Brethren Connected with the Review and Herald
Granville, N. S. W., Australia
June 19, 1895
From Lt 65, 1895, which is published in entirety in 1888 1394-1407.
To the Brethren Connected with the Review and Herald Office:
November 8, 1898
Read before the Review and Herald Board
Did the Lord counsel you to devise the various means that have been devised to work and control human minds? No, I tell you, no. Did your devising in regard to the Gospel Primer meet the approval of God? No; the principle upon which you acted was wrong. Individual service is to be rendered to God, not to be controlled by any one man or set of men. Movements have been made that mean much in their outworking. Men who are serving where they should not be have sent an example that is leavening the conferences. The presidents of conferences are being imbued with a spirit to rule, to require men to bow to their judgment; if any refuse, the course pursued toward them is such as to fill heaven with indignation. 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 1
How can God move upon the churches to contribute their hard-earned means to be handled by men who are self-sufficient, self-centered, and so arrogant and overbearing that the frown of God is upon them? Our institutions need cleansing as did the temple when Christ was upon the earth. Man lords it over men’s consciences; man dictates to his fellow men as a god. Everywhere throughout the field this spirit is leavening hearts with the same narrow and selfish purposes. Reaction must come, and who shall then set things in order? Jesus says, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23. 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 2
The pure principles of the publishing institution have not been stoutly maintained. “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people hath changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” Read Jeremiah 2:11-14, 21, 22, 34. 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 3
The principles manifested in dealing with individuals, in restricting and oppressing them, are not in accordance with the mind of the Spirit of God. The Lord will not countenance this kind of work from your hands. He will not have His work and His cause bear the mark of any man’s injustice. I repeat the warnings. Be sure that you reveal the religion of love, not of bigotry. “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. If you continue to advance in the same course you have pursued in dealing with God’s heritage, such a condition of things will soon be produced that God will manifest the folly and unrighteousness of men. 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 4
Men in sacred office ought not to be sanctioned and upheld while they are descending to the world’s level, dragging after them the banner of truth. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I urge that the world’s spirit and maxims, their likings, their principles, shall not leaven the churches. Shall the principles of heaven be discarded as in the days of Noah? Shall he that departeth from evil make himself a prey to sharp, critical, designing men? In the last work, the last call, the last message of warning to the world, shall we give the trumpet an uncertain sound? There is a broad, distinct line drawn by the eternal God between worldly policy and the unselfish, undeviating principles of justice, righteousness, and equity. ... 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 5
The Lord permitted the men in the Review office to have an opportunity of manifesting what character they would develop. They have shown that they could not resist the temptation to commit robbery of God, if they had a chance, confederating to take from His treasury all they could grasp; some were ready to receive more than they did. They knew that this was unjust and dishonest. Are they as willing that others should have what is only their due because God has given them ability, tact, mental capacity, equal to, and in advance of, them? No, no; they would bring under contribution to the treasury every available talent of ability to acquire means to be employed in the advancement of the work. Their tact in this line of robbery is great. They felt authorized to accept of large remuneration for their own work [while] restricting others, denying them the opportunities and means Providence had offered them to labor as His instrumentalities, to carry on His work. God says, “I hate robbery for burnt offering.” Isaiah 61:8. The men who value their own souls will, by the grace of God, guard against the first tinge of unfairness in deal, the first approach to the ungodly practices of the world—the practices that prevailed in the days of Noah and Lot. The poison has been at work for a long time, and others are drinking of the cup. ... 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 6
I have had the matter presented before me: If any one is moved by the Spirit of God to publish a book which is adapted to supply a need, to advance the truth, and the selfish spirits works to bring the book under their control, then the men who conduct these matters have much to learn on this point. God says, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” Hosea 6:6. 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 7
There is a disposition to grasp everything, and to destroy individuality and ignore individual accountability; yet no compunction has thus far been aroused. A state of things is coming in after the mold of men, and not after the Lord’s order. When the truth becomes an abiding principle in the soul, then we shall see the words of the prophet fulfilled: instead of the thorn, the fir-tree will spring up; instead of the brier, the myrtle, and life’s desert will blossom as the rose. [Isaiah 55:13; 35:1.] 10LtMs, Lt 122, 1895, par. 8