Your letters have been received and carefully read. I will now write a few lines in reply. I thank you for writing, for your letters have taken a heavy weight off my heart. I greatly desire that you shall both so will and so do that God will be honored and glorified by your service in the Sanitarium. I know that changes must be made, and we shall help you in every way possible.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 1

I felt like weeping when I read Sister Sanderson’s letter. I thank the Lord, my sister, that you are resolved to open your heart to the Saviour. I would not speak one word to discourage you. I will try to help you in every way that I can. My heart is drawn out to pray for you, not to depress you. My prayer is, “Lord, increase Sister Sanderson’s faith. Let the operation of the Holy Spirit be felt on her mind. Take her into a sacred nearness to thine heart of infinite love.”16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 2

God alone can lead you to so recognize His mercy, love, and forbearance that you will have the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. This is the gift of God. It is the opening of the heart to receive the Word which is as the leaves of the tree of life. May God fill your heart with His love so that it may be said that you, my sister, have purified your soul by obeying the truth. Believing in Christ and receiving His transforming grace is not guess-work, but a work which causes Christ’s virtues to be reflected in mind and character. When you gain this experience you will say, “I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. The Lord Jesus shall be my portion forever.” [See Psalm 34:8; 73:26.] The power of the cross will move in you the mysterious springs of hope and fear, adoration, and love. Angels are watching and waiting and will witness to the fact that the world has you not. Jesus has found you sitting at His feet to learn from Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Henceforth, surrendering your will to the will of Christ, you are drawn into a region where the cross is the central object. The world fades from your view. The glory shining from the threshold of heaven is the all-attractive influence. The riches of the grace of Christ hold you in willing obedience. You delight in the precious blessings of your allegiance. You are only too glad to impart to others the gift you have received.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 3

I long to see you improving the capabilities given you by God so that you can respond to the inquiry, “What must I do to be saved?” Let the words fall from sanctified lips, “Be saved by accepting Christ by faith as your personal Saviour.” God is love. The sinner need not perish if he will exercise faith in the wonderful efficacy of the cross of Christ. The cross is the stupendous expedient by which is harmonized the love and justice of God. It is the sinner’s only means of salvation. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” [John 1:29.] The image of His love may be so stamped upon the mind that it can never be effaced. Then Jesus Christ will be so evidently set forth crucified before you that you will be a partaker of the dignity of His suffering. I have such an intense longing that you may look into the heart of this great mystery and find that its interpretation is Love.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 4

“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.” [1 John 2:24-29.]16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 5

I want to see Sister Sanderson standing on vantage ground as one who has spiritual dominion over the powers of darkness. Cultivate love. “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” [1 John 4:7-14.]16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 6

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world. ... We love him, because he first loved us.” [Verses 15-17, 19.]16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 7

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” [1 John 5:1-5.]16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 8

Sister Sanderson, I am pleading with God for your soul’s salvation. I feel an intense desire to see you free and happy in Christ Jesus, your heart full of the grace of God. I cannot endure the thought that you shall remain where you are. I cannot let you go. I long for your soul in Jesus Christ. I want to see you obtaining victory after victory. I have been conversing with you in the visions of the night. I saw your countenance changed by the reflection of the Spirit of God, and I was made joyful in the Lord.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 9

What you expressed in your letter gave me hope and courage to believe that you will be truly converted and be a help to your husband. Your letter was an encouragement to me, and though the enemy may tell you that I do not care for you, do not believe him. I do care for your soul. I have spoken plainly to you by letter because I wished to tell you the truth and arouse you to make the determined effort you can make if you will. I want to see you and your husband free in God right here in the Sanitarium. Then you will not move under false impressions.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 10

Never was there a time in your experience when you were so much in need of a whole-hearted conversion as you are now. You have not yet sufficiently touched the vital springs of happiness. When you know your Saviour, when you realize that He is precious to your soul, you will have found your way to the wellspring of life and will be able to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Let your mind come fully and habitually under the belief that Christ loves you. As you make a full surrender of your will to God’s will, your way to God’s way, you will learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart, and will find rest unto your soul. A calm confidence will preside over you. Your heart will possess a dignity to which before it was a stranger. You will experience more and more clearly the sense of an ever-present, all-pervading Saviour. This will give the soul power to hold its stability, power which the changing circumstances of earth cannot undermine. It plants the feet upon a solid rock. Then you can sing with the spirit and with the understanding also. Under all discouraging circumstances your heart will rejoice in your Saviour.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 11

You will find opportunity to speak words of hope to the weary and the desponding. When you are converted, you can give instruction to many disheartened souls. As you contemplate God and heaven, you will love to minister, and you will feel a sacred, solemn awe as you realize that you are ministering in connection with the hand of God, which opens only to do good.16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 12

In love,16LtMs, Lt 123, 1901, par. 13

Lt 122, 1901

Lt 124, 1901