(Written November, 1903, from St. Helena, California, to “My Brethren Laboring in Battle Creek.”)
I have been wondering why we do not hear from any of you. You must know that we are very anxious to hear regarding the spiritual interests of the work in Battle Creek. I do not understand why you are so silent. If any real change has taken place, we should surely hear from you. 19MR 356.1
I hope that you will be true and faithful to help Dr. Kellogg. He is in a perilous condition. His case is a heavy burden on my soul. It would be a great relief to me to hear that he is reaching a place where he can see the terrible mistakes he has made. He needs to understand the simplicity of truth. He needs to realize that the Lord will not accept him unless he sees the mistake that he has been making, and turns to the Lord with full purpose of heart. How can a man who has had such great light link up with evil angels? And while he does this, how can he be accepted as a guide of our people to stand at the head of the medical missionary work? 19MR 356.2
I often think of how wonderfully the Lord has guided Dr. Kellogg by reproof, by counsel, by encouragement. Letter after letter has been sent to him. The portions that spoke in commendation of him, he would read to his fellow workers, but he did not read the portions that pointed out his errors. 19MR 356.3
Instruction has now been given me that I must place in the hands of our ministers and physicians the light given me for Dr. Kellogg, or they will make mistakes similar to the mistakes that he has made. 19MR 356.4
Our medical missionary workers know scarcely anything of the instruction that for the past twenty years the Lord in mercy has been sending him. He has had testimony after testimony in regard to the danger of centering so much in Battle Creek, and the necessity of opening new fields, making plants in many places. Again and again the Lord has declared that it was His will that the company of workers collected in Battle Creek should be broken up into several companies; but no change has been made. 19MR 357.1
If Dr. Kellogg would stand solidly with his ministering brethren, they could help him, and he could help them. But he has started on a track which, if followed, will lead to the tearing down of the foundation upon which our faith is based. Spiritualistic sentiments have been presented in so plausible a manner that our medical missionary workers have been fascinated by them. I pray that they will not continue to foster these ideas. Their work now is to put away from them these pleasing fables. 19MR 357.2
My brother, I cannot understand how you could tell me that there is in the Living Temple nothing that is not in harmony with what we as a people believe. I thought you a true watchman, quick to see when evil from the enemy was stealing into our ranks. I thought you would be wide-awake to discern the approach of the enemy, and give the alarm. The rebuke of God rests upon you because you did not discern the dangerous character of the fables that were being circulated. The rebuke of God is upon every minister and every medical missionary leader who has been asleep on the walls of Zion, when as vigilant watchmen they should have warned the people of the Lord against the dangers threatening them. 19MR 357.3
Wonderful scenes, with which Satan will be closely connected, will soon take place. God's Word declares that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring Seventh-day Adventists to the test. Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ. His instruction is not palatable to them. 19MR 358.1
Let us study the Word of God. Let us make it a part of our lives, bringing its teachings into the daily experience. Thus only can we gain the knowledge that will enable us, in these days of peril, to distinguish the true from the false. Study the sixth chapter of John. It contains instruction that is indeed the mystery of godliness. “Search the Scriptures,” Christ said, “for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me” [John 5:39]. 19MR 358.2
“Ye will not come unto Me, that ye might have life,” Christ continued [verse 40]. This is the trouble with some who have had great light. God has honored them, but they have not reflected His glory. 19MR 358.3
“I receive not honor from men. But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” [verses 41-43]. 19MR 358.4
History will be repeated. The time will come, Christ tells us, when many deceivers will go forth declaring themselves to be the Christ. The Saviour says, “Go ye not after them” [Luke 17:23]. We need not be deceived. 19MR 358.5
“How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?” [John 5:44-47]. 19MR 358.6
The Great Medical Missionary—“After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples” [John 6:1-3]. 19MR 359.1
He had retired to a secluded place with His disciples, but this rare season of peaceful solitude was soon broken. Some among the multitude they had left had noticed the direction in which they had gone. Many went by land to meet them, while others followed in their boats across the water. Before Christ reached the shore, a multitude was waiting for Him. But He landed unobserved by them, and spent a little time apart with His disciples. 19MR 359.2
From the hillside He looked upon the moving multitude, and His heart was stirred with sympathy. Interrupted as He was, and robbed of His rest, He was not impatient. He saw a greater necessity demanding His attention as He watched the people coming and still coming. He was “moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd” [Mark 6:34]. Leaving His retreat, He found a convenient place where He could minister to them. They received no help from the priests and rulers, but the healing waters of life flowed from Christ as He taught the multitude the way of salvation. 19MR 359.3
The people listened to the words of mercy flowing so freely from the lips of the Son of God. They heard the gracious words, so simple and so plain that they were as the balm of Gilead to their souls. The healing of His divine hand brought gladness and life to the dying, and ease and health to those suffering with disease. The day seemed to them like heaven upon earth, and they were utterly unconscious of how long it had been since they had eaten anything. 19MR 359.4
At length the day was far spent. The sun was sinking in the west, and yet the people lingered. Jesus had labored all day without food or rest. He was pale from weariness and hunger, and the disciples besought Him to cease from His toil. But He could not withdraw Himself from the multitude that pressed upon Him. 19MR 360.1
The disciples finally came to Him urging that for His own sake the people should be sent away. Many had come from far, and had eaten nothing since morning. In the surrounding towns and villages they might be able to buy food. But Jesus said, “Give ye them to eat” [Matthew 14:16], and then, turning to Philip, questioned, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” [John 6:5]. This He said to test the faith of the disciples. Philip looked over the sea of heads, and thought how impossible it would be to provide food to satisfy the wants of such a crowd. He answered that two hundred pennyworth of bread would not be nearly enough to divide amongst them, so that each might have a little. 19MR 360.2
Jesus inquired how much food could be found among the company. “There is a lad here,” said Andrew, “which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” [John 6:9]. Jesus directed that these be brought to Him. Then He bade the disciples seat the people on the grass in parties of fifty or a hundred, to preserve order and that all might witness what He was about to do. When this was accomplished, Jesus took the food, “and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude” [Matthew 14:19]. “And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes” [Mark 6:42, 43]. 19MR 360.3
Christ, the Son of God, was appointed by the Father to come to this world as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and great Medical Missionary. He was not only to heal the sick, but was also to take away sin and raise the dead. He came as the Life-giver. How much He will be to those in our medical institutions who truly believe in Him as the Great Healer! How much He will do for the sick and suffering who come to these institutions, if the physicians and nurses point them to Him as the Life-giver, telling them that if they will commit themselves to His keeping, He will take away their suffering of mind, and give them rest and peace! 19MR 361.1
There is no work in which the workers need a closer fellowship with Christ than the medical missionary work. Oh, how greatly the physician, as he stands at the bedside of a sufferer, needs an intimate acquaintance with Christ. The one to whom he is ministering may be losing his hold on this life. Can he, with tenderness and simplicity, and with the assurance of certain knowledge, speak to him of the One who died that He might say to every sinner, “Thy sins be forgiven thee” [Mark 2:5]? 19MR 361.2
The physician is to stand in Christ's stead, bearing to the sick the gospel of physical and spiritual healing. Physicians should be men conversant with God, one with Christ. To souls on the brink of the grave they will be called on to speak the words of life, fresh and healing. 19MR 361.3
In order to be truly successful, the physician must live in close relation to Christ. He must cherish a constant sense that he is one of the Lord's chosen instruments, appointed to bear to the sick the word of life, to declare to them that if they receive Christ as a personal Saviour, they will be given power to become the sons of God. It is in the power of every physician, in his work for the sick, to be a gospel teacher, bearing to those to whom he ministers the sure cure for sin, pointing them to the Lamb of God, who alone can make successful the physical treatment given. In the simplest of language, he is to speak of the Saviour, his heart filled with a longing for the salvation of the one to whom he is speaking. 19MR 361.4
Our physicians need a deeper insight into the evangelistic work that God expects them to do. Let them remember that if they do not work for the healing of the soul as well as for the healing of the body, they are not following the example of the great Medical Missionary. Let them study the Word of God diligently, that they may be familiar with its promises, and may be able, in tenderness and love, to point sinners to the Great Healer. 19MR 362.1
It was to bring spiritual as well as physical healing to the sick that our sanitariums were established. If physicians only realized it, they could often do more to restore the sick to health by ministering to the needs of the soul than by confining their efforts to the body. 19MR 362.2
The physician is to be a constant receiver of the grace of Christ. Constantly he is to be under the control of God's holy law. He is to remember that Christ has authorized the God-fearing physician to regard himself as a laborer together with God. 19MR 362.3
When Christ sent His disciples out on their first missionary journey, He said to them, “As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” [Matthew 10:7, 8]. And when at the close of His earthly ministry He gave them their commission, He said, “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. 19MR 362.4
“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” [Mark 16:17, 18, 20]. 19MR 363.1
The words spoken to the disciples are spoken to us also. None need think that the day for working as the apostles worked is past. Men and women today can work as Christ has given them example. To all will come opportunities to minister to sin-sick souls and to those in need of physical healing. Physical healing is a science of heavenly birth, bound up with the gospel commission. 19MR 363.2
We have a work to do that we have not done. Our faith is to be broader, deeper, more trustful than it has been. We are to bring all our necessities to Christ, knowing that He will supply our need. Since one soul is of more value in God's sight than the whole world, let us act as genuine medical missionaries. Christ has given us our work. The deeper our appreciation of His love, the keener will be our sense of need, and the stronger our faith. And we shall receive according to our faith. 19MR 363.3
Our belief in Christ is not to be a casual belief, but a belief that enters into every part of the life. Such a belief leads us to ask Him to supply our need because we realize that He is our only dependence. A casual belief admits that He is the Redeemer, but does not honor Him by receiving Him as a friend, a helper. Those who have such a belief do not know the meaning of the words, “Without Me ye can do nothing” [John 15:5]. They work without taking Christ into their confidence. 19MR 363.4
The Saviour is willing to help all who call upon Him for wisdom and clearness of thought. And who needs wisdom and clearness of thought more than the physician, upon whose decisions so much depends? 19MR 363.5
The Lord would have our physicians cooperate with Him in their treatment of the sick, showing more faith and using fewer drugs. Let us rely upon God. Our faith is feeble and our hearts remain unchanged. God would have a change take place. He says, “A new heart also will I give you” [Ezekiel 36:26]. When this promise is fulfilled to the people of God, the condition of things will be very different from what it now is. 19MR 363.6
The newborn soul is to follow on to know the Lord, until he knows that his going forth is prepared as the morning. This is a science that you can afford to study. It will bring you peace and assurance. As you draw near to God, you will realize that He is drawing near to you. 19MR 364.1
Shall not our workers avail themselves of their high privilege in Christ—sanctification through the truth? Oh, how much our souls need to be revived, quickened, spiritualized, filled with a love for the Lord, that leads them to choose His society, saying with real satisfaction, “In the Lord will I rejoice. His Word is my comfort and guide.” A constant reliance upon Christ for success gives an abiding satisfaction. It is a source of peace that the world can neither give nor take away. 19MR 364.2
Into the medical missionary work there must be brought more of a yearning for souls. It was this yearning that filled the hearts of those who established our first medical institution. 19MR 364.3
Christ is to be present in the sickroom, filling your heart with the sweetness of His love. When your life is such that Christ can go with you to the bedside of the sick, there will come to you the conviction that He, the compassionate Saviour, is in the room, and this conviction will do much to restore them to health. 19MR 364.4
In word and deed the physicians and nurses in our medical institutions are to say so plainly that it cannot be misunderstood, “God is in this place,” to save, not to destroy. 19MR 364.5
Christ invites our physicians to become acquainted with Him. When they respond to His invitation, they will know that they receive the things they ask for. Their minds will be enlightened by wisdom from above. Constantly beholding the Saviour, they will become more and more like Him, till at last it can be said of them in the heavenly courts, “Ye are complete in Him” [Colossians 2:10]. Christ has pledged Himself to give His disciples what they ask for in His name. As they labor in harmony with Him, they can ask Him to aid them in every time of need.—Letter 275, 1903. 19MR 365.1
Ellen G. White Estate
Washington, D. C.,
September 8, 1988.
Entire Letter.