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 11)
What gave the leaders of the Reformation their power over erroneous theories? It was the truth of the Word of God. Human nature needs a strong, solid foundation upon which to stand. It is not superstition but living faith in a living God that brings real results.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 12)
Some of the work that has been done is represented as being like men rolling large stones up a hill with great effort. When nearly at the top of the hill, the stones rolled again to the bottom. The men only succeeded in taking a few to the top. In the work done for the degraded, what effort it has taken to reach them, what expense, and then to lead them to stand against appetite and base passions! Is this work to be permitted to swallow up all the workers and all the money needed to sustain the various branches of the cause of God? I answer, No.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 13)
Camp meetings are to be held; not one mammoth camp meeting, but smaller camp meetings in different localities. After the camp meeting is over, let a house be hired for the accommodation of the workers, and let these workers go out among the people and ascertain who are willing to take their position on the Lord’s side. One thing is certain: We have a work to do similar to the work done in the early history of the message. This work we are trying to carry forward in this country. But the Lord does not give us direction to erect buildings for the care of babies, although this is a good work. But it is not the work for the present time. Let the world do all it will in this line. Our time and means must be invested in a different line of work. We are to carry the last message of mercy to those in the churches who are hungering and praying for light.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 14)
We see the work that must be done, and in every place we enter we unite medical missionary work with the gospel ministry, We labor earnestly for the poor, the distressed, and the sick. If we find a poor widow struggling to support her family, we show our sympathy in a tangible way, and help her to help herself. We seek to awaken the missionary spirit in our churches. We appeal to the members to show their religion by their works of sympathy
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 15)
We are cautioned not to misunderstand the great part we have to act in these last days. God says to us, “Cry aloud; spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sin.” [Isaiah 58:1.] The standard of truth is to be uplifted in every place. People are to be taught that sin is the transgression of the law.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 16)
We have a message to bear to the churches. Christ declares, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.... I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” [Revelation 22:13, 14, 16, 17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 17)
We are to give to the people the warnings contained in Revelation. But many workers are engaged in a line of work that is disqualifying them to preach the Word
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 18)
The truth in regard to the Sabbath of the Lord is to be proclaimed. The seventh day is to be shown to be the seal of the living God. People are to be shown what they may expect from the papal power. The time has come when the Protestant churches are reaching out to grasp the hand of the power that has made void the law of God. More work is to be done in the W.C.T.U. Here is a special field that has scarcely been touched.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 19)
In the seventeenth of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches who corrupt themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the Papacy, those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. John writes, “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornications.” [Verses 1-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 20)
Thus is represented the papal power, which with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, by outside attraction and gorgeous display, deceives all nations, promising them, as did Satan our first parents, all good to those who receive its mark, and all harm to those who oppose its fallacies. The power which has the deepest inward corruption will make the greatest display, and will clothe itself with the most elaborate signs of power. The Bible plainly declares that this covers a corrupt and deceiving wickedness. “Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.” [Verse 5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 21)
What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb, and to be allied to heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon. It is moved by a power from beneath.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 22)
“And after these things,” John writes, “I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” [Revelation 18:1-4.] This is the message Satan would have silenced.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 23)
“Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her. For she saith, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” [Verses 6-8.] Shall this message be considered an inferior matter?
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 24)
I am commissioned to speak to all those who are engaged as physicians in our institutions. A reformation is required in regard to the management of these institutions. They are not to be conducted as the world would conduct them. While many who cannot afford to pay are treated free, others are charged exorbitant sums for operations which take but little time. The charges of worldly physicians in this country> are not to rule in our institutions. High prices are current in the world, but correct principles are to be brought into our work. The Bible standard is to be followed to the letter, irrespective of consequences. The way of the Lord—justice, mercy, and truth—is to be followed. No exorbitant bills are to be sent in for slight operations. The charges made are to be proportionate to the work done.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 25)
The work done in our medical institutions is to correspond with the words, Medical missionary work. We do not want the Lord to think ill of us because we misrepresent the work of Christ. God has not given us permission to do a work which will not bear the investigation of the judgment. He does not want any institution established by His people to bear a reputation similar to that borne by Ananias and Sapphira. Desiring to gain a reputation for self-sacrifice, liberality, and devotion to the Christian faith, Ananias and Sapphira sold their property, and laid part of the proceeds at the feet of the apostles, pretending that they had laid it all there. They thought that they had been successful in cheating the cause of God; but they were cheating the Lord, and He dealt summarily with this, the first case of deception and falsehood in the newly formed church.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 26)
Ananias and Sapphira were not urged to give all they had to the cause. God would have accepted part. But they desired it to be thought that they had given all. Thus they thought to gain the reputation for which they hankered, and at the same time keep back part of their money. God slew them both, as a warning to all of the danger of sacrificing truth to gain favor.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 27)
We are not to misrepresent what we profess to believe in order to gain favor. God despises misrepresentation and prevarication. He will not tolerate the man who says and does not. The best and noblest work is done by fair, honest dealing. A lawyer came to Christ with the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”“What is written in the law? How readest thou?” Christ asked. The lawyer answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself.”“Thou hast answered right,” Christ said; “this do and thou shalt live.” [Luke 10:25-28.] Upon these two great arms hang all the law and the prophets.
(14LtMs, Lt 232, 1899, 28)
Lt 233, 1899
Brother “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales September 10, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 21MR 398-401. Dear Brother:
I am sorry to learn from your letter that some things which are not pure provender are being given to the church of God as food. No one can feed the church of God aright unless he studies the pure, sanctifying principles of the truth. Non-essential subjects are not to occupy our minds. Our conversation should be pure, uplifting, ennobling.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 1)
You will find men who talk of a second probation, comforting themselves with the thought that if they are not overcomers in this probationary time, they will in a future probation secure a preparation for heaven. But the Lord has no future probation for any soul that lives. Those who do not appreciate this present probation will have no second trial. Those who in this life pursue a course which will close against them the gates of the city of God need not flatter themselves that the Lord will give them another opportunity to prepare to meet Him. No, no, no!
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 2)
I present to you some important matters to present to the people as practical present truth. There is no need to dwell upon subjects that are not light and truth. We are to think of those things that will give spiritual nourishment.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 3)
Those who have a knowledge of the truth should never seek for something new and strange to present to the people. Let not the ministers of God enter into contention and strife. Their influence is greatly hurt when they are self-exalted and dictatorial. Let all be exceedingly careful on this point. Each day we need to learn more of Jesus Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 4)
Let no one live to please himself. We are laborers together with God. We are to work in union with His Holy Spirit. God is the great First Cause, the Source of all power and grace and efficiency. Human agencies are to yoke up with Christ. “Ye are God’s husbandry.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] You are to work out that which God works in. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:12, 13.] Your heart is to be cultivated by the Holy Spirit, that it may bear fruit unto righteousness.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 5)
“Ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] You cannot build your character yourself. You must unite with the divine Builder. Said Paul, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereupon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” [Verses 10, 11.] Let no man suppose that he is appointed to be a foundation upon which other human beings are to build. Every human being is to erect his building upon the sure foundation, Jesus Christ. “Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” [Verses 12, 13.]
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 6)
I am instructed to say that sufficient carefulness has not been shown in regard to the material which has been brought to the foundation stone. “If any man’s work abideth which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.” Who does not desire, then, to be faithful in co-operating with Christ? “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” [Verses 14, 15.] If he sees his wrong and sincerely repents, he will save himself, but his lifework is a failure.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 7)
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” [Verses 16, 17.]
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 8)
To those who lift themselves up in exaltation, supposing that anything they may choose to do is right, the caution comes, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.” [Verse 18.] Let not his soul be puffed up with self-conceit, for he is but a man. He is not God. He is not to suppose that he is a foundation upon which other men are to build. There is danger here, and I am instructed to say, Take heed. All ye are brethren. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” [Verse 19.]
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 9)
Just as surely as men weave the threads of selfishness into the pattern, their work will be revealed. For “the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men; for all things are yours.” [Verses 20, 21.] The Lord gives wisdom to those who will make the best use of this wisdom. Christ declares, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” [Matthew 28:18.] God knows who is prepared to act as His helping hand in the closing scenes of this earth’s history.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 10)
“All things are yours; whether Paul or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” [1 Corinthians 3:21-23.] God sees where His wisdom is most needed and where it will accomplish the most good. He will strengthen the minds of His servants. He will help them to devise and plan and execute for the greatest advantage of His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 11)
No one, however responsible the position he occupies, is to take glory to himself. If he loves God with all the heart and his neighbor as himself, he will follow the example of Jesus Christ. As God’s workman bear responsibilities and carry burdens in the great harvest field, let them remember that true success comes from God alone, and that every particle of the praise and glory belongs to Him. We are God’s husbandry, God’s building. We are to understand that power and efficiency comes only from our heavenly Father. Under the generalship of Christ we are to do the work allotted to us. Each member of the church must have a living connection with its great Head.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 12)
Let those who are laboring in the ministry or in the medical missionary work wear the yoke of Christ, walking in humility of mind before God, and using their varied gifts to bless humanity. Then God will use them as His helping hand. All are to be united in one body under Christ. All parts of the work are to be controlled and guided by the wisdom which God gives. There is to be harmony in every action. There is to be no jealousy of Paul or Apollos or Cephas. All are to draw in even cords, without a sign of friction.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 13)
Ministers must learn to give room to their fellow laborers. They are not to measure their brethren by their own ideas. He in whose heart Christ abides will not quarrel with his brother. All are to stand under the standard of Christ Jesus, united by the desire to strengthen His work in every line. Human devising is not to be followed. Let no one fasten his soul to a human leader. Christ is our Leader. He was sent by the Father to redeem the fallen race. Men are to follow His directions in the work of restoring the moral image of God in the human race. In this great work they are to act in His name and for the glory of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 14)
Let those who by God’s appointment are connected with His cause cherish no low estimate of the work He expects them to do. They are to be faithful stewards, dying to self and living to Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 15)
The words that Christ spoke were weighty and full of dignity, but at the same time He exalted the natural things of nature, pointing to them as expositors of divine truth. Elevating, ennobling truths were taught from the simplicity of nature’s lesson-book, and they were presented so clearly and plainly that even those dull of comprehension could not fail to understand them.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 16)
There was no excitement in Christ’s manner of teaching. He made truth stand forth in the light of heaven. He inculcated the principles that are ever to be honored. God has wisdom to impart to His servants. The precious, precious treasures of wisdom that have been concealed in nature will be unlocked and brought forth. Here wonderful resources will be given to God’s people for use in His work.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 17)
*****
Some have looked upon the medical missionary work with suspicion because of its constantly increasing success. Unless these are baptized with the Holy Spirit, they will continue to entertain their jealous feelings, whatever power God may reveal in advancing the truth. They will lose the spiritual blessings they might have had and will bring the divine judgments upon themselves. The truth which, if received, is a savor of life unto life becomes, when rejected, a means of hardening the heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 233, 1899, 18)
Lt 234, 1899
Starr, Brother and Sister [G. B.] Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia October 15, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 435. Dear Brother and Sister Starr:
We are nicely situated in a pleasant cottage with a lady who owns the house and rents it to visitors who come to the place. I have a nice front room which gives us a beautiful view of the scenery of the upland which is settled with some very fine buildings. You know about this place. One park is just across the street; there is a park at a little distance secured for the camp meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 1)
We have never had a tent meeting, since my acquaintance, in any place so pleasant and so beautiful, with trees and with green grass. The tents so clean and new make a nice appearance. The congregation as yet is small—one hundred at most on Sunday. We hope more will be on the ground. Our meetings Sabbath were good. Brother Tenney spoke in the forenoon; Brother Daniells spoke Sabbath evening; I spoke on Sabbath afternoon, and the Spirit of the Lord seemed to be in the meeting. Just before I closed, my Will brought in about twenty-two more. I do not know who speaks this forenoon. I speak in the afternoon.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 2)
Brother Tenney looks bad; his head and face trouble him some; his face is nearly purple. I am so sorry for him. We shall take his case to the Lord in prayer.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 3)
If you get the matters settled at Maitland will you please write to me? It may be we can stop over when we return, which we expect will be as soon as the meeting closes. If you have not become settled, then we pass right along to Newcastle. We had good accommodations, but Sara was worn out and carsick. The cars run fast and jostled us about; it was very rough. We think it might be the location of the berths in the end of the car. Sara was troubled all the way with carsickness. I was resting, notwithstanding, and sleeping.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 4)
After we changed cars Friday noon we had the ladies’ compartment to ourselves until we arrived at our destination.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 5)
I must now close. We have beautiful weather. Praise the Lord for this.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 6)
In love to all the family.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 7)
Write me the first thing after you know what you can depend on.
(14LtMs, Lt 234, 1899, 8)
Lt 235, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. Strathfield, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia September 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Kellogg:
I feel very much perplexed as to how to address you, after the words traced by your pen that some things I have written are not true. You relate that the influence of my writing on your mind was about as terrible as could be. I am sorry I was not able so to arrange my words that you could understand them. I have written letter after letter to you, all true, but with such feelings of reluctance and discouragement as are inexpressible. The impression made on my mind was no more favorable to the positions taken in the sanitarium than when the Lord said, Call upon the managers of the Sanitarium in Battle Creek to do a work they should have discerned needed to be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 235, 1899, 1)
The men sent to America from this country to learn all that they could about how to work were returned to this field with no special assistance in facilities. The very instruments to perform various operations that you had cast aside for better, we should have had to begin the work in this part of the Lord’s vineyard. But it was not the Lord who set you a work to do in so many lines that you could not see this. The means should not have come from your personal funds but by your personal influence from the institution under your direction to the sister institution just started in this very field. This would bear testimony before heaven that the abundant riches of the Sanitarium in Battle Creek brought into existence an humble institution that would give character to the work here where there was nothing of the kind in all this large portion of the Lord’s vineyard.
(14LtMs, Lt 235, 1899, 2)
It was the sister sanitarium that was called upon, not you, Dr. Kellogg, individually. But notwithstanding those appeals have been made in obedience to the instruction given me to give to the Sanitarium, the help has not yet come. Three thousand dollars were raised for this field by the General Conference, and Dr. Kellogg raised something short of a thousand dollars by soliciting donations for our hospital.
(14LtMs, Lt 235, 1899, 3)
You state you gave one thousand dollars out of your own funds and your brother made a donation likewise that he could ill afford to do. We were not instructed to call upon you to do this. I have invested in your institution quite a little sum—several hundreds of dollars—that could so easily have been transferred to the sanitarium we are as yet unable to commence to build. It was my right, given me of God, to solicit help to create and man our institution from the abundance that is being enjoyed in the largest sanitarium in the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 235, 1899, 4)
To whom were we supposed to look to establish a sanitarium here in this country where we were unknown and where the churches that were raised up were poor? I have done just the work I was authorized to do, and I want to see what shall be done. I have made my appeal. It has brought very little. Every dollar that has been received is on record.
(14LtMs, Lt 235, 1899, 5)
How many dollars in donations have you invested in objects creating considerable expense? When I was presented with the plan to raise funds from the conference to establish a consumptives’ home in Boulder, there was not one-twentieth part of the reason for that institution to be established that there was for the one such institution to be established in this country, [and] manned and provided with facilities. There is not one such institution in existence in all this new missionary field. The Lord in His providence permitted us to have a part in the work here, in the building of a sanitarium which would be a link in the chain that God would have forged to draw the attention [of the world].
(14LtMs, Lt 235, 1899, 6)
Lt 236, 1899
White, J. E. “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Son Edson:
I have written much of late, and I am drawn out to encourage the workers to enter new fields, annex new territories to the fields already worked. There are many souls that need the light of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. You inquire how you can help them in Battle Creek. By bearing a straightforward testimony in your life; and this is not all, wherever you can go to camp meetings, go and get hold and keep hold.
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 1)
I shall be very much pleased to see you whenever you may come. You may, when you feel clear in your own soul that you can take hold with us in book work, in attending meetings, in standing with us to uplift the standard of truth in new territories; but I dare not have you come against your will. When you feel free to come, draw from the Review and Herald office your passage money, and I will settle that bill myself, freely. We need your help and your talent in this new world; and the climate, where we are at Cooranbong is free from malaria. But come and try it, and you can return if you do not want to remain. There are places where one hundred could be put to work, and in the canvassing field there are one hundred more needed. You can give instruction in this line.
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 2)
Let the Holy Spirit take possession of the heart and by faith grasp the promises of God, and we shall see of the salvation of God. I know the Lord would have you a free man in Christ Jesus, bearing a living testimony for the Master. This is the best evidence you can give, to walk humbly with God and work earnestly for the advancement of the truth. You need to commit the keeping of your soul to God and open the door of the heart and let Jesus come in and work you. There always is danger of many trying to work the Holy Spirit in the place of the Holy Spirit working them.
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 3)
Now, Edson, put your trust in God, maintain a humble, contrite spirit, and you will then understand by experience what these words mean: “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” [Isaiah 57:15.]
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 4)
It is the humility and contrition of the soul that, if you cherish them, will be in a special manner your strength. You will never succeed in trying to battle your way through, for there are combatants that are educated in this line who will be stronger than you. But when you leave your case in the hands of your Advocate, Jesus Christ, He will work with you and by you and through you, not to harm and wound and bruise you or any other one; but He will work through you to uplift, to strengthen, to restore. The Lord will bless you when you are all ready to impart His grace given you, in word, in spirit, in practical working. The Lord will help you if you will be passive in His hands, and not worry and put yourself out of His hands, and take your own hands to work yourself.
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 5)
Now, Edson, be sure you are on the Lord’s side, and hold fast the banner; never let go, hold firmly, look up, rejoice in the Lord always, and seek ever to strengthen and not to destroy anything but sin. Christ will bless and guide you and bring you safely through to His kingdom if you are obedient.
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 6)
In love,
(14LtMs, Lt 236, 1899, 7)
Mother.
Lt 237, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. Maitland, New South Wales, Australia December 10, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Henry:
We are now amid an interest which covers a large territory. There are many, awakened by the camp meetings, who desires to understand the Sabbath question, and the large, rich farming district is now being worked by visiting—house-to-house labor. Doors are open to all who visit them, high and low, to hear what saith the Word. They are as eager as hungry children for a piece of bread. May the Lord give them to eat of that Bread which cometh down from heaven. Our workers are of excellent courage because every week one after another is deciding to obey the truth and keep the Sabbath. This is making the hearts joyful on earth and causing joy in the heavenly courts.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 1)
The settlements are far apart and there is the farming district and the mining districts, the wealthy and the poor. All are treated alike and our people have been welcomed to every house where they have called. We shall seek to do all possible to get the light before them in their homes.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 2)
The ministers are now doing more for their church members, visiting them and warning them not to entertain these people in their houses, that they are deceivers; and [that] the representations of the doctrines believed by Adventists are the strangest mixture of the most inconsistent, foolish, improbable things that could possibly be manufactured. But meeting the people and getting acquainted with them in their homes is doing away with this fear and terror that some are trying to inspire in those who have not been out to the camp meeting. One minister who preaches in the St. Mary’s church has issued a little pamphlet presenting the weakest arguments that we have ever seen in print, thus showing his deplorable ignorance. But these things will have influence over the minds that have never heard the reasons of our faith. Froth to them cannot be distinguished from the pure milk of the Word.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 3)
There is the large tent standing in Maitland. Brother Colcord is speaking to the people and Brother Hickox is united with him, and he has his standing appointments out three and six miles from Maitland. He has as many as a private house can accommodate. One of the smaller tents will be pitched in a favorable locality. This interest must be carefully looked after. Brother Starr has been appointed to take charge of the work in Melbourne for one year. We have so many places that need the help of ministers and workers that we have to study how to give proper help to the many places that are now opened. It is while the people are eager to learn what is truth that a quick and earnest work must be done. There must be no delay. The seed must be sown at once, for many have lived at so great a distance from Maitland they could not get to the meetings.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 4)
On one occasion twenty miners came above three miles to attend evening meetings, then urged that labors be given to these settlements at a distance. The men would be at home with their families in the evenings and they would be highly pleased to receive the workers and understand the Scriptures. And now these settlements at a distance of three and four and six miles are being worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 5)
Regular meetings are appointed. Several of our ministers and workers visited these settlements and it is evidenced that there is a necessity of something more personal being done beside the ministry of the Word in large congregations. These visits to the miners and to the farmers well-situated on their own farms in comfortable cottages are a help. We can meet the people where they are, and talk with them and pray with them and we can show that we have an interest for their souls.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 6)
This is the very kind of missionary work which ought to be done. Here is where humanity can, through God, touch humanity, and lay hold of divinity in behalf of humanity. This class needs the labor. The workers will find the intemperate and the tobacco devotee, and can present to them the necessity of surrendering their hearts to God, lifting up the Saviour higher and still higher. Every soul out of Christ needs the labor bestowed upon him that ministers and workers can give. Lessons to mothers are needed on how to teach their children and treat them as the younger members of the Lord’s family. These children are the Lord’s property. Parents must be converted and then they can lead their children to Christ. This is the work being done in these suburbs of Maitland.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 7)
Elder Hickox has been out two or three evenings in the week. He hires horse and carriage, that his wife can accompany him, for her talent in singing is highly appreciated. These miners were not asked to help defray the expenses of horse and carriage, but they put their hands in their pockets and made their offering which more than covers the expense. I have now loaned Brother and Sister Hickox a horse. If they can get a buggy they are fitted out for their evangelistic work.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 8)
There are very many settlements and this house-to-house labor will prove the very best kind of missionary work that can be done to open the Word of God to those families that are now, many of them, both ignorant of the Scriptures and of the power of God. Our sisters will, we think, have a horse and a carriage furnished them, for they walk miles and it is wearing upon them. They throw their whole souls into the work and are all having marked success. Brother Colcord works in Maitland, having meetings in the tent.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 9)
It is strange what kind of reports are met by our workers in regard to the food Seventh-day Adventists eat. The most inconsistent falsehoods are circulated. But when the people placed before the brethren who visited them good bread and very nice honey, they demonstrated they could eat and enjoy the very same kind of food they themselves enjoyed. This partaking of the food was highly appreciated and scattered to the winds the falsehoods that hearsay had scattered.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 10)
We see a large portion of the Lord’s vineyard to be worked. There will have to be many seasons of prayer, much patient, persevering labor, teaching them according to their understanding line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. They can only reach the people through God, and missionary success will be through the grace of God fully proportioned to the efforts that are put forth.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 11)
What is the standard that in these places, at the present time, may regulate the expectations of success? Is it the rapidity with which the gospel was diffused after the ascension of Christ? Then the disciples went forth everywhere preaching a crucified, risen Saviour. The Lord would have every worker softened and subdued by the grace of Christ. The heart imbued with the Spirit of God is quick to make impressions upon the minds of those we want to help. None need to expect the highest results independent of their own earnest, self-denying zeal and persevering energy and most fervent prayers. All who believe the truth should possess a spirit of earnest intercession and wrestling with God for the victory. We must reveal that as laborers together with God we are intensely in earnest. Souls are perishing out of Christ. Reach them we must. [Read] Jude 17-25.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 12)
Who can estimate the value of the human soul? The One who has paid in full the ransom price for that soul can answer this question. Who can estimate this great work? With what earnest soul hunger we have felt for Newcastle and Maitland, the latter place especially. We have apparently been set down in the woods of Cooranbong, where there was not a Sabbathkeeper within seventy miles, to establish our school, and it has seemed so strange. But now we see the fields are ripe for the sickle. We have had a precious camp meeting. We have now a vineyard to be worked and souls raised up within twenty-seven miles of Cooranbong. The prospect seems to be so encouraging. We can but praise the Lord with heart and soul and voice.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 13)
The standard will be raised here in Maitland. The people are calling for the Word of the Lord in many places. What a privilege to tell the souls of that love which passeth knowledge and of that peace which passeth all understanding. If the people will only be willing to hear, we have reason to be rejoiced. We see the eager souls, longing to become intelligent in spiritual things. How we have longed to see missionary labor put forth in Maitland, a beautiful farming district! Everywhere we go we find people who are in need of help.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 14)
I was just preparing to retire to my bed for rest when one of our new Sabbathkeepers, who was always designated as that sweet-faced old lady who always was seated in front of the speaker’s stand [came to me]. I dared not say no. I went into the room and conversed with her. She wished to speak with me in regard to a lad thirteen years old, a promising lad. His mother lived in the same house with the sweet-faced lady, who seemed to bear the likeness of Christ. She told me the story of the mother who had received the truth and was a very pleasant, intelligent lady about thirty-five years old.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 15)
Her husband was a drunkard and did not support the mother or her child. He left her and she took in three boys to keep. They were poor children supported by the state. For feeding and clothing and supporting these children she received five shillings each per week—one dollar and a quarter each in American money. She works at her business—dressmaking—and thus she was supporting this family. Her husband came back. He said he had reformed. But temptations were great. She did all she could for him, but he went lower than ever, and she suffered such abuse from him that she could not live with him and obtained a divorce.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 16)
Now she has been converted to the truth. She is very desirous her son shall attend the Avondale school, where he shall be educated for a missionary. Would I help this lad? I said yes, I would take him and pay his expenses through school. And then we will see if the mother cannot connect with the work in some way where we can help her and she can help us.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 17)
This one case represents several cases in every place where we go. There are also sick ones to treat, and this is educating the mothers. We find abundance of missionary work to do in every place where the truth has been received. There are the poor that need help, the fatherless children to be cared for. We cannot possibly invest in buildings to accommodate them, but we help them to help themselves. We locate them on a piece of land. We help them to put up a humble little house and then see that they have work. We plow the ground for them and help them to raise their own food.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 18)
This kind of work we are carrying forward all the time. We do not take them on to support them, but let them carry the burden of themselves as much as possible. We have taken care of the people far and near when sick. We make no charges. This has been the missionary work we have done since we have been in this country.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 19)
The gospel and the medical missionary work cannot be separated. The branch does not bear the root, but the root bears the branch. Every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit He pruneth it that it may bring forth more fruit.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 20)
We are so thankful that we find the people are not satisfied with the spiritual food which they receive. The Lord is moving upon minds and they are hungering and thirsting for a knowledge of the Scriptures. The Lord would have His workers go where there are people that are spiritually starving. The church in Battle Creek can arouse and must awake to their God-given responsibilities ere they sleep the sleep of death. In the parable of the unwise virgins they can see their future. Not all can be paid a salary as workers, but there are those who can dedicate a portion of their time for missionary work. For some, after the first step is taken the way opens more clearly as they advance. But they first need the holy kindling in their own hearts before they can have divine wisdom to prepare the way of the Lord. Why cannot more persons inquire, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” and then do it wholeheartedly? [Acts 9:6.]
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 21)
I arose this morning at one o’clock a.m. I cannot sleep after I once awake, because the burden of the work seems to be consuming me. And I cannot feel it is my duty to confine my labors, even as much as I have done, to our churches who know the truth and who ought to be earnestly putting out their talents and trading on their Lord’s goods, that they may by trading improve their talents. I am so very anxious that all who can work should work, and in doing the work of God in saving perishing souls, their light will increase in brightness and they cannot but shine.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 22)
I am now about to say to you something that may seem a little strange to you. I have a request to make. Give your son, from me one of my best bound books which you, knowing him, may choose—the one that would do him the most good. If it is The Desire of Ages, give him that, or either of the other of my large books. You will please consider this my order, and tell them at the publishing house to charge to my account. Also, if you know persons whom you think will be benefited by having these books—those who read them and appreciate them—you can place a book in their hands. It may cut away their prejudice. This is the work I am doing in this country, and it has done a good work and brought some souls to see and understand our work.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 23)
They tell me mail goes out today, December 19.
(14LtMs, Lt 237, 1899, 24)
Lt 238, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia April 10, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Children, Edson and Emma White:
I have many things to say to you, and I now feel free to say, Come to Australia. I dare not cast reflections upon others, but I feel free to say, I need your help. I cannot feel it is your duty now to be thus far away from me. I have need of the help which you can give me. Your tact in bookmaking would be of great value to me. Let me tell you, I wish to have some one to whom I can read the writings I have for books, and [who can] rearrange with the view of publishing them. W. C. White is having large responsibilities because he is in connection with me. I consult him, and when I can get his time he works hard, and the articles written passing under his inspection come out well-guarded. But you can be a great help to me, and from certain things presented to me I know your health is in danger. Therefore I now feel that you should have a change.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 1)
A voyage for you and Emma on the Vancouver steamer would be a blessing to you both healthwise. Old Sister Sisley bore the trip splendidly, and she can scarcely ride in a carriage without seasick feelings. She bore the journey well and was not seasick. You can come now and help us. We will erect a house for you and Emma to live in on our land. I have quite a large amount of land for my stock, and excellent building places. You can take exercise out of doors. I have horses and carriages. We have to have these things here, for the station is at Dora Creek, two miles and a half away, and it is about six miles to Morrisset. We would be pleased to have you come when oranges are ripe. They are but just beginning to be picked.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 2)
How pleased would we be to see you at this important conference! We think you had better settle up your business so as not to traverse the waters again. If you desire to be on the water, we intend to have a boat to use for transporting goods to different points. Dora Creek is a beautiful, smooth river. We may change its name. We ride in the row boat six miles, then enter the lake which is generally very smooth and pleasant. I wish your boat was off your hands, Cannot you dispose of it? Do this if you can.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 3)
Will you please to ascertain what became of my adjustable chairs left at Petoskey? They have been just the things we wanted so much. Considerable furniture was left in that house we occupied, but we have received only eleven dollars for the goods. See if anyone can tell you in reference to these things. If you can get those chairs traced out and they are a wreck, let them go; but if of any value, bring them with you. I wish I could have that chair and lounge that I think so much of in Battle Creek, but it is no use. The cost will be too much.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 4)
Please get me a bottle of oil of wintergreen, amounting to four shillings. You may bring me a bottle of witch hazel or the witch hazel bark and slippery elm bark. These things we cannot get here. Witch hazel we can get here, but it is imported. Put these things where you will not be required to pay duties on them, as things for your own use. The duties are no longer to be paid in the trading in the colonies. A confederacy has been doing away with duties. But the duties on foreign goods are to be paid now in Sydney.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 5)
If Emma and you come to us, we will try to do all in our power to make you happy. My dear children, I have no urging to do. If you ask the Lord in regard to the matter, then do as you know is your duty. We must take life’s controversies and troubles to His feet, for Christ loves us. His every word and look invite our confidence. We want Jesus and want Him to come into our home and abide with us. He will shape and mold our characters according to His own will, and every day we will be found asking, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” [Acts 9:6.] We must not have undue anxiety, but learn the lessons of faith and trust. Let us commit the spiritual health of the soul to Him who hath loved us and given His own precious life that He might make it possible for us to learn of Him who is meek and lowly of heart.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 6)
While lifting the cross He says to us, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] He alone can make us capable of responding when He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] This means that self must be denied every day. Christ can give the noble resolve, the will to suffer, to do, and to fight the battles of the Lord with persevering energy. The weakest, aided by divine grace, may have strength to be more than overcomers. Oh, we need an abiding Christ! We must have more than a fitful service. Learning of Jesus we will copy His character, His meekness, His lowliness.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 7)
When we find ourselves in trouble, we are apt to censure someone. Now, it is not right to do this. We need to hide our individual self in God. My children, we need to have confidence in God. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,”—from character to character—“even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” [2 Corinthians 3:18.] The Lord Jesus does not expect impossibilities of you or of me. Beholding Jesus we are changed into His likeness.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 8)
“Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” [1 Corinthians 13:4-7.] Christ has, through His inspired apostle, presented the measure of a character that is imbued with the love of Christ. We are to have His marks, we are to have the likeness of Christ. This sample is given us as the specifications of the possibilities and heights we may reach in and through Jesus Christ. The standard Christ presents and dictates to all for whom He has died, perfection in Him and through His merits, we may attain. We come short because we are content with looking at earthly things rather than the heavenly things.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 9)
It is by beholding Christ that we are changed from glory to glory. The eye viewing common things needs to be elevated higher and still higher. “For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity”—love. [Verses 12, 13.] No one has yet the measure of our heavenly Father’s nature, or of the character of the Son of God as it is. We must have a knowledge of God by living experience.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 10)
If we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know “his going forth is prepared as the morning.” [Hosea 6:3.] We are to appreciate the talents of words, faith, hope, charity. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.... And of his fulness have we all received, and grace for grace.” [John 1:12-14, 16.]
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 11)
Will you, my children, receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit daily? What others may do, what others may say, what others may think of you, will not change the thoughts of God toward you. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous,” and the opinion of man will not change his character. [1 John 3:7.] You have, my dear children, a heaven before you to win, and Christ gave His own life that you might obtain the heavenly peace and rest and love of Jesus. Only keep looking unto Jesus, who loves you, who is the One you are to love, the One you are to talk about, the One who is the Author and Finisher of your faith. Edson, Jesus loves you. Emma, Jesus loves you, and the Lord Jesus takes no man’s measurement of character for you. You are to behold Jesus and reflect His image in your words, keep His love in your thoughts. Invite the heavenly Guest to abide with you.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 12)
“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the (experimental) knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” [2 Peter 1:2-4.]
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 13)
Now the Word is plain. We have no excuse to remain in weakness, in spiritual poverty. Every possible provision has been amply supplied, and now it rests wholly with the souls for whom Christ has died whether they will believe the words of God. The Lord Jesus calls you to be filled with all the fullness of God; then you will represent the words of Jesus Christ. “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:14.] Jesus Christ wants us to be co-laborers with Him. He will give us to impart. When we are emptied of self, the olive branches “which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves” will empty it into the cleansed vessels for them to impart to others who are in need of light and comfort and hope and love. [Zechariah 4:12.]
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 14)
My children, my words seem very tame, but try to take them in. Let your spirit be cleansed from all earthliness, all unholy, uncharitable thought. Let your words be clean, sanctified, reviving and refreshing to all with whom you associate. Be not “easily provoked.” [1 Corinthians 13:5.] Let the praise of God be in your heart and upon your lips. Then no evil thing can be said of you in truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 15)
Mother.
You may have some goods you wish to bring. You can find out all about the cost of the family goods.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 16)
If Emma could take along that chair and sofa as household goods and any such things of mine, I would be glad to have them come.
(14LtMs, Lt 238, 1899, 17)
Lt 239, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 4, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Children:
We received your letters in the last mail. That which I feared has come. But, my children, the Lord has been gracious to you. If they had attacked you, we know not what would have been the result. As I had written you quite a lengthy letter I will only say, the Lord be praised.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 1)
I have felt deeply grieved in regard to the Southern Field, but do not blame anyone. Leave the Lord to reprove. I do not want to send reproofs but dare not withhold them. Let all these deliverances you have had lift you nearer to God. The funds now are so limited; do not now expect much. It might have been otherwise, but now let us not dishonor God by talking unbelief.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 2)
The Lord would not be pleased to have your life imperiled or your life lost through malaria. Talk hopefully; talk faith. The Lord knows all the difficulties, and He will bring help in His own way and glorify His own name.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 3)
Let those who cannot work in one field, if excluded, go to another. But let the most extreme care be exercised in regard to words and presumptuous actions. The Lord would have every pen dipped in holy oil before tracing lines in the papers that shall help the enemy who, with intense earnestness, is stirring up human minds to action against the Lord’s commandment-keeping people.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 4)
It will come, and the Southern element will be the ones who, through jealousy and determined hatred against the truth, will do the devil’s work. God’s people must be on guard. The Lord would have every teacher with pen and with voice honor God and the truth, and give no occasion for the enemy to take advantage.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 5)
Oh that the converting power of God may come to everyone who teaches the truth to others! Oh that the people of God would work in Christ’s lines! His commands, His lessons practiced, unite the human brotherhood with one another in Christ Jesus, in God. Holding fast to God, we can lay hold on souls ready to perish and set their feet on the ladder which is planted firmly on the earth and reaches upward to heaven. Looking unto Jesus we will not become easily provoked. We are seeing Him who is invisible. Our hearts need every moment an abiding Christ. Then we shall have peace and joy. The Lord would have all disunion cease, and all love one another as He has loved us.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 6)
I must close this letter. I wish you to receive the money essential to bring you across the broad waters, on my account.
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 7)
In much love,
(14LtMs, Lt 239, 1899, 8)
Mother.
Lt 240, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma NP July 30, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 11MR 346. Dear Children, Edson and Emma White:
I hope you will come to us now as soon as possible, [even] if you do not remain more than two years. After you come you can then learn the way you should go. Elder Haskell and his wife left Cooranbong last evening to go to America. The boat leaves Sydney next Wednesday. I shall miss them very much. I need you to help me now, and tell me what to do in some things.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 1)
Edson, do not, I beg of you, write books and get this one and that one to write them for you and then sign your name to them, even if you say these men have helped you. It hurts you as an author. You can write in simplifying the truth, but do not engage any man or woman to write for you. With close application you can read the Scriptures and make the thoughts your own. The Lord will help you if you only take time for careful study. You have ideas; do not employ others to put their fingers and brains into the work. We want you here to plan on books. Come right along as soon as possible and escape the hard winter. I want you to take this matter to the Lord yourself, and pray about it. The Lord will teach all who seek Him earnestly.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 2)
Elder Haskell is accompanying Brother Irwin to America. Their first meeting will be in California.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 3)
I have not slept since eleven o’clock p.m. I am so tired.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 4)
We had excellent meetings through the conference. You will see the report in the Bulletin. I was taken very sick and did not attend meetings for one week. I was then so urged by our brethren to attend the meeting that I ventured, but could not stand. A chair was placed on the rostrum and I was comfortably seated. I spoke very feebly at first. I was showing my sickness decidedly in my countenance, but all were made glad to see strength coming to me. My voice grew stronger, and from that point I was improving. Next day I remained in the meeting, speaking in the afternoon and by request spoke again in the evening in the school chapel.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 5)
At the close of the services [visitors were invited] to look at the grounds. All said that they felt like exclaiming, What hath the Lord wrought! The improvements made in every line are a wonderment to everyone. I would not gather my fruit. I allowed our visitors, entertained at our house, to go into the orchard and gather from my loaded trees mandarins and oranges and passion fruit. Brother Haskell, Sister Haskell, and Brother Irwin will tell you in regard to my home.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 6)
If you come, you may have a home of your own in which to live and to work. I am not well now. Had an ill turn with my heart and it takes time to recover. I have a wish for that big piece of furniture, with the many drawers, if it could be packed by taking to pieces. I would be so glad of it. I would make two chests of drawers. I have a splendid cabinet worker, Brother Pocock. He would put it all up for me. Everything of this order is very expensive. You know what I mean—that piece of furniture in my room that had to be taken in through the window. All material in wood for making bureaus and other furniture has to come from Oregon and far off places. I must leave these matters to your judgment. Everything has to be cased. The back of the concern, of common, cheap wood, need not be brought.
(14LtMs, Lt 240, 1899, 7)
Mother.
Lt 241, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia July 30, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Children, Edson and Emma White:
We are just now parting with Brother and Sister Haskell, whom we are now willing should go to America to do a work that we know he can do, and his wife will help him. We are sorry, very sorry, to have them leave us, but Brother Irwin is very anxious for them to go. At first I said, No, no, we cannot consent to have him leave the work here, for new fields are to be opening all around us and the fields are all ripe for the harvest. But the Lord has presented before me the work that needs to be done in America, and there are few who are voicing the third angel’s message. Things are swinging into wrong channels.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 1)
The work called truly medical missionary work we have been engaged in ever since we came to this missionary field, and we have seen the marked working of the Holy Spirit of God in the restoring of the sick. We have seen the wonderful work of God upon the human hearts of men who were using tobacco and drinking liquor. We have seen the work of God accomplishing transformation of character. They have been tested and proved and brought out of the bondage of the law into the liberty of the gospel, and they are converted men and women. They find in Christ Jesus all that is satisfying.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 2)
We see such great things accomplished and humble our hearts before God and say, The work is not ours but that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lifegiver. The redemption and restoration of the soul is not our work, but the Lord’s work. Edson and Emma, the cause that we knew not we have searched out. Here are whole families we have been instrumental in saving. This is medical missionary work. We had no hospital, but we used our own home as a place to take the sick and suffering to restore and try to save. We have used everything of our own and advanced the money to help them to get homes and a piece of land.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 3)
A family of twelve—father, mother, and children—are now rejoicing in a home of their own. They have a house on the land, composed of tent and bark of trees, with corrugated iron for roofing, and they will soon be able to build a humble cottage of their own. The father is a carpenter. The two eldest sons work with him. The mother, discouraged and overworked, gave up trying to be a Christian, but her heart has broken before God, because we have taken right hold of the whole family. We have taken a crippled son who had a knee swelling. Sara worked for him and with compresses and pulverized charcoal killed the inflammation. Five years ago this injury came to the knee. He is a fine, bright boy with keen perception. For eleven months he was confined to his bed, and the doctor said it would be six weeks more before he could get off the bed.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 4)
Well, the father came to work on the meetinghouse and school buildings, bringing his three eldest boys. The wife and mother was taking care of six children in Parramatta or Prospect until a place could be made for her. We let them occupy a small house of mine. We furnished them with everything to keep house themselves. The crippled boy, came on crutches, was the cook. He was so much better he laid aside his crutches and washed and baked and cared for the father and his two elder brothers. But it was too much. The knee troubled him again.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 5)
We had the lad dine at our table, and yet we must do more. We took him outright and we kept up the treatment. Oh, what power there is in water! There formed under the knee a bunch which he called his egg. We dared not leave him, and Sara had the charge of him through the camp meeting at Newcastle. She opened this large swelling and it discharged dark-colored blood and matter and pieces of bone, which had come out several times.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 6)
We placed the lad—he is, I think, thirteen years old—under Sister Peck, my worker in preparing and classifying matters for books. I have an office room where she works. She has given him charge of printing the letters in letterbooks. He is learning to write on typewriter, and she is teaching him many things. Now we send him to school. We clothe him and board him and his father pays his tuition. We keep him for the benefit we may do the boy. He is good material to work upon.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 7)
The mother is so thankful she cannot express her gratitude. The father also is rejoiced that we can care for the boy who was pronounced by all physicians who examined him a cripple for life. They look upon the boy, active and healthy, and you can judge how they feel. This is our field for missionary work. This is the third case of terribly injured limbs, which cases had been pronounced by physicians incurable. These cases had been maltreated, and it was thought blood poisoning had set in, after ten days in one case and five days in another case. Sara took these cases and treated them with great, painstaking effort continuously for weeks. In one case we made a hospital of our own home, taking care of the boy and his aunt who came with him. We boarded them nearly two weeks, and Sara treated the case.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 8)
She receives nothing for her labor, for I want all to know we do this for the love of God. In case after case, where physicians have failed to give any relief after charging an enormous sum for their services—five and ten pounds for a visit—the poor souls have sent for Sara. She has gone days and nights, five and six miles on horseback into the bush where no carriage could go, and attended the calls. She had been without rest and watching the sick patients days and nights, until one night she slept sixteen hours and could not be awakened. Everything was done that could be done but she could not be aroused. But the Lord did not permit this to be unto death. She revived, but felt the influence for some time, utterly exhausted.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 9)
I might tell you of reformations in families, the history of the breaking off tobacco and tea and coffee, and standing out as health reformers. These are truly converted. One, a fisherman and boatmaker, smoked his pipe even after he went to bed. And he drank tea; he was a tea inebriate. He was converted. It took time. Bible readings were given in certain houses and companies came to learn the truth from the Bible. Then health reform was taught, and they were led along step by step. This man carries with him the unmistakable evidence that the Lord has wrought in his behalf. And still three more families have cast away tobacco and tea and coffee and liquor. The ministry of the Word has been brought home to their hearts and convicted them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 10)
One man was a livery stable keeper in prosperous times, well-to-do in the things of this world. He became sick and poor and the whole family, numbering eight, were sick at once with influenza. Again Sara went, with a young man who had learned lessons in the Health Home. He nursed the father of the family, and Sara the mother and children, and all recovered. The father and mother came to our meetings, were convicted, and both were converted.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 11)
He threw his pipe in the fire, and when his wife saw this she cried most heartily. Said he, “Are you feeling bad because I broke my pipe?” She said, “Oh no, but I thought, when my family was supported by the washings I was doing from place to place, I had to give of my little for you to buy tobacco. Why did you not do this before?” Said he, “Wife, I did not understand before the sinfulness of tobacco using, beer drinking, and tea drinking, but I will not grieve you any more. If Brother White and Sister White will give me work to do, I will earn money now to support my wife and my children.” He has worked steadily for one year and he says, “I look at myself and say, Is this Hungerford? I really scarcely know myself, eating proper food and employing my physical strength. I am coming up from being sick and discouraged to work like a strong man.”
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 12)
There is a family on our ground who are all God-loving and God-fearing. He was a conductor of Sabbath schools. He embraced the truth, lost his position as coach and cabinetmaker, and found a little piece of land among the rocks where no wagon could go. He carried material for his house down a steep hill and up a steep hill on his back. Every stick of lumber composing his home was thus brought onto the spot, and he built his house; but his poverty was great. I was solicited to give him work when building my home. I did so and found him a gentleman to be honored and respected. He is a man of noble traits of character.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 13)
He looked, just before he left me, as if he had something to say, and finally in a most respectful manner asked if I would give him a few books. I found he possessed none of our books. I gave him books and papers with which he has worked and imparted to others, until three families living from three to six miles away have been converted and baptized by Brother Starr. He asked me if I had old clothing we would not use. We made up a box for him and for three years have continued to send him one or two boxes, which have kept his family [so] that he had not had to buy anything.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 14)
We prevailed on him to move to Cooranbong where we could supply him with work. His child became sick just before he left home and in one week he died. Sara did everything for the boy she could do, but he had not strength to rally from the being poisoned by eating a parakeet given him by his grandmother. It poisoned the child to death. They are now using my camp meeting family tent. They have been furnished money by Sara to purchase iron to roof the tent and bags are put outside the tent to keep out the cold. I let them have a stove to cook their food and warm the tent, and there they will stay until there is a time when he will not have work and can build him a house. He has selected fifteen acres of land, and he can raise things on the land to support himself and his family.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 15)
This man had not money to pay his fare on the cars. We paid the bill and wait for him to help us in work when he cannot get work to do on the school ground. He is a first class painter. His children, the two eldest, attend school, and this is about as happy a family as you would wish to see. There were five children. Now there are four children.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 16)
This is the medical missionary work we are doing for Christ’s sake. We see very much to do, and we have given only a few instances of our work. I have given away one hundred pounds of books and I am endeavoring, through reading matter and through active, earnest, practical doing, to relieve the pressing necessities that come to our knowledge. We believe with heart and soul and voice in missionary work that will not ravel out. We see whole families can be saved to Jesus Christ by laying right hold of them, bringing them into our homes and relieving their necessities. This is the work that should be done in every church. It is the blessing the church needs to receive by imparting and getting out of their selfish, covetous ways.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 17)
Men would not have been happy in Paradise without employment. The curse does not consist in labor, but in the sin of disobedience which has made man a convicted rebel. Man is not made for contemplation only, or for idleness, but for action. Activity is an essential for happiness and for health. Our faculties are precious, God-given talents to be exercised. Everything in relation to man in the human machinery means action. The wheels of nature and of Providence are not made to roll backward or to stand motionless. An idle man is never happy. Indolence is sin. The Lord created man to be a laborer.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 18)
Adam and Eve were earnest and happy in their employment appointed them of God. Working was full of thanksgiving and praise. The Lord God walked and talked with the holy pair in their innocence, instructing them how to do the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 19)
Sin made the work very much harder, but work was a safeguard for man. We work here, that we may do the very thing to keep us from sin, therefore there is no degradation in work. We may ask God for help and grace and rich blessings, and the Lord God will give in answer to our requests. But men are not imitating Christ’s example. It is sad to see men and women pursue such a course that it is a severe humiliation to ask a favor. They just act as if they would lock the doors of their hearts, lest they should be induced to grant a simple favor which would cost them very little but [would] confer a great favor. There is a great hesitancy to request, for fear of being refused. Not so with heaven’s gifts. You may ask, you may receive, and you may be bound up close with the great Heart of goodness and compassion and love. When the hearts of the human agents are converted they will be like Christ, to whom it is a joy to bless men and women. God help His people to have hearts to bless.
(14LtMs, Lt 241, 1899, 20)
Mother.
Lt 242, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales September, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Children, Edson and Emma White:
I must say to you that your letters confirm all I have had presented to me, that it was your privilege to place yourself in different relations. It has always been presented to me, you well know, that W. C. White, your mother, and yourself should connect together in the work, but why is it not done? I know of no one who could be a greater help to you in your bookmaking than W. C. White, and you could be a great help to us. I have now decided Marian has served her time with me. She burdens me with her peculiarities, and she cannot do the books I desire to have done.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 1)
I wrote to you in regard to paying your debts before incurring more debts. I may not have made myself understood, but will say, if you wait the long process you have arranged before you come to us, I fear my time to work will be done. And yet I do not feel to urge you unreasonably. You will draw from the Review and Herald enough to pay your fare and Emma’s fare, and draw what is necessary to bring the things you desire or see fit to bring, or to make purchases there. Well, I do not see as I can make any more statements than I have made. I warn you not to get up a rivalry in bookmaking, for your danger was presented to me.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 2)
I am sure if you are here we can get out quite a number of books. I can say no more. It is now six o’clock. I have been writing since one o’clock. Slept until twelve o’clock.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 3)
Now, my son, ask God for wisdom. We cannot say you must break away and come to us, but we say, ask the Lord. Get your light from the Lord. He can and will teach all who seek Him and whose will is to do God’s will if they know His will.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 4)
I spoke in my last letter in regard to the case of Sister Rose. You may draw from the office the sum to cancel that debt and charge to my account, and we will settle that business between you and me.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 5)
I am sure of one thing, that the warning was given me especially for you not to carry out the inclination of your own heart to strive for rivalry in books. I would be able to help you, I know, or put in your power to handle some of my books I anticipate getting out. But, Edson, Marian has been on the strain a long while, and I think she should be released and not kept at the treadwheel until she loses her mind. I greatly desire to have proper help and not have to wait one or two years, for I know not how I shall be in one year from now.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 6)
I shall try to spend some time in the open air. Last evening Sara and I rode with Jasper, Elder Haskell’s horse, to Martinsville for oranges. We found enough for the present. Shall go again on Thursday. We brought home twenty-six dozen for W. C. White and our family—three pence per dozen, which is six cents per dozen. The trees are all in bloom again for another crop. We have a very nice flower garden. The oranges were ripe when the union conference was held. I would not let the family pick many oranges and mandarins, but gave the ministers the privilege of picking the fruit for themselves. The trees are loaded with blossoms and so fragrant. We have plenty of lemons which are in all stages of ripening and are full of blossoms.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 7)
In much love,
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 8)
Mother.
My eyes will close while I am tracing words to you.
(14LtMs, Lt 242, 1899, 9)
Lt 243, 1899
White, J. E.; White, Emma Sunnyside, New South Wales, Australia June 5, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 14MR 281; 4Bio 417, 449. Dear Children:
I will write to you early for this next mail. I had two letters written—one for Sister Henry and one for yourself—and was expecting every moment that they would come to take the letters, but when too late I learned they could not go. I received your letters. Thank you for writing.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 1)
Brother Ballenger has written me a letter which I fear I cannot properly answer. I have written some things but it does not, I fear, cover the grounds fully. I will send you a copy of the letter I have written him, and I wish your comment upon it.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 2)
Brother Irwin is entertained at my home. I have not had any opportunity to ask him about the Southern Field. I am answering written down questions which have been sent for me to answer.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 3)
Edson, please answer my question: Had I ought to dispose of my property in Battle Creek for thirty-two hundred dollars? Dr. Kellogg offered me thirty-five hundred. I agreed to take it, they purchasing it subject to the mortgage; but since then they have had it appraised and have sent me a note for only thirty-two hundred, subject to the mortgage. Very little is coming to me.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 4)
The very next time you go to Battle Creek I want all my belongings there considered. I want to know how much I have. I had that wagon you had Henry make stowed away. What became of the springs of that secondhand carriage you purchased—a four-wheeled, one-seat carriage, with top? Those were the best springs I ever had, and if you know anything about them will you tell me, for I would have those springs taken care of, and sometime they can come to me in a box of goods. I can find nothing like them here. If you go to Battle Creek in the hot spell of weather—which you should do, or go somewhere else, and wherever you go you will first go to Battle Creek—I want you to see if that piece of furniture in my room could have the drawers removed and sent to me, and if it could all be taken apart and sent, packed up close without costing a large sum. I thought much of that piece of goods.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 5)
I have books—I think four or five volumes of Barnes’ Notes, large books. I want them. They can be packed in a box of books coming to Australia. There are other books. I would appreciate Horace Mann, but you look over my books and tell me in regard to them. What property have I in Battle Creek? Will you just ascertain? I do not know as you can read this scribbling. If you can, I shall be pleased.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 6)
All the money we have received from Battle Creek is three thousand dollars. It is a strange thing that occurred in reference to Captain Norman. I understand all that business of his liberal donations is a fraud. He has not the means he so liberally donated. What do you make of this man, that he should deceive the whole conference as he has done? And Brother Corliss has moved, in preparation to get ready to go on his boat or vessel, and has expended for preparations four hundred dollars. What does it all mean?
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 7)
Well, we did hope for donations to help us out of our difficulties but if we cannot obtain means in that way, the Lord can open up some other way to help us.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 8)
I would be greatly pleased could you unite with us in Australia in our work. You would understand [the work] better that anyone we could get to help me in getting out my testimonies which the people need so much. If I had more help, I would now begin to write, and finish up the New Testament history and then take up the Old Testament history. Which do you think would be the best—the revision of the Life of Paul and the Apostles from Acts through to Revelation, or the Old Testament from Solomon down to Malachi? I would be so pleased if I could have your help. Willie is called off on so many business matters that I cannot hope to have much of his time and careful planning.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 9)
The book Christ Our Saviour is not yet completed. The artist is slow, but he is doing good work. I will send them to you as soon as he has done the work, which will, I hope, be soon.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 10)
I am enjoying good health at present. I send you copies of matter which I have been writing and I would like to know what you think of these things. I am much exercised in regard to them, and I have written out these matters.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 11)
Brother Irwin came to our place last week. He is with us still and will go, I expect, to visit Melbourne after this week.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 12)
I hope you will be of good courage and will not expose yourself or Emma when hot weather comes. Go to some healthy place and may God give you courage in the Lord. I can write no more. I could not sleep after two o’clock, and I have written I cannot count how many pages, but I am just now compelled to stop.
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 13)
In love,
(14LtMs, Lt 243, 1899, 14)
Mother.
Lt 244, 1899
Haskell, S. N. NP [October 1899] Fragment. Previously unpublished.
[First part missing.] ... errand of the men and the father looked rather perplexed. The son had told our brethren that he used no tobacco or liquor of any kind. Brother Starr went over the ground of which he had spoken to the son, and the father was much interested and thought there would be no objection to their having the ground, but he would have to speak to the council. “And as you,” he said, addressing Brother Starr, “can tell them just as you have told me, I invite you to be present on this occasion.” He promised he would. So you see the matter is working so the truth will be brought before the first men of authority of Maitland. This is as it should be. We are to take an elevated position, as did the prophets of old, and be intensely in earnest in working out the will of God. And while we have the spirit of a little child, the Spirit of the Lord will make the impressions upon human hearts.
(14LtMs, Lt 244, 1899, 1)
We have spent two Sabbaths and Sundays at Hamilton. We were called to be present at the dedication of the church just erected at Hamilton. I spoke on Sabbath—what is called the dedicatory discourse. The house was well filled. Sabbath afternoon there was a social meeting. Very good. Sunday I spoke in the afternoon, Brother Daniells in the evening. We returned to Cooranbong Monday morning.
(14LtMs, Lt 244, 1899, 2)
We received telegram from Dr. Caro to come to see land for sanitarium. We took the cars Tuesday morning—W. C. White, Brother Gates, Sara, and I. We found two teams waiting for us. I have given you the history of this in another letter.
(14LtMs, Lt 244, 1899, 3)
Last Sabbath I spoke in afternoon in the chapel. Brother Daniells spoke in forenoon and in the evening. Sunday morning quarter before ten, we were in the school chapel. W. C. White spoke with clearness. I had been so harassed with various perplexities that I did not know as it was my duty to speak, but as my turn had come I arose and, committing myself to God for His help, I addressed the students and the teachers. I was sure that the Lord gave me tongue and utterance. Every word seemed to come readily, and I do bless the Lord for the signal manifestation of the power of God. All the school felt, indeed, the presence of God in a marked manner. I was filled with the Spirit of God and out of the abundance of the heart the tongue speaketh. Then Elder Daniells spoke excellently well, then Herbert Lacey bore a good testimony. Brother Palmer, who was preceptor, spoke well; then Brother Hughes spoke well. Young Brother Morse spoke. I could not remain for I was tired.
(14LtMs, Lt 244, 1899, 4)
I had a pleasant interview with Brother Colcord. Brother John Wessels had been with us during the closing exercises of the school. I had an interview with him. Meeting was appointed for early morning in my room—Brethren Daniells, Starr, Salisbury, and W. C. White, and myself. This proved to be a most important interview in reference to recommending laborers in new fields. Now I am preparing my American mail, and I have so consumed my time I can write but little. Brother and Sister Hickox are doing well. A tent is established in a beautiful park at Wallsend. These meetings have only just begun. It is not possible to know the result. There seems to be an excellent spirit generally. I wish we could see you here when the year is over. We shall expect to see you in the centennial year.
(14LtMs, Lt 244, 1899, 5)
Wednesday, the 11th, we shall be on our way to Toowoomba, Queensland. And you and Sister Haskell will not be here as you were in Brisbane. But the Lord Jesus will be with you and us. I fully believe it since the Lord blessed me so abundantly yesterday. Praise His holy name.
(14LtMs, Lt 244, 1899, 6)
Lt 245, 1899
White, W. C. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia August, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Son Willie:
After Elders Haskell and Irwin left us I was nearly completely exhausted. I cannot describe my feelings. I felt as nearly alone as I have at any period of my life. I shall miss Elder Haskell very much. He could appreciate the character of my work as no one else now living has ever done. If your mind were not called in so many ways, engrossed in so many things, you might in time be the best help I could have. But it is not possible for me to expect this. Your education has been in that line that business is your forte, and I have tried to be reconciled. Whenever a call has been made, you were up and off. I made the remarks I did to you that I should no longer place any dependence upon the surety of your help. I do not think you have felt the burden of my work or how I have been situated and my sore perplexities.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 1)
I expected when Sister Peck came at my call you would link up with her, and you being acquainted with the character of the work to be done, a great burden would be taken from me. But I am sorely disappointed. When you give yourself to the work, you can do that which no other one can do; but this has only been for a limited period of time. Then you accepted other burdens, some of which were apparently a necessity, some things—I might say many things—were placed first and [my] work second or thirdly.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 2)
I have felt that Edson should be with me. Whether he would be a help or hindrance depends largely upon the state of his mind. I know of no one who could do this work as well as yourself and he. But I am compelled to realize the fact that you have little confidence in your brother, and he does not have much confidence in your course of action. He has not written me anything but what I have placed in your hands, so you understand his expression as well as I do. I was very much disappointed that you, his own brother, did not take a special burden on you to visit him in the field of his labor. You seemed to me, in this, to pass an opportunity that you may never have again of seeing things on his own ground of labor. This hurt my soul. I was here, working to supply the necessities of your family. I neglected nothing that I knew needed to be done for your wife May and your children. I made every exertion to build you a home and to make you a present of the same. You knew this when you were in America. And I was intensely interested that you should act a brother’s part toward Edson.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 3)
I did not suggest some things to you that I might. I left you to be just as forward to help your brother as you have been to help others, just as solicitous in his case as you have been for others who were no kith or kin to you. You ought by this time to have known his temperament and to have been very tender and careful in speaking with him and acting in my behalf toward him. I was acting toward you the part of a mother. I mothered your family and I sincerely hoped you would feel the same toward Edson.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 4)
I would say to you, Willie, I am supplying all the money that you loaned to Edson White, and I think it would be a brotherly action for you to say to him, “Edson, you are, I see, having a hard time and a hard struggle. I will not ask you to pay to the uttermost farthing of the debt you owe me. If ever you get in a situation to pay, all right. If not, I shall never ask it of you.” This is what I expected and had a right to expect. I thought you were so very susceptible to all these things in many other cases you would certainly understand the right thing to do. But when the case was laid open before me by yourself, I felt bruised in spirit; and the close terms, as it appeared to me you made with Edson, would not serve to strengthen brotherly affection as God would be pleased to have it, but to make the breach between you wider.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 5)
Now, Willie, I have begrudged you nothing. I paid the school debt of May’s. I paid about one hundred dollars to have her teeth set in order. I have clothed her and your children almost entirely since you were married. I have shared my fruit with you and loved to do it and in no case would be deprived of the privilege. I have told you I made to you a free gift of your home, and the land you required. And could not you have handled this case of Edson in a similar manner?
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 6)
Now, W. C. White, my son, I love Edson White and his wife just as much as I love you and your wife, and am more sympathetic for Edson than for you, because before his birth circumstances were peculiarly unfavorable in regard to his stamp of character. My association while carrying him, the peculiar experience I was forced to have, was most objectionable and severely trying. After his birth it was no less so for years. It was altogether different in your case.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 7)
I could not have felt worse if he had died, than to have the impression on your mind and on his mind, as I know it was when you were in America. I know you tried to help him, but mingled with this was the business in the book arrangements that made him sore by every touch of yours in the matter. From the light given me of the Lord, these things should not have been managed the way they were, for it cut deeply and there has not been that tenderness exercised in regard to your brother that there should have been. There was too much of the spirit, “Pay me what thou owest” [Matthew 18:28], when I was doing for you and for your family all the time everything I could do, and I did it gladly. The light that the Lord has given me has been that there should be unity and love existing and constantly cherished between you, and you have just as much to do in this matter as has Edson, your elder brother.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 8)
This alienation must not exist. Any sacrifice is better than this. The Lord has dealt tenderly with Edson and has accepted his labors in the South, although he has made mistakes in not heeding the instruction given him in regard to plans that were revealed to me, but that he was anticipating. I do not now want Edson to come here if there is not a change in your feelings toward him. I have written him to come, for I wish him to be with me awhile, and I wish him to help me in my work. I have not confidence that your mind will be able to assimilate to the work I have in hand. The Life of Paul must be revised, and the temperance book brought before the people. Could you have given to me more of your time, the large bills paid for that work that amounts to nothing would have been saved. How to Live is to be revised, and all these things weigh me down as a heavy burden. The Testimonies are to be prepared in right shape to come before the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 9)
I stop here, but say to you, Do not withhold yourself from any position you think you should take, for you might just as well have the position assigned you as to do the work without the appointment. You can then have your pay from the union conference and do the work you are accustomed to do and have been educated to do, and then I will not count upon you and will shape myself to the situation and manage, if possible, to get some help from a woman, not a man. I will take right hold myself with Sister Peck. We will read matters together, and then I will not be looking forward to and expecting your help, which I do not get.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 10)
I think you can read this without copying.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 11)
I shall send my letter to Edson White that I read to you. If he decides to come, I will be glad; and if you will both decide to do those things which make for unity and peace, the Lord will greatly bless you both. I am sure you can help your brother by sheathing the sword of sharp words and showing tender, thoughtful affection. Your words are sharp and severe, not alone to him, but toward others. This is not natural. This is not hereditary with you, but is the habit you are getting into, and have been for years. Let a change come, and the Lord will bless you; but words spoken have displeased the Lord Jesus, for they were sarcasm and wholly uncalled for.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 12)
I leave these matters now with you, and [will] be perfectly free, for I shall not be hindered any longer. It is not the will of God that I should be. I shall do my best now while life shall last, to press these testimonies right into circulation. And do not think I have not appreciated the work you have done to get hold of the matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 13)
I shall not attend camp meeting in any place without special light from the Lord. I shall be with my workers; and we shall, if possible, accomplish something—if it is not so wonderful and precise. This is the plan to which I have thought I should work. I see no other plan. I did not send this matter to Sydney as I designed to do, but see[ing] things now as I do, I shall go straight ahead as soon as the American mail leaves. I shall not wait one day for you, my son, or for any other one. The work I supposed would be done is not done.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 14)
Mother. August 13
My son, W. C. White, Do not think I do not appreciate your work when you give yourself to it, for I do appreciate it highly.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 15)
But I have lost all hope of any success while I wait your notion, or freedom, to work in the matter so important to me. I cannot have you take hold of the work in a sort of catch it up [manner], to drop it to do work at the school, and I keep the burden of matters, of planning and devising methods and ways, while I have a very little of your mind, for it is on something else.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 16)
When you proposed last night to have Sister Peck take a class of teachers to educate for church schools, I said to myself, What does he mean? Can he have any real sense of my labors and the burdens I carry? It is a hopeless case. He would suggest things to take away the only working force I have on these important matters which should come to the people. There cannot be catching up my work as a woman would her knitting work and dropping it just as readily. Every time Sister Peck has her mind called to other work, that mind and its power, which the work should have, is diverted.
(14LtMs, Lt 245, 1899, 17)
Lt 246, 1899
Belden, Brother and Sister [S. T.] NP 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Belden:
Brother Starr came yesterday from Maitland. He says the interest does not abate, but it is now the most critical period of time and must be carefully and attentively watched. We are not to be relieved and off guard a moment. The ministers are concocting their falsehoods and exerting every influence possible to keep their members from attending meetings, but Brother Hickox and his wife are to work as best they can in any place where they are most needed. The very best of the church members have fed on dry, stale food—politics, war in Africa, and all manner of cheap hash—until they are sick and tired of this class of ministry. Now is our time to do to the uttermost of our God-given ability. We feel deeply and work incessantly.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 1)
As to forsaking you, you have tangible proof that we have done all we could do, while you were with us and when you left us; and if we are away off in camp meetings, engaged in the work and put to our wits’ end to know what to do in the work in hand, if we do not keep you constantly before our minds, is it anything to be wondered at? We thought, after we had done what we did do, investing one hundred pounds, that we would feel that you could get along and be comfortable and help yourselves; but if this is not the case, then we will wish to know what you want. State it plainly and we will try to supply your necessities. We do not want you to suffer. I will make inquiries in regard to whom you can address in Sydney; but all have their hands so full that I cannot tell whom to trust, and am thinking you will be obliged to wait, sometimes, if you do not get things just as you want.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 2)
All the fitting out for you both in clothing and facilities amounted to quite a sum, about one hundred pounds. Frank has written me that he is so loaded with debts it will be a long time before he can do anything in the line of helping you in money matters, but he says he means to carry all the expense we have been at. But when he [will] get free from debt no one can tell, and I shall not depend on him at all. If we had let you have the money, for you to live on, [that was] expended in the tools for you to make teeth, I think it would have shown greater wisdom, much greater.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 3)
[One page missing.]
... made a deep impression and the tent meeting was larger than it had for many weeks before. The people of the Lord must have freedom and courage in the Lord, giving the last note of warning as the trumpet gives a certain sound to call all to the battle. At ten o’clock we retired for rest, and arose at three a.m., harnessed our team and drove to Mount Vincent; half way there fed the horse, ate our lunch, and here we are at home again. The care of the churches has pressed me as a cart beneath sheaves. But my work is not done yet and the Lord will sustain me until it is done.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 4)
I am very sorry that I cannot get in connection with Norfolk Island oftener and more certainly. I scarcely know what to do to relieve the situation. I am willing to do all that I can, but how to do it is the question. We consented for you to go from us to Norfolk Island because you were uneasy and not content and happy, and this was becoming a burden to me. Had you been satisfied to let us do for you, and not been trying all the time to do something that was beyond your strength, and had you been looking unto Jesus, reposing in Jesus Christ, it would have been a pleasure for us to do anything in our power. The twenty pounds you thought would fit you out to work increased until all together it reached all of one hundred, but I was not begrudging you this. If there had been contentment with you both, then my mind would have been at rest. But I cannot have my mind troubled and worried about things that I cannot help, and that are out of my power to help.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 5)
I felt worried as I saw Sister Belden so helpless. I did not feel it was as it should be. She had the name of being a missionary, and yet she chose to read, read, and the dishes were not washed. Her meals were not prepared as they should be, because she chose to read so much. In the night season I had the matter presented to me that she could better glorify God by being attentive to prepare food that would be nourishing, and have everything neat and tidy and make a correct representation to anyone who might come to call or enter the house. These things are not as they should be. I present them now because I dared not do this before, fearing Sister Belden would think I wanted to get rid of her; but I tell you I tried to do everything I could. I know from the light given me that in order to do as little as possible, often a very meager diet was presented in a cheap, distasteful way. I wanted no one to see these things, for remarks often come to me from others asking why you did not make your rooms look neat and not leave the dishes uncared for, unwashed.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 6)
I send you these lines because you are children of God and He expects you to do the very things that will be a lesson to others. I know that Stephen ought to have better and more careful preparation in his food, to nourish him. And when you get your mind on reading books you neglect to exercise your physical strength as is best for you. Now I speak these things to help you both, not to destroy, but to restore. You both need now to be drawing nigh to God, to become more and more after the divine Pattern.
(14LtMs, Lt 246, 1899, 7)
Lt 247, 1899
Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 12, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear and Beloved Sister in Jesus Christ:
I send you in this mail a letter to Sister Carle and to the little girl Miller that gave the ten cents. I thought, you see, that they had these letters. I was requested by Brother Irwin to write to these two in particular. I have done so.
(14LtMs, Lt 247, 1899, 1)
I wish often you were with us to act as matron of my home. We should prize you highly as matron of our Health Retreat. I do want to see you so much, but this cannot be. I do not want you to leave the Health Retreat in California until the time the Lord would have you take up work in another place.
(14LtMs, Lt 247, 1899, 2)
I am doing more writing than I have ever done in my life. I am often up at twelve at night and at one and two o’clock in the morning. I would be so glad to bear my testimony in California once more. I am always glad to hear from you. You have many letters from me in the papers. I get nothing from you unless you write. I leave for Queensland tomorrow to attend camp meeting in Toowoomba, several hours’ ride short of Brisbane, where the camp meeting was held last year. Our school term has closed and the blessing of the Lord was with us in the exercises.
(14LtMs, Lt 247, 1899, 3)
But I must close.
(14LtMs, Lt 247, 1899, 4)
Lt 248, 1899
Davis, Marian Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia October 20, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Marian:
I write you a few lines this morning. I would have been pleased to hear from you in regard to the work in your hands. How are you progressing? I have not been as strong as usual since I left home. In the cars I was weak. Sara was all worried out before we came. She was carsick all the way and has not been her usual self since being here, but she is some better, and I think, will not realize her journey [as] hard as when coming up. Our sleeper was at the end of the cars, and there was a continual banging underneath the cars, jostling and shaking us about. When in the sleeper, she had a severe headache and seasick sensation, and so did I. I have not been as well as usual, but now I am feeling more natural.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 1)
I have spoken four times. Yesterday Elder Daniells, Sister Graham, Sara, and I rode out for the first time to see the place. It is a very pretty place, and we enjoyed viewing it from the high hills. The earth is red and when it rains it sticks, they say, like putty. There are abundant flowers everywhere. They have showers quite frequently, but I am thankful that we have had none since we have been here.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 2)
The outside attendance is not much. We cannot explain this, but so it is. Everything has been done that could be done to secure a congregation, but the people seem to care for none of these things. They have sold more Echoes than in any place yet, but it ends there. This is a strong Catholic center. We are told they have several churches and a large convent in this place. I expect, as others have said, that the Protestant element is working among families, telling them not to come out and not to hear us. But the tent will be pitched in the very midst of the population and Brother Herbert Lacey and workers connected with him will do their best. It is one of those places where the inhabitants seem spiritually paralyzed. All that has been done with any success is visiting from home to home and laboring with families. I have found a place for all our German literature. Germans are scattered in the country—farmers, honest, nice, whole-souled people—and these are being helped, and a few outsiders are interested.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 3)
There was one night this week when I felt a great agony of soul. I prayed most earnestly, for I could not sleep. The burden seemed tremendous upon me. I walked the room, and at midnight was up crying unto God. I seemed crushed under the burden, as a cart beneath sheaves; but the burden was laid upon the Burden-bearer and since that time I have had peace and rest.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 4)
The Lord has His own way of doing His work and He does not always work in the same way. I know a message was given me for Brethren Starr and Pallant that the people could only be reached in some places in the country by vigilant, persevering, house-to-house effort. I but just this morning called this to mind, and this plan is to be carried out by the workers here. I wish I could visit Brisbane and speak to them, but I fear it will be too much for me.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 5)
I shall expect you to attend the meeting at Maitland if you desire so to do. I want to say, Marian, that if you would surround your soul with the sweet atmosphere of the Holy Spirit’s creating, you would be a much happier woman, but you do not take yourself in hand. Your own spirit rules you like a tyrant. Now, it is no kind of use to let this be so. You are under bonds to God as His follower, to follow the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 6)
We are handling sacred things and not one must give loose rein to the natural traits of character that are constantly striving for the supremacy. Self must be under the control of the Holy Spirit, else it becomes, in the place of being transformed, a deformed agency to spoil the Christian experience. You cannot be a happy child of God unless you comply daily with the invitation of Jesus Christ, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] This is the lesson we need all to learn daily, quietude in Jesus Christ. All the attributes of Christ are peace and hope and joy.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 7)
You have let jealousy find a place in your heart. Now empty the soul temple of this disagreeable guest. The Lord Jesus and jealousy cannot occupy the same room. The Lord calls upon you to consider. The advantages you have had for so many years in connection with a work that bears the divine signature should have a sanctifying, reformative power upon your soul, and you should testify to the grace of God given you as one cooperating with the Holy Spirit to make that work just that which the Lord would be pleased to have it. But when you bring unsubdued self into the work and let y our own strong spirit be revealed in your words and demeanor, then you place all connected with me in an uncertainty and temptations come. What manner of spirit is working you? What does it all mean? Can the Lord be working with Sister Davis? No one need to have anything toward you but respect and love. You have had years of experience and of knowledge and should be in character and deportment a mild, devoted, whole-souled Christian. If your connection with the work does not make you thus, then that work wears and tears and wearies the physical and mental powers, and it is time a change was made.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 8)
Now, Marian, I do not want to place any other work in your hands, because I do not want to wear out the last particle of physical, mental, and moral strength that you have. I am deeply burdened to know just what to do. Would it please you to go to America and see this book of the parables through the press? I understand just now that Brother and Sister Reekie are going in a few months. If you would be pleased to go, then I will make arrangements for you to see through several books which will follow, and you can do a good work in this business at that end of the line as my employed worker to do this. If this is considered, the change may be beneficial to you. A change you must have and that very soon. As much as I want your cooperation and work in getting out books, I am where I dare not, in your present condition, put work into your hands, for it would bring upon me a great, very great responsibility that I was doing you an injury that would make me responsible for the result.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 9)
I have not mentioned this to any one of our household, but I have thought of this as the best thing that could be done. You may consider it. I cannot prevail upon you to go anywhere rather than right where you are. And when I see that same intensity put into the raising of a few flowers that you have put into the work, I know that it is not the help you should have. You do not work for mere exercise, but with the same zeal and intensity as if the flowers that last only a day were souls capable of obtaining immortality. I know the hope in that line is cut away from me. Everything is swallowed up this way. If we can devise any course to benefit you that will improve physical, mental, and moral strength, then I will gladly accede to anything. But it must not be that you have no change. I am constantly burdened. I see your work in the flowers or on the grounds does not improve your physical or your spiritual development, and something must be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 10)
I am nearing the close of my earthly life, and I must have quietude and peace and rest to prepare more important works which the people need. But my mind is so troubled to see you not growing in grace and meekness and quietude of mind because you rest in the Lord and enjoy His love, that I dare not say, “Here, Marian, is a book I will put in your hands to arrange.” If you would only make a change and have entire rest in some place where the work and wear will not be felt by you, then you might, after one year’s rest, be able to take hold again. It is worth the effort anyhow and may work out the sum that puzzles me so. If you have any plans to suggest that will please you and that are reasonable, make it known to me freely.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 11)
You have now the matter laid out before you, and I want you to consider. It is high time you were, through the grace of Christ, sweetening up and having peace and rest of soul. You seem to have a spirit of combativeness and intensity to carry out your own wishes and your own plans without weighing the effect upon others and seeking to accommodate yourself to the convenience of those connected with me in the work. All who handle the work of God that I place in their hands must work harmoniously, else the enemy will obtain victories to hinder in the place of advancing the work. There is a great help in Christian association if all are seeking to be controlled by the will of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 12)
All have their own peculiar trials and temptations, which as faithful followers of Christ they can overcome in His strength. But if they place themselves in positions where they feel no sacred responsibility to be a help and a blessing according to the light, knowledge, and experience of many years, to be an advantage to the souls of others who have not had the opportunity and experience they have had; if they show no advance in spiritual growth, but act like unsubdued children, they dishonor Christ, and show that His Spirit is not entertained and Christ is not abiding in the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 13)
You should be where you could help all that are connected with my work. You can never help them by making a charge upon them. God calls upon you to change decidedly, and as you have been severely taxed in preparing the work Desire of Ages, we would plan for you to let go of all this kind of work in preparation of books. I shall feel this laying down of the work more than any other one can possibly feel it. I could wish that your physical, mental, and moral strength would carry you through as long as I live to arrange the matters I shall prepare. But as I see you have lost your grip upon the divine power, I am frightened for you and for myself. When I see you positively without self-control, I cannot trust my work in your hands. The converting, transforming power of the great Healer is so much needed, but will never come upon you while you let your strong will press you forward in any direction that it shall happen to carry. Do you have your eye fixed upon Jesus? Do you by beholding Him become changed day by day into His image, which reveals a grace not earth-born, aiming to promote the happiness of all with whom you are acting a part in the work?
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 14)
Sister Peck is my associate in the work. You are my associate in the work. She and you united, her healthy strength mixed with yours, would make, I thought, a complete whole. But your own self stood where this could not be done, which God would have had done, and the feelings that you have had of jealousy and evil surmisings have made you miserably unhappy, and repelled her so that you could not associate together in the work. You will reason no reference to this matter, but it is the truth, and therefore I am situated where I am in perplexity what to do. At Petoskey the light was given me that she should become united with me in my work. I had need of her; but others told me that she would not come with me to Australia. Had she consented to come, Fannie would never have crossed the broad waters. I should have pressed the matter home upon her myself, and I should have gained the victory. Then when you could not do a tithe of the work to be done, and should have hailed a fresh, healthy hand and mind to aid in the work, you have not felt pleased, and have been feeling jealous and full of evil surmisings. Christ cannot abide in your heart until self dies and Christ fills the soul.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 15)
I beg of you to no longer halt between two opinions. If the Lord be God serve Him, and die to self. Let Christ into your heart, and He can heal your poor, sick mind and body. But I now leave this matter with you.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 16)
In much love.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 17)
I have no copy of this. No one has seen it.
(14LtMs, Lt 248, 1899, 18)
Lt 249, 1899
Kellogg, Brother and Sister [J. H.] “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 3, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 396-397. Dear Brother and Sister:
I am troubled, greatly troubled. Matters have been opened before me and I am greatly perplexed [to know] what to do and what to say. Here we are, longing to see the medical missionary work established in this country, but we are behind that which we could do if we could obtain means to establish a sanitarium. Some things have been presented to me, that if the Lord had been permitted to run things in America there would be an altogether different showing. Not only would new territory be entered and the truth proclaimed and souls perishing in their sins converted, but churches would be built in America and new churches solidly established to support the work. But this kind of work has not received the care, and studied, careful plans have not set in operation, to add territory after territory where the truth has not yet been proclaimed.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 1)
There is a work to be done that is not done, and the Lord holds the ministers and leading men responsible for the work that should be done that is left undone. The third angel’s message is being considered a matter out-of-date, and yet the state of things in our world is revealing the end near. There is to be a work done that is not done.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 2)
There has been human overworking in some lines of that which is supposed to be medical missionary work. But everything is not to be carried in this kind of management of the missionary work. There is the great necessity of young men entering the canvassing field to do a work that preaching the Word cannot do. The youth are to be educated and trained in as short a time as possible, and not left to drift where they take a notion and pick up fanciful ideas and, without careful study of the Scriptures, weave false threads into the web. This is being done, and it is becoming a rarity to hear the gospel trumpet giving clear, distinct, pure Bible doctrine—present truth for this time. Young men would do excellent work if linked with experienced preachers, ever bearing in mind that the medical missionary work is an arm and working hand to the body, not the body, not the all and in all. It is to be connected with the work of the ministry. There is danger of swaying the work heavily in one line, while other essential lines are neglected; things are getting turned upside down. The arm is made the all-important everything and the body nothing.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 3)
The work is moving strangely, not healthfully. It is getting to be something which is absorbing all the vitality and the means, and is hedging up the way for the gospel to be proclaimed to the world in all its dignified bearings. The ministry is not to be treated as if it had lost all its sacred efficiency, and here has come in a work which takes the place of the ministry. Never, never can this be. The Lord God of Israel will have the ministry hold its sacred character as long as time shall last. Why, my Brother Kellogg, do you, before your colleagues, present the ministry as secondary to the medical missionary work? God does not make your methods and all your inventions the thing to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God. The medical missionary workers are not to feel that it is a right action to belittle the gospel ministry. God has never indicated or inspired men to do this, and He calls for a different sentiment.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 4)
My Brother Kellogg, you are making a great mistake. Had the Lord led your mind you would not have linked up with A. R. Henry, and carried the donated means to establish another sanitarium, when you had the painful difficulties we were in here in this new world kept before you. It is not God’s Spirit that gives you eyes and ears only for the things that are nigh. The medical missionary work, united with the ministry, will carry a proper dignity with it that the third angel’s message of warning to our world means something to the world. The large donations you received! Think you, if James White were alive, in health as he once was, he would not have taken in the situation and seen afar off, as well as nigh.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 5)
That sanitarium in Boulder should not have been created until there had been, Dr. Kellogg, an interest to understand there was [a] greater necessity in fields where there was nothing. You know the character of the work God has given me to do, and my being sent to this field meant to you that God called upon you to divide your donations until the medical missionary work should be established. But we could not have the assistance of the hand and arm to the body because you manifested a selfishness to center the institutions where you pleased. The necessity was kept before you, and you could have managed not to have absorbed so largely and abundantly in America and left the ones God has sent [to Australia] to struggle along, destitute of the help that you could and should have given us. Years have passed, and we are still unable to work—the hand and arm connected with the body.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 6)
There has not been any desire for you to give of your private personal funds, but [only] to [have you] turn to Australia some of the gifts and offerings flowing in. I cannot feel that this is God’s leading, for I have much more confidence in my heavenly Father than to consider this is His way of managing. I have, myself, spent thousands of dollars. If I had not done this, we should have been not at all advanced. But I am sore at heart to see the time passing and you absorbing means and devising [plans] to use up the funds in medical missionary lines, and yet you are not deeply moved to establish that which is deemed so important in connection with the ministry here in Australia.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 7)
The Lord called me to this field, and when at times I have been almost discouraged, then figures and symbols would be given me, and the words in explanation, that in every department of the work it is the willing mind, the earnest, unselfish spirit the laborer possesses that achieves the victory. But I have been restrained from entering into the work as have done in America, absorbing means to such a large extent with, indeed, so little solid work that bears the divine credentials.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 8)
The discouragement our ministers have received has not been of the Lord. The Lord calls for wise planning and economy in the investing of means. There is now a confused state of things, but the Lord will bring order out of the confusion. The medical missionary work is not to supersede the ministry of the Word. God has given now, at the present time, the very same outlining of the work that He gave in the first establishment of the truth in the lines we have worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 9)
I have not said to you or to others all I have been authorized to say, for neither you nor they could bear it. Neither can you now bear it. I may never say the things I might say.
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 10)
I have listened to your words in jots and tittles to demerit the ministers and their work; it was not to your credit to do this. It was against the Lord’s organized plans, and if all had been done to please your ideas, we should have strange things developed; but God has held in check some things, that they should not become a specialty. The ministering forces are not to be measured, or to be under the control of yourself or any living man to bind them about, to put them in the dust. You have become exalted; you have come to think that the message God has given for this time is not essential. Nevertheless, if the trumpet gives a certain sound, it will be the proclamation of the third angel’s message. All the heart is to be renovated and given to God. This is our individual work. Oh how few understand the workings of the power of Satan upon the human heart!
(14LtMs, Lt 249, 1899, 11)
Lt 250, 1899
NA “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia January [15], 1899 Previously unpublished.
I am propped up in bed to write a few lines to you. I left the camp ground Monday morning at nine o’clock, needing rest and treatment. I had spoken ten times before the large number assembled under the tent and the many who could not get under the tent. Our congregations Sabbath afternoons and evenings and Sundays have been the largest we have had in any tent meeting. We have had one of the greatest and best meetings we have ever attended. The interest seemed to begin [with the first] meeting. The large tent, the largest we have yet seen, was filled to overflowing and thus it kept up until the close. On weekdays and evenings the tent was full. I spoke ten times to the large number and six times to lesser numbers in the early morning meetings, beside council meetings. I hoped to get over my weariness, but I had been so reined up I did not know I was about on the eve of bankruptcy.
(14LtMs, Lt 250, 1899, 1)
They expected I would attend the meeting at Ballarat commencing this week, but I am really unable. I have been growing sicker and sicker until I began to think seriously how this would end.
(14LtMs, Lt 250, 1899, 2)
Yesterday, Sabbath, a telegram informed us our dear, beloved Brother Wilson fell asleep quietly in Jesus Friday afternoon. It may be I shall go next. I have failed in flesh much during this illness. I cannot eat. I suffer much pain.
(14LtMs, Lt 250, 1899, 3)
When before the people I feel intensely. The peril of every soul seems to stand out clearly before me and I try to draw them. I lay hold upon the sinner with one hand and Christ with the other hand. I speak above one hour full of earnestness, and perhaps it is this that makes me so sick now. Two thousand people were present at the last meeting Sunday afternoon. I know the Lord was in the tent, making His presence felt.
(14LtMs, Lt 250, 1899, 4)
We thought the Brisbane, Queensland, camp meeting was a wonderful meeting, and it was. I labored with all my powers, then had a meeting with the Rockhampton people, and they felt so anxious for me to go there [to Rockhampton]. I talked with them all [for] nearly two hours, and finally decided to go to Rockhampton, but was taken sick the very morning I started; was sick all the way; could not eat. I vomited, and it was nothing I had eaten, for I live so very abstemiously it could not be that it was food in my stomach. I decided it was overwork. It was Monday we left. Wednesday we arrived at Rockhampton. I thought I would have rest until Sunday, but after spending a night on the boat, brethren met us and told us they had sent advertisements everywhere that I would speak Wednesday evening. I scarcely had strength to stand. We were to ride four miles out in a wagonette and then must come four miles back into the city and, after speaking, ride again four miles into the country. The carriage, to me, was exceedingly hard, but I went through the process and spoke in the largest hall in the place. The Lord strengthened me, and the hearers seemed much interested. But I was so sick I could not sit and it was most difficult for me to eat. Sabbath I again rode into the city and spoke in a smaller hall, most earnest words which the Lord gave me. Then we had testimony meeting, and true deep feeling was in the meeting; there were confessions made.
(14LtMs, Lt 250, 1899, 5)
Lt 251, 1899
Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.] Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia January 7, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I received your letter. Thank you. This is a most beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. We hope much for today and tomorrow. The interest continues good. A school teacher and his wife and daughter came ten miles yesterday, and he is now investigating and inquiring. Our table was spread in the dining tent, and they took their evening meal with the members of our family. They enjoyed their supper, the nut gravy. He has purchased from canvassers Great Controversy and Patriarchs and Prophets. He has not [before] attended the meeting, but he came eight miles to attend the evening meeting and said he would come today. He has been up to Cooranbong a week ago and says he is pleased with the outlook. There must be some interest when a family will attend an evening meeting and ride ten miles to return home over the road to Morisset.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 1)
The whole community is stirred, and this one and that one and the other one meets us with, “You cannot possibly tell the great good this meeting has done.” They will tell you that men who never attended meetings are convinced we have the truth. God is at work. I know now, if all who are connected with the work clear the King’s highway, we shall see of the salvation of God. You must in no case lose faith, real, genuine faith and trust in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 2)
God has His appointed agencies. He sees in men just the material needed in His work—material in which, if sanctified, He will work out the possibilities. There may be persons that may pass by and say, There is nothing in him; he can make nothing. God sees all the possibilities of that heart, and begins His landscape gardening. Did not God put the possibility of beauty in that which is offensive and in every way objectionable? Although our finite vision cannot grasp the unseen possibilities, the Lord can. He sees the combativeness in man; He sees the destructive propensities; and He commences His work to soften and subdue while He preserves every vein and muscle, the courage and perseverance, that will make true workmen.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 3)
“Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] God will work out every piece of timber that is unworthy of the structure. He will accept every faculty of soul and mind and strength if men will submit to be co-workers with Him. He is the great and unseen Worker. Man is the humble, seen actor, but he must sink himself in God; else he will not work after God’s similitude.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 4)
The greatest hindrance to God’s work is our own ideas, our own human plans. Human threads are not to be drawn into the web. God would have man depend wholly upon Him. This character building in our individual selves needs to be critically inspected by our individual selves lest the human become mingled with divine. The saving of our souls requires heart searching and putting away of those things which are not calculated to make us individually the best material and instruments through whom God can work. The outward work is vain unless God works within. God has committed to those who have put on Christ the work of untrained, undisciplined mortals, and He would not have in word, spirit, or action anything that shall mislead them. We are to be as tender and pitiful and compassionate as Christ has been to us.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 5)
A few words more: You had some talk with me in regard to W. C. White, that you gave him not the least encouragement to help in any way. When in Brisbane, on last Sabbath, the appointment was given out to the people that Willie White would speak Sabbath forenoon, he told me that he had been appointed to speak. When the time came, you said not a word to him, but walked into the tent and took the meeting. Now, why you did this might have been because the impressions you have cherished of W. C. White had put your own words and plans out of your mind, and you went right forward after the appointment had been given out. It was only a little company assembled, but there was no real need of your being taxed with that meeting; but it is your habit, and you did not consider at all what impression that would make on his mind.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 6)
He has not mentioned the matter to me but I have to him. There were many places where you could have encouraged him if you had the feeling to help him that you ought to have had. It was a chance to make use of talent that was right at your hand, who could have given light and truth to the people, but he never will put himself forward. This is one who is not a novice. This is one who has been before congregations and filled appointments in churches and in camp meetings, and I have felt edified by hearing him speak. He has good language, appropriate language, but the view your wife has expressed to you of W. C. White has shown she is working at cross purposes with God, and that her opinion is far from infallible.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 7)
I put this straight because there are things that God will have decidedly changed in the mind, in the heart. Then there will be a spiritual estimate of God’s servants when there is a more humble estimate of her own spirit. This spirit of criticism places her on the devil’s ground. Now in the name of the Lord I call upon her to come off that ground. I make this matter no less strong and decided. This will not, if cherished as it has been done, make her complete in Him. God’s plan is one that will stand the day of judgment. He calls for cooperation with God and cooperation with one another. There must not be the idea that no one can do the work but your two selves. There must be accepting God’s servants, and that without being subject to your criticisms.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 8)
The revealed will of God has lessons of infinite value and efficacy adapted to every individual. We are candidates for immortality only as the will of God is revealed in us through our perfect submission to His will and His way. The converting power of God will make us wise in that wisdom which cometh from God. The Lord, with all His tender compassion and love, is waiting to see what His people will do in laboring for souls. They are His agencies, and if they do not do the part assigned them they are not cooperating with God. The young men must have a chance, but W. C. White is not a young man. He is one whom God set apart for His work, as one who must feed the flock of God, as one who must act as counsellor, one whom He has taught and will teach, because he never takes the highest seat.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 9)
I have now the tenderest feelings toward you, my brother, my sister, but I must tell you the truth and then my soul is clear.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 10)
Private to Brother Haskell:
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 11)
You speak in a desponding tone, but, nevertheless, all that I have written you I beg of you not to misunderstand. It is that which the Lord sees, but you do not discern. He has not placed matters before you to discourage or perplex you, but to open your eyes to see more clearly what tramples and cripples you, that you can, by cooperating with God, certainly overcome. He wants you to come into that position that His joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 12)
He has given you knowledge, imparted to you mental and moral powers, that He expects you to use as His gifts in the very work of perfection of your character. He has given you light, knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. He gives the Holy Spirit. He supplies all your defects of character with His own holy attributes. He gives you opportunities and facilities, and He will need all, the whole of you, that you may be a laborer together with God. But never, never, never has God consented for you to enter upon any work to manage it all in your own way, in your own wisdom, in your own strength. All the outward work is vain and discouraging unless God works within; unless you submit that self shall die, then all the manifest work is vain. But when God is working within, you will evidence the same outwardly.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 13)
You are not to feel that you need no help from others, no suggestions, no intimations from others. God would have us all, in every pursuit of knowledge in religious things, in every branch of business, every department of education, every study of science, illustrate the all-pervading Bible principle of cooperation with God and with man in harmoniously working out the divine plan of God to be laborers together with God and with one another.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 14)
If we will not run “as uncertainly,” and not to fight “as one that beateth the air,” God will impart to us moral powers and spiritual susceptibilities. [1 Corinthians 9:26.] He has manifested to us the Light and the Truth and the Way. In order to be worked as God’s husbandry we must use all the helps God has offered as saving agencies. Pray, believe for your own salvation by putting on Christ in all circumstances in character purification. Use all the helps God has offered. Pray, believe, and obey. Thus every power is brought into union with divine power and divine opportunities. Diligently, conscientiously yoke up with Christ.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 15)
I have the assurance that you will yoke up with Christ and become complete in Him, for you will be laborers together with God and one another, and this is the only provision made—that the work will be complete in and through Jesus Christ. Our probationary time is too precious to have any part of it aside from God. Our every attribute purified, ennobled, sanctified always leads to unity and improvement in God. He will not work reformation in our defective characters unless we carry out His own ways, to be zealous workers, cooperating with God and with one another, and God has all the treasures of His grace.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 16)
To this end may the Lord strengthen you and Sister Haskell is my prayer. He will do a work for you which you cannot possibly do for yourself. The highest talents are given of God. You did not create them. They are a trust and can be removed and confusion come in the place of clear conception. God would have you learn the lessons in His school that you have not yet learned—to love your brethren as He has loved you.
(14LtMs, Lt 251, 1899, 17)
Lt 252, 1899
Kellogg, Brother and Sister [J. H.] NP April 27, 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 416, 440. Dear Brother and Sister Kellogg:
I sent a letter to you by the last mail to relieve your mind. I am much perplexed to understand how any letters I have written should leave the impression on your mind to lead you to write to me as you did. But although sorely grieved and so distressed, I have not been able to set myself to writing for days. Yet I have had all I could possibly do to advance the building supposed to be called a hospital. It will not bear that name. It will be something more than this; the plan was presented to me. Drs. Caro and Rand and Brother Reekie were on the allotment where the building was to go up. We had the plan made, but it was so located that the sun would shine brightly where it was not wanted, in the kitchen department, and the rooms the patients would occupy, dining room, parlor, and sleeping rooms would have almost no sun.
(14LtMs, Lt 252, 1899, 1)
Sara and I studied over the matter, and Sister Peck drew out the plan, changing it from the first plan. Then Willie was called to Sydney to arrange some matters there, and I do not know as yet just all that was done. We were so pressed financially we feared we could not keep our credit good. The workmen could not pay their grocery bills, and money must come from some source. When W. C. White returned, the situation was not relieved, and we thought the plan of building must be cut down. Four feet were cut out and a new plan laid, but a building was presented to me, tall and narrow and disproportionate. I asked what building that was. One came forward and said, “That is the structure that will appear if you take out four feet.” I said, “This must not be. Give the full size and merely enclose the building, finishing off [a] few rooms, but it must not be made smaller.”
(14LtMs, Lt 252, 1899, 2)
I have given more particulars in another letter which I will send you. I insisted upon having the building set in such a position that it would have the sunshine in sitting room, dining room, and bedrooms. This oversight cost us all two days’ work. I said, “It is to be called The Avondale Health Retreat.” Yesterday we were on the ground—Elder Haskell, Brother Palmer, W. C. White, and other members of the board—and there, seated on a newly felled trunk of a eucalyptus tree, we had a board meeting. Sara and myself were in our phaeton a portion of the time, and a portion of the time I was on a cushion on the ground. And there, kneeling beside the clean, newly cut logs, prayer was offered to our heavenly Father for special [grace] to be worked by the Holy Spirit. But I thought at first our plans were to be defeated in regard to locating the building.
(14LtMs, Lt 252, 1899, 3)
If it was not regular in position, the sunshine we must have. At noon, in the afternoon, all night I kept my heart uplifted to God for His guidance and for His Holy Spirit to lead our brethren to view things correctly. And the matter came out all right. The building will be blessed with plenty of sunshine. Then I felt impressed that the kitchen and dining room should be separate from the main building, that a building should be erected containing two good-sized rooms—one for cooking and the second room for dining room. Then there will be no rattling of dishes, no smell of food cooking, and there will be quietness for the sick. We had to use the money that came for the hospital to pay the workmen a portion of their wages and this has delayed us, but there is nothing now to hinder us from going ahead but the resources.
(14LtMs, Lt 252, 1899, 4)
Lt 253, 1899
Ings, Sister Maitland, New South Wales, Australia November 8, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Ings:
I have not been able to write but a few lines to anyone for this mail, except letters to Elder Haskell and Elder Irwin. I was sick one week and came to this place a little better but far from well, and since coming here I have had to move my quarters to a more favorable location. I am in the house Elder Starr has rented for the mission workers, and now I can do much better work; but with council meetings and moving and the awful cyclone striking us yesterday I could not write.
(14LtMs, Lt 253, 1899, 1)
We are in a place where there is the greatest need of the people having the last message of warning to the world, and they are hearing it here for the first time. The trumpet is giving no uncertain sound. Sunday was one important day. All day the message of warning was pealing forth to thousands and the Lord helped me speak and lifted me above my infirmities and gave me power from on high. And the people listened as if entranced with the solemn subjects that had never fallen upon their ears before. There is a deep interest, and after this place there are many more just beyond. Newcastle has only been touched. There are many places connected with Newcastle.
(14LtMs, Lt 253, 1899, 2)
Adamstown, Lambton, and several other suburbs, Young Wallsend and Wallsend proper—all these places are being worked and souls are coming to the knowledge of the truth. Singleton, beyond this place, is calling for someone to come to them and preach the truth. Oh, so much to be done! Word comes to me, “Open the work in regions beyond. Carry the message where the people have never heard the truth. Introduce the leaven and it will work itself to leaven all around it.” So there are new fields everywhere we may lift our eyes. I am not allowed to be satisfied with one place. No sooner has the message come to one place than another place is presented to be worked, and thus the new territories are added to the Lord’s kingdom.
(14LtMs, Lt 253, 1899, 3)
We are stretching every nerve and muscle. We are all denying ourselves, putting in all the means possible to gather the poor, lost, perishing souls to the cross of Christ. The message goes forth in power. We are in the most wicked community, and yet there are the most churches. But the shepherds are false shepherds and they kill them that are fed and feed not the flock with the Bread of Life.
(14LtMs, Lt 253, 1899, 4)
Well, Sister Ings, I love you and would be so glad to see you. I have never done more work than I am doing now. But this must go in the mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 253, 1899, 5)
Your Sister in the Lord.
(14LtMs, Lt 253, 1899, 6)
Lt 254, 1899
Wessels, Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 22, 1899 This letter is published in entirety in 20MR 10-11. Dear Sister Wessels:
I have an earnest desire to see you this morning, but we are many miles apart. What a blessing it will be when we all shall be one family in the kingdom of God! No partings then, no sickness, no sorrow, no pain, no death. And that which is best of all, no tempting devil to lead the footsteps astray from right paths.
(14LtMs, Lt 254, 1899, 1)
I have been writing since two o’clock; have written sixteen pages of letter paper, all to go, I thought, in this morning’s mail, but two letters to Queensland will not go until noon.
(14LtMs, Lt 254, 1899, 2)
I would be glad to come and see you at once but it is now fruit canning time and Sara has her hands more than full. But as soon as I can see my way to run down to Strathfield I shall improve the opportunity. The interest at Maitland rests heavily on my soul. I am so very anxious to see the work done there that needs to be done to gather in the sheaves. Sara and I have ridden over the road twenty-seven miles with our horse and phaeton and back again. We have a great interest in that work, and we pray it may prosper. Several good souls have embraced the truth, and they are waiting for several others who are in the valley of decision. I think now that there are twelve souls who have taken their position to keep all the commandments of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 254, 1899, 3)
Some of these are the very choicest, and will be a recommendation to the truth. Some I have not seen to know them. There is a very widespread influence everywhere, and we long to see many souls taking their position upon the truth. If they only knew the things that make for their peace, they would do this.
(14LtMs, Lt 254, 1899, 4)
We know not the future, but we must have peace and rest and quietude in Him who hath loved us and given His life for us. What a privilege to take everything to God in prayer! Everything around us is stirring and changing. In the midst of all changes how thankful I am to know that the sweet voice of mercy is still heard and there are added to the church of such as shall be saved. God has a faithful people upon the earth. The company of the Lord’s precious ones are not now all in sight to be distinguished and counted. They are hidden now, but the proclamation of the third angel’s message is to bring them to sight ere long. We are becoming acquainted with some of these precious hidden ones, and my soul is glad that they take their position firmly and gladly. Thus it has been in Maitland. Said the Lord, “I give unto them eternal life; ... neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” [John 10:28.]
(14LtMs, Lt 254, 1899, 5)
Lt 255, 1899
Butler, G. I. Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia May 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother Butler:
We are having twenty minutes’ time before we leave for the station, and I improve the time in writing a few words to you. I have been up since one o’clock; commenced writing at two o’clock. Have written ten pages, eaten my breakfast, and am writing a few lines, knowing if I make a beginning I shall perhaps finish it.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 1)
Oh, how I long to see the work advance! This locality is being worked, but we have given only a small portion of Newcastle some work. There is a dearth of laborers and a great dearth of means. The donations supposed to come to us have not reached us yet; only one hundred pounds have come, and we thank the Lord for that much. But we keep at work, watching and praying and waiting.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 2)
We have had to do quite an amount of labor, investing means in building a hospital for a place to take our sick. My house has been open as a hospital, but the piers are now laid and the work will advance. If we can only get the building enclosed, we can use it for our coming conference. Ministers are to meet to consult together as to how best to carry forward the work. My heart is in this work. We must entertain quite a number. I wish you were to be our guest. I would entertain you right gladly but although this may never be, it will do no harm for me to express my wishes that should it be. I would be very, very glad. I want to see your face in the flesh and speak with you in regard to the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is soon to come, and I am doing my best to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 3)
Sara and I came to Newcastle last Friday. It is the Week of Prayer and the laborers are distributed in different churches in New South Wales to spread our help the longest way.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 4)
“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, May 23. At home again. Our meetings at Hamilton were excellent. Sabbath Brother Haskell spoke in the morning meeting. I, according to appointment, spoke in the afternoon at three o’clock. There was a good representation of those who have recently come to a knowledge of the truth. After Brother Haskell prayed, my heart was drawn out in earnest supplication for the presence of Jesus in our midst to bless God’s commandment-keeping people, pleading the promise made in Exodus 31:12-17. The Lord has twice said the Sabbath “is a sign between me and you throughout your generations” for a perpetual covenant “that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” [Verse 13.] We must have the sanctification of the Spirit.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 5)
We must open wide the windows of our soul heavenward that the Sun of Righteousness shall come in and its bright beams make us all light in the Lord. I did believe and I did receive that peace in my heart that the world cannot give, neither can it take away. There were many with eyes wet with tears. When I arose to speak I felt strengthened physically, and the Lord seemed indeed preciously nigh. I spoke upon taking the Lord at His word. If we have sinned we are to bear in mind that Christ is the Sin-Bearer and would certainly come very close unto us and be our stronghold in every emergency.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 6)
The Lord gave me freedom, not to preach, but to speak the Word with simplicity. I read the precious promises, showing them what was our duty day by day. [See] Romans 12:1, 2. These words comprehend much. Opportunity is given unto every soul to prove by an experimental knowledge the acceptable service to God, and thus, by surrendering our whole being as a consecrated offering, demonstrate to the world that there is a reality in the true service of God. This accepting us just as we are, cleansing us, purifying us, sanctifying us to Himself, is a great work to do for us; and yet it must be done, else we cannot see His face.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 7)
The heart of God is determined to do a great work for us if we will let Him. And we have the privilege of glorifying the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in accepting His great love. He loved us when we were dead in trespasses and sins, and He loves us when we permit Him to take away our sins and impute to us His righteousness. Best of all is that this working in the human agent both glorifies the name and makes glad the heart of God as He sees the subjects of His kingdom channels of light through whom He can communicate His inconceivable blessings of love and mercy and glory. It is in lifting up the believer to a state of enjoyment of His love and grace that He can make us His lightbearers to the world, and it satisfies His heart of love when we cooperate with the Lord Jesus in the great work of restoring the moral image of God in fallen man. Well might the inspired apostle in considering this wonderful theme say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”Ephesians 1:3.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 8)
Brother Butler, may the Lord Jesus help you to be of good courage. Do not look to yourself but unto Jesus who is the only One who can help you and me. Some things come up that make my heart very sad and discouraged. There are wrongs that ought not to be, but we ought not to be surprised at them; but it hurts my heart and I cannot at night close the draw. Three nights in succession I could sleep but a few hours. I was then certain I must change, go somewhere. I was wanted at Newcastle and I left Friday morning, and spent Sabbath and Sunday at Hamilton, Newcastle. It was pleasant to look upon the Sabbathkeepers. Not one of the people, citizens of Newcastle, were of our faith [a few months ago], and now there are thirty-five that have been baptized and twelve more are waiting a favorable opportunity.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 9)
I designed to write you a much nicer letter than this, and also to write a letter to Aurora, but tell your sister I have not been able. I have had Brethren Daniells, Starr, and W. C. White to consult with upon important matters in relation to the cause of God, and the providence of God in bringing us into new places and preparing the way in Sydney, that we can now advance. It seems so singular that a house in Wallsend was offered us, a large building bearing a sign in great letters, Empire Clothing Store. This is in need of repairs, but it is two stories [high]. Brother and Sister Haskell were forced out of the place Brother Lacey had occupied sooner than they were ready, and this house was for rent. The sales room will hold two hundred people, and then there are good rooms for the workers, and it is only ten shillings per week. They would have to pay ten shillings per evening for a hall no larger.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 10)
We were greatly bound about in the city—the main business part of Sydney. We could do but little medical work, because we could not get a place for bathrooms and giving of treatments. What to do we could not tell. Yesterday Elder Starr came to Cooranbong with the information that he had a three-story brick building which had once been a printing office offered to them for twenty-five dollars per month. It is a large three-story house. The room which had been used as a printing office will be converted into a hall for meetings, and there will be bathrooms made for patients to take baths and all kinds of treatments—just what we wanted. But I must close for this mail.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 11)
I send you enclosures, thinking you would be interested in the matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 255, 1899, 12)
Lt 256, 1899
White, W. C. Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia October 15, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Son Willie:
I am this morning improving in health. I have been sustained on the journey remarkably well. Sara was quite used up, carsick, and I had symptoms of carsickness. The roughness, the jolting and banging were quite severe. Sara was just about done over, and I felt sorry for her. The pain in her eyes was severe and her whole head was troubled. When it came to doing up the roll, she had help from the sleeping car porter. I slept well during the night and had to keep quite still until we changed cars, at between eleven and twelve. We had a compartment all to ourselves the rest of the way. Sara and I lay down and slept considerably.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 1)
We got to the station about sundown; should have been in the house hired for us before the sun set if we had come direct from the station, but there was considerable delay in the baggage being readily obtained. It was fully half an hour before we could get the things Brother Daniells was looking for. We then found a very nice cottage with three rooms ready for us: for Herbert Lacey, Sister Graham and Sara, and a front room for me with a good bed and well furnished—quite as large as our parlor.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 2)
Sara and I board ourselves. We have the food we brought from home, oranges and lemons. The first meetings have not represented the Brisbane meeting by a long ways. Brother Daniells spoke Sabbath evening to about fifty. Sabbath forenoon Brother Tenney spoke. In the afternoon about one hundred were present. My voice called in about twenty more before I closed my talk. The Spirit of the Lord was in the meeting.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 3)
This is a beautiful place. From the front window we see afar off before us up the hill where most of the large buildings are located. Brother Daniells is making arrangements for me to ride out this Sunday morning. Yesterday clouds gathered in the heavens and did not pass away until about the time I was to speak, then there was soon clearness. We had a most clear, moonshiny night and this morning there is not a cloud. The weather yesterday was rather cool and Friday night Brother Daniells borrowed two rugs of us to supply someone’s deficiencies. Last night the weather was just nice, not too hot or too cool, just perfect. Today seems perfect. The atmosphere is bracing, the sky cloudless, and the sun shining makes it very pleasant.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 4)
We know not what this day may bring forth. We hope to see many more people out. Brother Tenney says there are more than he expected to see. Brethren Daniells and Tenney visited me yesterday morning. I was pained to look upon the face of Brother Tenney. It seemed full and bloated as you have seen in the face of a drinking man. He seems better healthwise, but I would not be surprised that any time he should have an attack of apoplexy. I do not think anything of devising or planning, anything that brings perplexity, should come upon him. Brother Daniells says he is clear in his Bible readings and when preaching, but when preparations are to be made he does not manifest tact and good judgment.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 5)
I am feeling more natural today. My eyes are not so sunken in my head, and if I [a] speak short [time] I need not bring on exhaustion. I did speak short Sabbath, held myself back as with bit and bridle. This I must do else I shall not be worth much.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 6)
I shall speak today from (1 John 3): “Behold, what manner of love,” etc. I think if it were not for the Maitland meeting that is following close upon this I should be tempted to remain here a few days, but as it is shall speed right along home. I am hoping that something will be done to complete and get out some books, for the people need them very much. I cannot see why some books cannot be completed without further delay and the parables closed up. They need not be held in Marian’s hands any longer. The Lord help is my earnest prayer, that these books shall no longer be delayed. When once out, my mind will be at ease in regard to the many things I am always feeling burdened to write.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 7)
This must go before eleven o’clock this morning. I have not said much but will send it, thinking you would be pleased to hear. I am very desirous that this place shall have the very best impression made upon minds. But, Willie, I do not think the appearance of Brother Tenney is such as to make a good impression. His countenance bears the impression of a man that uses spiritous liquors. We know it is not the case, but others will thus be impressed. I do feel so sorry for him.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 8)
I think I spoke to you in reference to that place in view for [a] sanitarium. If that brother on the place now deems his chance of securing fruit of so much value as thirty pounds, it cannot be of as much value to the sanitarium after having to have the orchard cared for and the fruit picked and canned as it shall develop. It would bring the crop high for the sanitarium. Brother Radley can tell in regard to this matter.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 9)
If you should conclude to take it, orchard and all, I think I shall pitch a tent on the ground and spend some time there, unless I attend more camp meetings. I think if I was away awhile in rusticating, I should improve decidedly healthwise, but this is only a thought. I pray the Lord will give you all wisdom to choose the very best location. As far as the surroundings are concerned, the judgment of you all must balance the question. We should not be too near Catholics, but I think they are at about equal distance in both places you are viewing.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 10)
I have felt since I left home, especially Friday, that we must do more praying. I am casting my burdens upon the Lord and He will manage for me. I shall not lay my burdens upon you, and no one must lay my household burdens on you. You have abundance in your own family to take your time and thoughtful care, and the multiplicity of burdens in connection with the cause and work of God draws you hither and thither and you have no extra mental powers to exhaust on my family concerns. I shall not expect it and I do not want they should come to you with my troubles. I shall, as long as I have a household of workers, stand as first in the management of this household business and shall, when I can no longer do this, dismiss my workers and let them go under the supervision of someone who can use them. I will now close this letter, for I expect the team for me any moment.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 11)
I think you have too much now to carry, and I am praying about all these matters. And to have your home filled up with those who are not your family, you have been instructed it is not best for your family’s prosperity. You have too many visitors and boarders.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 12)
In haste,
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 13)
Mother.
I was so sorry that Maggie did not give me copies of the last mails. I hope she has sent them to me at this place.
(14LtMs, Lt 256, 1899, 14)
Lt 257, 1899
Kellogg, J. H. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 1899 Portions of this letter are published in 5MR 235-236; 1MR 242; 11MR 309; 12MR 1. Dear Brother:
Your last letter expresses the thought that I have lost confidence in you. I do not know just how to reply to this statement. I am certainly deeply concerned for you, and it is most difficult to say anything, because you do not take the matter as you should. I know that the Lord is your true Friend, and He has presented your case before me as not directing the work correctly.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 1)
Every man who has large responsibilities to carry should be a daily learner in the school of the greatest Teacher the world ever knew. Jesus Christ made the world, and every human being is amenable to Him, and should be very modest, lest he assume the place of Christ as leader. Every man is to be educated in Christ’s school. Are you a daily learner in the school of Christ, that you may have that sanctified discernment which shall make you in every respect a safe teacher and adviser? Are you not in danger of weaving into your instruction sentiments and principles that are not in Christ’s lines—ideas and impressions which will be carried away by others wherever they shall go to engage in the work? Thus others will make mistakes which will have to be corrected, and still others will be mislead who will have to be set right. All our work is now to be critically done in Christ’s lines, that the world may be prepared for the closing scenes of this earth’s history.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 2)
Every influence will be set in operation by satanic agencies, to divert minds from the genuine work that will place men as laborers together with God. All, who do not aggressively labor in the warfare where Christ, the mighty General of armies, leads, will be in the opposite party, composing the armies of the prince of darkness. They will lead the people away from the living issues that should occupy their minds and hearts and prepare them to distinguish between the voice of the world and the voice of Jesus Christ. We must ourselves be very watchful and prayerful, that we may be able to understand the voice of the deceiver from the voice of Him who always speaks the truth. Those who are worked by the Holy Spirit are not led by a feeling of enthusiasm, which soon goes out in darkness. The spell of Christ’s influence is abiding. “Be still and know that I am God.” [Psalm 46:10.] This is a solemn, abiding quietude in God.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 3)
There is danger that all of us will have too much zeal, and too little of Christ’s sound wisdom and unquestionable prudence. Every one must stand individually as an active, working agency for the Master, beholding His work as it is given in His Word for our practice.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 4)
Individually, they must think for themselves. With an open Bible before them, they must study under the influence and presence of Jesus Christ, inquiring and knowing for their individual selves what is the way of the Lord. They must catch His spirit; they must be partakers of His divine nature. Then they need never be in doubt, they need never develop the spirit of criticism; but they will daily heed the inspired Word, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? ... Now I pray God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be ‘(looked upon)’ as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” [2 Corinthians 13:5, 7, 8.]
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 5)
I am seeking to carry the work just as Christ directs. Can you not see and understand that I have had to stand in the strength and name of the Lord against great opposition? I have words to say to you, my brother. You have had some experience in this work in meeting strong, opposing spirits. You should have more confidence in the work which God has given me to do. Should I be considered your enemy because I will not hold my peace when the Lord instructs me to tell you that you need a work done for yourself, which will give you an altogether different experience from that which you are now having?
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 6)
You have had a work, large, taxing, and responsible. But the burdens which you have assumed, which have become more weighty as you have borne them, you did not receive from the hand of Christ. You gathered and attached to yourself responsibilities that you were not competent to carry. The sanitarium was your work, and to give to that the care necessary to make it just what God designed it should be was, even with wise men connected with you, a sufficiently large burden for your part of the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 7)
But you assumed the care of other institutions and other interests which embraced large proportions, and gathered thousands upon thousands of God’s entrusted capital of means. This money should have been used to set in operation other sanitariums to do a similar work, and give character and prominence to the truth for this time. This work would bring to the sanitariums many who, but for these memorials and representatives of advanced methods in medical lines, would never understand the Bible truth, or even have their attention called to it.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 8)
At the very time when, with the money placed in your hands—money which was not yours to do with as you have done—you could have helped other destitute countries which were wading through every difficulty in their efforts to spread the truth, you were investing this money as though you were a millionaire. This is that which God does not approve, because with it a much greater work, exerting a much more extended influence, would have been the result. While this was being done, the very work that demanded your keenness of perception, that required much time for prayer and quiet reflection—for this is not a small matter that you are handling—has been neglected. The anxiety caused by the precarious condition of the sanitarium, the schools, and the Review and Herald office, is not restful, but very wearing.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 9)
The work of the sanitarium demands your clearest judgment, your most matured thought, and God’s instruction at every step. If this institution is prosperous, it will be because diligent work that God approves is done in it. To manage such a large responsibility you need a wisdom above your own. The educating of students was enough to connect with your work. God has not piled all these others things upon you. The sanitarium needs more than it is possible for you to give it. And unless you greatly diminish your various lines of work, you will be where I cannot write to you, because I would not be free to tell you even that which for years has been presented to me concerning you. After all your unremitting labor, you cannot bear to have the facts appear as they are in truth. You have not done the best thing, and you feel hurt when the Lord points out the things that you should not do.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 10)
The sanitarium will be a memorial for God if it is conducted in all lines as it should be. Many who come to the sanitarium will receive their impression of the truth, as did Sister Henry. She was one of God’s precious ones, and through your skill, which has been given you of God, His truth was magnified. This is as it should be. All the influence you can give to the sanitarium is none too much.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 11)
The medical missionary work might better be named the Missionary Health Restoration Work. The powers of darkness, which have long been watching for a chance to come in and counteract the Lord’s work, have found no better open door than this work which has done some good, but O! so limited an amount in comparison with the outlay of effort and means! There is no field in this world so ripe to have a work done in it as this field, where are at work the Lord’s servants who have acted a part in establishing the work in America. Your own ideas have been followed in centering largely in America. This was self-glorification. The need in this country was a hundredfold greater. O, the ignorance existing here is marvelous! It is terrible! And yet I have never seen a people who responded so fully to medical missionary work as they do in this country.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 12)
The gospel of Christ and health reform in its true relation to the gospel have a common Head. A great work might have been done that has not been done, and, in doing which, America would have suffered no loss. I was instructed to set the situation before you in America and call for means from the sanitarium. I was instructed to call upon the responsible men, men who were managing the sanitarium, to awaken in them an interest to give to this field facilities to place the Missionary Health Restoration work where it could set the true principles of health reform before the people in this need world. But large schools buildings and sanitariums in abundance have been and are still being planned, while we have been here something like nine years and have not so much as one building erected for a sanitarium proper. We feel handicapped. We cannot yet furnish our Health Retreat, though donations have come to it from yourself and from me.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 13)
You need to be counselled and to receive this counsel as a blessing, not as a curse. You are wearing out your powers. I need you to encourage and to help me in bearing the straightforward testimony which God has given me. The discouragement which you think I have brought upon you is not to be charged to me, for I have given you the source of my message.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 14)
The Lord loves you, and after setting in operation so many great enterprises, He says to J. H. Kellogg, You are selfishly carrying the work in America, and using God’s money in various lines in buildings and institutions, when this destitute field to your certain knowledge needs something of this very work started and advanced that you consider so essential to be done in America. You could and should bind about, in the future, your large plans to center so largely in America, when many places have not for years had any money or facilities to do the same kind of work in a much humbler way—work which would have advanced the truth largely in many places. This is as the Lord has represented it.
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 15)
“And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes that see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them.” [Luke 10:23, 24.] The Lord God of Israel would have His light and glory advanced in other parts of the world. “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Here a most decided question is presented—“What shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” [Verses 25-27.]
(14LtMs, Lt 257, 1899, 16)
Lt 258, 1899
Henry, S. M. I. Hamilton, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia May 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Sister Henry:
I have been spending Sabbath and Sunday at Newcastle. Elder Haskell is just preparing a large, old, out-of-repair home, but is well located, ten miles from Newcastle. The name of the place is Wallsend. It is sixteen miles from Cooranbong. This place is now to be worked while the meetinghouse is being built in Hamilton. We want the suburb of Newcastle to be worked. There are about thirty-five now, fully established. There are about twelve to be baptized, and several more are keeping the Sabbath who are not fully established.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 1)
We are sure that a deep interest has been awakened all through Newcastle and Maitland, twenty-five miles from Newcastle. As yet the means pledged has not yet come to us from America, with the exception of one hundred pounds. But we hope the next boat will bring us the money pledged.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 2)
Our building is going up in Cooranbong, called by some other name than hospital, for that name involves much in this country. The lumber could not be purchased because we had not the means. But we can, if means come now, only barely enclose the building, giving the people tangible proofs that we are doing our best to accommodate the union conference.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 3)
We expect a delegation of ministers, and [will] counsel together in reference to advancing the work. There is the work to be done all through this city, and we have not workers nor money, only in prospect, and we live in hope.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 4)
I would be much pleased to meet you at our conference, but this would be a long journey across the broad waters of the Pacific. If you are a good sailor, then it is much more pleasant, but if a poor sailor, it would be a disagreeable journey. Nevertheless, I may have to undertake the journey and again my labors be in America. I wish first to establish the work connected with my brethren in this new world.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 5)
There are decided health talks given by Doctor Caro in Hamilton. There are cooking classes given once each week. There is an interest kept up here that present subjects that are essential for all to understand. There is a health club established, and all these various lines are drawing the people. I wish more would be drawn.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 6)
The ministers are now commencing their work of visiting from house to house to warn their church members to have nothing to do with Adventists. But this is a new kind of labor for the ministers—to be pastors of the flock. We have cases brought to our attention that have been and are still very critical.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 7)
Miss Gow has stood as the responsible member of the drapery firm here in Newcastle. Her father and mother and sisters all looked to her as the one responsible for all lines of work connected with the firm. The meetings held in this place awakened conviction. Sister Starr gave her Bible readings. The work of drawing to the truth and to make a decision was felt deeply by her. She knew the whole firm was dependent on her holding her position. She tried to get everything possible to excuse decision, but she was troubled and could not, dared not, take her position against the truth.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 8)
This family sent their boy, thirteen years old, to the Cooranbong school after visiting the school. The boy was highly pleased, and was doing well, but the cross of the Sabbath seemed too great for her to lift, for it was ever kept before her [that] if she left it would break up the establishment. She was granted a vacation and, accompanied by Sister Starr, they spent two weeks in Cooranbong. She attended the Bible classes, two classes each day. She was learning, and finally took her stand on the Sabbath. She returned to Newcastle and made known her purposes, but father, mother, and sisters all opposed her most bitterly. She was in a most trying position—whether to leave the truth or to leave her parents.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 9)
They sent for their son to come from the school. He came against his will. Thus the determined battle went on day after day. Every inducement was presented, and every objection magnified, but she held, for a time, unswervingly. She decided to go to Cooranbong to school—telegraphed for them to meet her at [the] station. Then the battle went on in her home. Next day after the telegram was sent, the mother told Elder Starr their daughter had left for a four-weeks’ vacation. The father had a talk with the daughter. The result was, she had left for Melbourne, and this was the doing of the father. She said she went to her father’s brother. His brothers were—one a Catholic, the other an infidel. They do not give her address. We are cut off completely from any intercourse, and unless she writes herself, we shall know nothing.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 10)
This is a strange affair. The mother feels they have gone too far and is troubled in regard to the matter. But here we have to leave her. She was an excellent young woman—kind, loving, affectionate—but she was not satisfied with her religious experience. One week has passed and nothing has been heard from her, but the Lord can reach her wherever she is. We have lost all track of her, but the Lord can and will help her if she has not cast off her Lord through the great pressure brought to bear upon her. The Lord may work this matter out to His own name’s glory. The Lord Jesus is a compassionate Saviour. The Lord Jesus can speak to this dear soul: “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.” [Psalm 121:7.] “The just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” [Hebrews 10:38.] “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.” [John 8:31.] “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” [Matthew 24:13.] “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” [1 Corinthians 16:13.] “Hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown.”“He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.” [Revelation 3:11, 5.]
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 11)
We have seen that which our Lord has assured us should come—divisions in families. One family by the name of Lord had eight sons. The eldest married the daughter of a man who kept a hotel, called here Publican House, where liquor is dealt out and the sale sustained by law. His daughter embraced the truth with her husband, and her parents told her never to enter their doors again. When she was baptized, her sister and brother, older than she, took hold of her arm to force her away.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 12)
The police saw the brother, and he came to him and said, “Release her. Let her follow her convictions of conscience.” This policeman had watched the tent and heard the teachings in the tent, and had said that it must be that the Lord was with this people, for he had far less work to do in arresting the evil workers. He told that brother if he did not keep his abusive tongue to himself, [and] let this woman alone, he would arrest him for disorderly conduct.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 13)
The mother and sister then came to her and cursed her and her mother-in-law, Sister Lord, who had embraced the truth. This wicked woman knelt down and told the Lord how her daughter had disgraced the family. And then she prayed that her daughter might be taken sick and the mother-in-law might be struck with sickness and never leave her bed again. In about two weeks that mother, who was so bitter, was taken violently sick and died, a great sufferer.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 14)
The son-in-law, Lord, and his wife, went from Cooranbong to the funeral. It was dinner time. The family were eating dinner. They did not ask the sister to sit at the table, and her opposing sisters left the table, declaring they would never sit at the table and eat with her. Brother and Sister Lord felt very sad and returned again to Cooranbong, disowned by sisters and brothers. You see that which many souls [suffer who] have embraced the truth. They do this in the face of self-denial and sacrifice.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 15)
Brother Lord had been in his little room as [a] single man to work the brakes twenty years, but when he embraced the Sabbath he was discharged. His employer said he would have no man that kept the Sabbath in his employ. Brother Lord asked him if he could find the record on any of the books where he had failed in doing his work faithfully. He said, “You have stood as one of our most trustworthy men, and we know not how your place can be supplied, but we cannot have one who keeps Saturday to do our work.”
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 16)
Thus you can see [that] both parties, believers and unbelievers, are making sacrifices. The words of the apostle are to the point—“By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world”—but not on the same line. [Galatians 6:14.] One is on the line of obedience to all of the commandments of God. For their loyalty their business is taken from them and they are set adrift without any money laid by.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 17)
Brother Lord came to Cooranbong. The only place he could find was the small, broken-down shanty for his large family. There were no houses to rent, and my own house was full. We managed to keep them one night—feed mother and father and seven sons. The married son was living in a tent. The married daughter and her husband have found them a place somewhere.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 18)
We helped as best we could to supply their necessities. [We] employed three boys, and the pay for their work just put food into their mouths. We had two spare stoves we set up for them, and did all in our power, but you can see this is no more than we can expect. We shall find some place for them on the school land, to make a home for them. Two were poor families. We are helping to secure a home, [and] a little piece of land to cultivate.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 19)
There are good Sabbathkeepers of excellent influence. One was a coachmaker, wheelwright builder, but he was located where [he] could not get work and they could not obtain the necessities of food and clothing. This is the kind of missionary work we are called out to do, and we pray the Lord to open the way for these blessed ones, whom the Lord loves. We shall look after them [and] secure them homes. If they can pay, they will pay, and they can pay if we give them work, which at present is abundant on the school grounds.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 20)
We have employment for everyone who can work. We must gather into the net the poor and distressed and the wealthy. Whosoever will, let him come and take of the waters of life freely. Some of these poor people are the Lord’s noblemen. They are the choice of the earth, have been workers, superintendents of Sabbath schools, and have worked [for the church] since because of their faith they were discharged.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 21)
Brother Pocock has been instrumental in bringing to the truth several families. It is just such ones we wish to occupy the school grounds. They are put in office at once to help share the burdens, and are first-class workmen, but poor, very poor, in this world’s goods, but rich in faith.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 22)
Well, it is daylight. I have been up since one o’clock, writing since two o’clock, this letter. I do not think I can get it copied—will send it just as it is if I cannot.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 23)
Oh, how much instruction we need from the Lord! Daily we must receive the rich current of the grace of Christ, that we may impart to the needy. We have had evidence that this part of the Lord’s vineyard is to be worked.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 24)
One portion of Newcastle has been receiving labor. Now another section must receive the truth, and thus take section after section until the stronghold of Satan is broken down.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 25)
“It is impossible but that offenses will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come.” [Luke 17:1.] How cruelly they treated our precious Saviour, and shall we not expect the very same kind of treatment? Shall we be surprised and astonished that we are called to be partakers with Christ of His sufferings? We will pray constantly that we may have the mind that was in Christ Jesus.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 26)
We now must take the cars for Cooranbong.
(14LtMs, Lt 258, 1899, 27)
Lt 259, 1899
Jones, C. H. Sunnyside, Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia June 20, 1899 Previously unpublished.
I address this letter to Brother C. H. Jones and those connected with him in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 259, 1899, 1)
We need a printing press very much, and as you have been getting new presses, could you not donate the one you do not now need, to come to this country, Cooranbong? We need a press very much, that we may get off interesting matter in leaflets and small tracts and in a small [paper] give the incidents in the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 259, 1899, 2)
I have used up and hired money to carry forward the work. I have this morning given my note for two hundred pounds at six percent interest to erect the meetinghouse in Newcastle. One of our brethren has taken the house on contract, to be completed in seven weeks. If the contractor can purchase the lumber with money down, he can obtain better terms. One man recently come to the faith loaned money to purchase the land, and was loath to let more money go, for he will not take mortgages. He was asked if he would take Mrs. White’s note, and loan the money to her. He answered readily, “I will.” His wife also assented, so Elder Starr came from Newcastle last night, and before my lamp was put out he laid the matter before me. Willie came in and they both explained matters, and my name was put to the paper, for this loan, two years.
(14LtMs, Lt 259, 1899, 3)
I divided one hundred pounds toward Brisbane church and Newcastle church. Of that money sent me in the Scott note, one hundred is divided for sanitarium and our hospital.
(14LtMs, Lt 259, 1899, 4)
I appropriated ten pounds for tent in which they have held their [meetings] since the camp meetings. It is now the wet season and we must provide a house of worship in Newcastle. It cannot be avoided. The remaining portion of the money sent is also to be appropriated to the advancing work here on the ground, as is needed in furnishing the hospital.
(14LtMs, Lt 259, 1899, 5)
We have nothing to pay for a press, and we need it badly. Will you accommodate us in this? If you can do this at once, we will be very thankful. The work here could be much advanced in having a press to aid us in doing the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 259, 1899, 6)
Lt 260, 1899
Wellman, Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia October 11, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Wellman:
I cannot sleep past one o’clock a.m., and the mail goes this morning. I wish to express to you that your liberal donation offered to [the] cause of God in this missionary field is accepted as a much needed blessing. I feared I could not get time to write a word because special matters of the school have taken our time quite fully. The closing exercises were good. The presence of the Lord was with us, and we are of good courage.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 1)
The Health Retreat that we have ventured to put up in Cooranbong was much needed. It is heavily in debt, and we had come to a standstill. We could go no farther. But the means coming from California enables us to pay the workmen, [and] to advance in putting on the plastering. The furnishing is still [to] be done.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 2)
Brother Owen, who came to the conference, helped us much. He furnished the material, and he has made, free of charge with the exception of his board, three bathtubs and an immense tank to furnish water for the retreat. This is thankfully received and has saved us quite an expense. We are so thankful at the prospect of having a place where we can care for the sick. We have made our own home a hospital for the sick; but soon this building will be in running order, and we are grateful. We know the Lord has put it into your hearts to do this, to impart of your means as His stewards.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 3)
We are working as fast as possible to follow the directions of the Lord to add new territory to the cause of God. The light comes, “Go forward, enter new territories, and the ministering angels will go before you. You are not to put boundaries to the aggressive warfare. Erect memorials in humble houses of worship, and secure a place for the Lord’s little flock who shall be cast out from the nominal churches. But your greatest success will be in commencing [to work with] the class that are not converted. Religious prejudice will not stand in their way.”
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 4)
This has been our experience from the first. Men and women who have not attended meetings in the church for sixteen years have given up their tobacco, their drinking wine and liquor, and have been converted and make the best workers we have.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 5)
Last year we attended the camp meeting held in Queensland, in Brisbane. This year the camp meeting will be held [at] Toowomba, several hours’ less ride than Brisbane. We leave tomorrow for that place.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 6)
I am of good courage in the Lord. I know that the Lord is preparing the way before us in this new world. We see so much to be done, and means and workers are so much needed. We pray the Lord for strength. We must have it. Every blessing we have received of the Lord is to be imparted, and the Lord will give His Holy Spirit in large measure to all who will receive it.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 7)
Again I thank you for your liberal gift.
(14LtMs, Lt 260, 1899, 8)
Lt 261, 1899
Hickox, Brother and Sister “Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia December 22, 1899 Previously unpublished. Dear Brother and Sister Hickox:
I would like to understand what you are doing and the result of your labors. I do not know as I explained to you that the horse in your charge was, if driven fast and continuous, subject to lameness. But with careful treatment—bathing his limbs and rubbing them—he improves and will not show the lameness. I would have let Sisters Wilson and Robertson have the use of the horse, but I knew that they could not have the care of the horse and give it proper attention. It must not be driven long distances, but this is unnecessary for me to say. The horse is a free horse and has no ungainly tricks and is perfectly safe, but do not pull the lines or hold them tight. Brother Haskell himself had not learned that to some horses this is unbearable and makes them nearly frantic.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 1)
I was sorry that you did not get a two-seated wagon, for then you could have taken two of our sister workers sometimes and, in so doing, accommodated them very much. I told you I did not give the use of [the] horse to you and the sisters, for I know what this means. There must be one in charge to know how much the horse has been driven and [not] keep it on the go all the time for this one and that one and the other one. Poor dumb animals have not the power of speech, and if they had, there would be some astonishing revelations in regard to thoughtless drivers, and also of the inhumanity and unmercifulness of man to dumb creatures.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 2)
I am anxious to know how you are getting along. What are your prospects? There is a most important work to be done. When you and your wife sing, let it be the simple revival hymns. They have enough of the long, dry hymns in the churches. We hope you will seek the Lord most earnestly; there is your strength. Do not be discouraged. Depend wholly on God. You can be deepening in piety and love for God and for souls, and you can, if you work in Christlike simplicity, have a marked success. Come right to the hearts of the people. This can be done in sympathy and in love. Work in faith [and] claim the promises of God.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 3)
“The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” [Matthew 11:12.] Sometimes there is need of patience united with perseverance, that “as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and return not thither again, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish the thing whereunto I sent it.” [Isaiah 55:10, 11.] Now, this warrants us to have a very strong expectation. We need more faith, much more faith. You must give yourselves far more to earnest, humble prayer and ask with the simplicity of a child. There is a deeper experience for you to gain. Search the Word of life and let the Lord’s Word come to the people through you.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 4)
I want much that you should sink the shaft deep in the mines of truth and possess yourself of the heavenly treasure. Make every point simple [in order] to be comprehended by the souls that do not take in the truth because it is new and strange to them. There must be “line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.” [Isaiah 28:10.] Cut away everything that will interpose your prayers. Come in meekness as a learner, and ask counsel and advice of Brother Colcord and your brethren, because you do not always move with the best judgment and have laid too large confidence in your own plans. Now, the Lord would have every one of the workers in His service bind heart to heart [and] be united. The more humbly you walk before God, the greater will be your power with the people.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 5)
Do not dwell upon subjects the people cannot comprehend, but dwell on those subjects that will have the largest amount of Christ in them—His law, of course, is the message for this time—and come close to the people. Your success is in God. Commune with God and guard yourself, for your plans that often seem wise to you need remodeling before they can be safe for you to follow. When you draw out your heart toward God by an actual trust, when you have urged a particular promise to God in your prayer, then believe in submission, yet hope, for God never yet has failed a believing, trusting soul. We may lay hold on God by virtue of a double chain: by virtue of the single promise that first drew out your soul to ask, [and] then another promise made if you trust. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, who putteth his trust in Thee,” (this is your legacy) “because he trusteth in Thee.” [Isaiah 26:3.]
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 6)
Abide close by the written Word of God. The Lord Jesus is the Author and Finisher of your faith. In Christ’s human nature He was both a man of faith and a man of prayer—His was the highest of all instances in believing prayer. Walk humbly with God; walk softly before Him. Every visit you make, be sure and pray if there is any sick where you call. Pray for the sick that God would raise them up, for you know not who shall be greatly blessed in the kingdom of God. But I must close this letter.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 7)
Come as a humble servant of God before the people and lift up Jesus. Talk of the love of Christ. Talk of His power to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him. Wind yourself into the confidence of the people—for you have a large circle to visit—and put in all the time you can to see men and women, to plead with them, to enlighten them. Press your way through the moral darkness of unbelief, taking the people with you if you can. Work and pray and urge your way through the moral darkness.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 8)
May the Lord give you souls, precious souls, is my prayer in your behalf and all who are connected with the work.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 9)
In love.
(14LtMs, Lt 261, 1899, 10)
Lt 262, 1899
Jones, C. H. NP Circa 1899 Previously unpublished. Not sent. [Dear Brother C. H. Jones:]
I had a very trying day yesterday. Could not sleep after twelve o'clock p.m. and had an unpleasant day. Rode out but it did me no real good. Took treatment and went to bed. This morning I am better. Slept until 3:00 a.m.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 1)
Brother Jones, I received and read your letter, and I am the one to be greatly surprised that you caution me to not let anyone receive the idea that I receive royalty from the published testimonies. What do you mean? Do you think I am trying to conceal anything in reference to my books? Have you not had evidence that I am one with the cause of God; that I call nothing my own; that I have borrowed, or rather hired, at least twelve thousand dollars on which I pay interest to press the work in Australia because I must see it established in righteousness? My brethren in America are not doing their part to open the work in new fields.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 2)
I am so sorry that every evidence that I could give has still left upon your mind a cloudy impression of suspicion and criticism, ready to think thoughts that ought never to enter your minds. You must study deeper, my brother, from cause to effect. My conscience is clear before God. I value earthly possessions, gold or silver, as nothingness in comparison with the souls for whom Christ has given His life. And if the work had been done in American cities, in California and east of the Rocky Mountains, that God made it possible for you to do, there would today be memorials in cities nigh and places afar off where houses of worship would stand as God’s memorials, as in Oakland, and a much larger number would be representing the truth of God in many places.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 3)
I felt a heart weariness and death-like sickness come upon me as I read your representations and see that you and [other] ministering brethren are so dull of comprehension. Would you have me produce bricks without straw? Where shall I obtain the money to pay my workers to produce books? I thought after reading your letter that, as far as I am concerned, the farther I am located from our institutions and from those who stand in responsible places, the better, far better, would it be for me in the accomplishment of the work God has given me to do. You seem to be so shortsighted. Would you be so shortsighted concerning your own work? I know you would not. Would it not be according to the law of God for you to be as sharp in looking at the things of others as well as at those things you are handling? I will propose to you [that you] make no charge for the press work, and I will donate the manuscript, and then sell them for their net value and put the money in the cause.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 4)
The words of your letter surprised me very much and revealed to me that I need never expect that brethren and sisters who ought to comprehend are in mind and heart and spirit where they can possibly understand the nature and character of the work God has given me to do. They seem to suppose they know, when this letter from you reveals to me an inwardness of willing ignorance of human comprehension which should not be entertained. Am I to be compelled to specify things and explain that which should be self-evident to any intelligent mind? You should not be surprised, nor any other of our brethren, that I receive royalty on the testimonies that I give to the people. Whoever gave you or any other man the supposition that the important task of preparing the manuscripts was a free gift? Elder Butler thought at one time that the testimonies should be given to the people without anything in the line of royalty coming to me. Some of our brethren have thought and spoken that, too.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 5)
In Australia I have had a very hard, laborious work to do; so also has W. C. White. He is called to take the responsibilities, largely, in councils, and I have had no help except for a typewriter and Sister Davis, who is intelligent in regard to my work. Those who have little experience with me and the laborious work every day of my life are unable to comprehend the matter by telling them. It is not possible for their minds to have any just appreciation of my work or that perception to understand. I was so pleased to obtain help of one who I knew respected the testimonies but who, as a minister, was receiving three pounds per week. But I did not hesitate to employ him. His health was not good.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 6)
While this matter had all been published in small pamphlets as private testimonies for the churches, composing a book to be circulated for all our people demanded the most careful labor to prepare. To have just that much done cost three pounds per week and was a slow process. Then, after this work was done, when my mind was in its most clear and unburdened condition, I must go over every line of the work prepared to examine every word, that nothing should be placed in the book that could open the door for naturally severe men to use one expression [that would] encourage them to use the words in the Testimony as a whip to apply to scourge others—work some were ever ready to do, and have done, and will continue to do, because they have not the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 7)
I dare not place in manuscripts for publication many words entirely as they [were meant to] be, as I have spoken them and they have been reported—just as they came from my lips, just as God has moved me to speak—knowing that some who handle them may interpret these words to suit their own unsanctified spirit to bruise and to wound souls. Yet others will take the words to serve their own purposes to gain some point, and, in repeating the testimonies with a spirit of their own, make them of none effect. Every word was truth, but the great want of love and kindness and the Spirit of God to properly give the interpretation of the things written has led me to great carefulness, [because the] impression that I know should be present with the testimonies borne [is lacking, and it] makes me afraid.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 8)
For some length of time I have been paying two pounds per week for one to classify and examine all the writing that has been collecting in testimonies for many years, and to select the portions that give light upon various points—of correcting evils in the family government and in the church government, in warnings, in restraint, and in encouraging the ones who need to be strengthened and sustained. [Two lines torn here.] ... the particular things they wish to bring to pass would not mix in them words of interpretation, so that the congregation cannot possibly distinguish what is testimony from the Lord or what are the words of the man who handles them. These things, in preparing testimonies, are the most severe on me of any class of labor possible.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 9)
I think it is above twelve years that there has not been any testimonies prepared and got out in book form. But I have worn out typewriters and paid for the labors of persons to use these typewriters and the paper and all things required to reproduce copies to go all over the world where our people are. I have many hours less sleep than persons usually have; I am awakened at all times of night to write with an intensity that no one can understand. [Two lines torn here.]
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 10)
“Ye have eyes but ye see not.” [Jeremiah 5:21.] If it was thus in Christ’s day, it is no less thus in this our day. Christ, the greatest Teacher the world ever knew, on occasions when He knew His words were misinterpreted, said, “Ye hear my words but ye understand not.” Said He on one occasion, “Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my words.” Truth was not palatable to them. “Because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? and if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God.” [John 8:43, 45-47.] [Read] Isaiah 6:8-11.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 11)
There are at this time many things that might be said that have to be left unsaid, for the people have not been imbued with the Spirit of God to take them in. A view of God’s infinite majesty and holiness will bring a deep sense of their own deficiency of spiritual understanding. The great work to be done in our institutions requires plain, direct, decided testimony—for they are just as much in need of them as the people in Christ’s day.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 12)
What, Brother Jones, do you mean and what are you talking about, as though I must say nothing about receiving the means expended for help in bringing out the Testimonies, means which I have to pay for collecting and preparing this matter for the Testimonies. I have never had anything to conceal. It would be just as appropriate for our people to advance the idea of my having no remuneration for Desire of Ages, Patriarchs and Prophets, Great Controversy, and all the other writings. I did not suppose anyone was in darkness upon this point. Therefore I will inform them.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 13)
Of the testimonies, these are the most difficult matters to manage, because the varied minds will interpret them to mean that which they do not mean. It requires most taxing and perplexing discretion as to what shall come in print and what shall be withheld. We do not desire to make bare our weakness to unbelievers, lest they will glory in the fact that Sabbathkeeping Adventists are faulty and love of the Lord does not convert their souls. I shall, I hope, ever carry myself and the work the Lord has given me to do in accordance with the instruction I have received from the One who has given me my work to do—the most trying and difficult work that can ever be given to human agencies.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 14)
I did not suppose that persons of reasoning faculties would suppose that the light given of God for the people could be prepared for publication and brought out without the most critical, taxing preparation so that our own people shall be benefited and that every word should be so carefully guarded that the unbelieving world cannot take occasion to reproach our people. When the numbers of unbelievers were few, the matter could be handled with much less difficulty. I have to cut out some statements from the private testimonies, that the cause of God shall not be dishonored, and thus our precious work shall not become the sport of Satan’s handling. These testimonies have been sent to the ones to be warned and reproved. But the way the testimonies have been handled has made it a necessity to present the matters before the household of faith, and the truth must appear as it is, for one claims Sister White has said in testimony this, and another, that, and the other, something else. I now have to present the matter as it is.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 15)
A small portion only will appear now. I cannot give the strength and time I desire before this coming Conference. I am not at all worried about my debts, although they are heavy. I have a desire to be in a position where I can settle them, but if I can still see a chance where I can rally my brethren by my own example, taking hold and doing something to extend the work, I shall not stop to get out of debt first but try to create interests which will be producing and not continually consuming.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 16)
I have had the key presented to me how the cause of God can be advanced and the subject agitated, and then the presentation will make its own impression. But as sure as the beginning is made, there will be obstacles. I want to stand in that consecrated position where I dare, in the name of the Lord, to obey the command from divine instruction, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, ... baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:19, 20.]
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 17)
You express, perhaps, the thoughts of many, but truth is truth, and I am to stand clear in the sight of God and never expect to be understood by many in this life. Many will continue to use the testimonies as they are doing. That which points out their individual defects in character they choose to war against, and they say, I do not believe that. They will continue to cover their faults as with a garment, but the Lord’s words are not changed, whether you receive or reject it.
(14LtMs, Lt 262, 1899, 18)