[See Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 201-208,
for a similar, though not identical, presentation.]
At this time--the last days of this earth's
history--we are to make the book of Revelation a special study.
Why? Because it depicts the scenes that we are to meet. We need
to understand what we are to meet, and how we are to meet it.
We must know what efforts we are to make, so that, in this perilous
time, we shall not be taken by the enemy's devices. We know that
the last great conflict will be Satan's most determined effort
to accomplish his purposes. He will come, not only as a roaring
lion, but as a seducer, clothing sin with beautiful garments
of light, that he may take human beings in his snare.
The Lord desires us to realize that it
is of great importance that we stand in these last days upon
the platform of eternal truth. Those who think that the church
militant is the church triumphant make a great mistake. The church
militant will gain great triumphs, but it will also have fierce
conflicts with evil, that it may be firmly established upon the
platform of eternal truth. And every one of us should be determined
to stand with the church upon this platform.
[Rev. 1:1-3, 9-13, 17-20 quoted.]
Thus Christ instructed John. It is the
word of God that you will find in the book of Revelation. There
are those today who call the Revelation a sealed book. But it
is a mystery unfolded. We need to understand what it tells us
in regard to the scenes that are to take place in the last days
of this earth's history. The enemy
will bring in everything that he possibly can to carry out his
deceptive designs. Are they not lacking in wisdom who have no
desire to understand in regard to the things that are to take
place on this earth?
I am so sorry that Living Temple came out
as it did, and was circulated, and the worst of it--that which
struck right to my heart--was the assertion made regarding the
book: "It contains the very sentiments that Sister White
has been teaching." When I heard this, I felt so heartbroken
that it seemed as if I could not say anything. Had I said anything,
I would have been obliged to speak the truth as it was.
Representations had been shown me that
some danger was approaching, and that I must prepare for it.
I must write out the things God had given me in order to prepare
for it.
I did not read Living Temple, though I
had it in my library. At last my son said to me, "Mother,
you ought to read at least some parts of the book, that you may
see whether they are in harmony with the light that God has given
you." He sat down beside me, and we read the paragraphs
to which he referred. When we had finished I turned to him and
said, "These are the very sentiments against which I was
bidden to speak in warning at the very beginning of my public
work. When I first left the State of Maine, it was to go through
Vermont and Massachusetts, to bear a testimony against these
sentiments. Living Temple contains the Alpha of these theories.
The Omega would follow in a little while. I tremble for our people.
These beautiful representations are similar to the temptation
that the enemy brought to Adam and Eve in Eden.
When but a girl I went to New Hampshire
to bear warning against these same doctrines. There was a man
by the name of Billings and another by the name of Bennet who were preaching a higher spirituality.
I was asked to meet these men, and I did so, giving them the
light that God had given me. In the meeting a great distress
came upon me. I was taken off in vision. The men began to triumph,
thinking that things were going their way. When I got up to bear
my testimony, they began to shout. I stopped and did not say
a word until they had finished. Then I went on and told them
plainly where the doctrines they were advocating would lead to.
I met these same doctrines in Dorchester,
Mass., where for a time I made my home. In one meeting held there
a man arose and after making a confession, said, "I have
listened today to the testimony of Ellen Harmon, and I feel as
if I had been partaking of the richest feast ever set before
me." In the past this man had been a model of piety, but
these seductive theories came before him--theories teaching that
men and women could live above all sin--and he accepted them.
What was the result? He left his wife and children and went to
live with another woman.
I was at this time nothing but a girl,
and I said, "Why am I left to bear this testimony?"
Said the one in whose house I was staying, "God knows why.
The men advocating these doctrines have a strong influence as
being very pious men, and if we were to say anything against
them, they would put us in prison. But you are a minor, and they
cannot touch you."
We met these theories again in Topsham,
Maine. A brother there, who had accepted them, was very sick,
and he wanted me to pray for him. I said, "I cannot pray
for you so long as you and these sisters are so free with one
another." He sent for Elder James White, who, when he came,
asked him, "What are you going to do?" "Do!"
he said, "Do you ask what I am going to do? I am going to
cut loose from all these evils. I am going to take my stand in
harmony with what Sister Ellen Harmon has been presenting to
me. I accept what she has said
as the word of the Lord." Thus the company with which he
was connected was broken up. And many more such companies were
broken up by the light that God gave me.
Thus I worked and suffered in my girlhood.
And all through my life I have had the same errors to meet, though
not always in the same form. In Living Temple the assertion is
made that God is in the flower, in the leaf, in the sinner. But
God does not live in the sinner. The Word declares that He abides
only in the hearts of those who love Him and do righteousness.
God does not abide in the heart of the sinner; it is the enemy
who abides there.
There are some things upon which we must
reason, and there are other things that we must not discuss.
In regard to God--what He is and where He is--silence is eloquence.
When you are tempted to speak of what God is, keep silence, because
as surely as you begin to speak of this, you will disparage Him.
Our ministers must be very careful not
to enter into controversy in regard to the personality of God.
This is a subject that they are not to touch. It is a mystery,
and the enemy will surely lead astray those who enter into it.
We know that Christ came in person to reveal God to the world.
God is a person and Christ is a person. Christ is spoken of in
the Word as "the brightness of His Father's glory, and the
express image of His person."
I was forbidden to talk with Dr. Kellogg
on this subject, because it is not a subject to be talked about.
And I was instructed that certain sentiments in Living Temple
were the Alpha of a long list of deceptive theories.
These sentiments have had an effect on
our people everywhere. Some think it strange that I write, "Do
not send your children to Battle Creek."
I was instructed in regard to the danger
of the worldly influence in Battle Creek. I have written hundreds
of pages regarding the danger of having so large a sanitarium,
and of calling so many young people together in one place. The
young people in Battle Creek are in danger. They will come in
contact with error. Years ago I did not think that they would
meet these errors right in the Sanitarium; but when Living Temple
came out, and some of our ministers told me that there was in
it nothing but what I had been teaching all my life, I saw how
great the danger was. I saw that blindness had fallen upon some
who had long known the truth. I pray that the Lord will open
the eyes of these ministers, that they may see the differences
between light and darkness, and between truth and error.
In a representation which passed before
me, I saw a certain work being done by medical missionary workers.
Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching what was being
done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of
our faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest
searching of the Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by
pillar. Our faith was to have nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary
was gone, the atonement was gone. I realized that something must
be done.
The battle nearly killed me. I saw what
was coming in, and I saw that our brethren were blind. They did
not realize the danger. Our young people, especially, were in
danger. They delighted in the beautiful representation--God in
the flower, God in the leaf, God in the tree. But if God be in
these things, why not worship them?
The reason I have published anything in
regard to the medical missionary work, was that the errors that
were coming in must be met. I did not design to meet them, but
in the visions of the night I saw a large ship far out at sea.
Suddenly the man on the lookout cried, "Iceberg ahead!"
Without hesitation the command
rang out, "Meet it." The engines were put on at full
force, and the vessel crashed into the iceberg. There was a tremendous
shock, and the ship quivered from stem to stern; but she rebounded
from the shock unhurt, and went safely on her way. After seeing
this representation. I knew what work I must do. I knew that
I must meet the errors that were coming in among us.
I have been hoping that there would be
a thorough reformation, that the principles for which we fought
in my girlhood, and which were brought out in the power of the
Holy Spirit, would be maintained. Night after night in our early
experience our brethren studied out the truths which we now hold.
When they came to something that they could not understand, they
would get down on their knees, and would remain there for hours
sometimes. Sometimes the sun would rise before they would give
up the struggle. At times, when they said, "We can do nothing
more," the power of God would come upon me, I would be taken
off in vision, and instruction would be given me. Then I could
explain what they could not understand. I would read the Scriptures
to them, never looking at the printed page. Thus light was given
in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood, and the
great points of our faith were firmly established.
But during this period of our experience,
my mind was locked to an understanding of the Scriptures. It
was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. Thus it was every
point of our faith was established in harmony with the Word of
God.
At this time I was living in the house
of Father Andrews. He was helpless with rheumatism, and was constantly
in great suffering. I knelt by his side and, laying my hands
on his head, asked Jesus to make him whole. The power of God
came upon him and he walked back and forth across the room, praising
the Lord.
Soon after this I was instructed by the
Lord that I should no longer mourn in regard to my inability
to understand the Scriptures. God unlocked my mind and ever since,
whenever I read His Word, a flood of light comes into my mind.
Thus the work went on and we were shown
where we must stand. Do you wonder that I have something to say
when I see the pillars of our faith beginning to be moved? Seductive
theories are being taught in such a way that we shall not recognize
them unless we have clear spiritual discernment. I will stand
firmly with everyone who will stand for the truth. But I do not
want our young people to flock into Battle Creek. They would
better not go there. Anyone who can be so utterly deceived as
to place the misleading sentiments contained in Living Temple
before our people, cannot be trusted as a teacher of the youth
until he is converted.
I have the tenderest sympathy for the physicians
associated with Dr. Kellogg. But I have no sympathy for their
failure to pass over the mistakes that they see made by Dr. Kellogg,
saying nothing about them. God will hold them accountable for
letting matters go without saying, "Doctor, you did not
do right that time." The poor man has loaded himself down
until the enemy finds him a very easy prey. Unless he changes
his course, and takes an entirely different course, he will be
lost to the cause of God. And his associate physicians will be
guilty before God unless they take their position and stand free
from every error.
I have lain awake night after night, studying
how I could help Dr. Kellogg. His father and mother, before they
died, begged me not to give him up, but to stand by him till
the last. I said, "I will try, if he will listen to me."
I have spent nearly whole nights in prayer for him. Week after
week I have not slept till twelve o'clock, and then for weeks
I have not been able to sleep past
twelve o'clock. I wrote constantly, until my left eye gave out.
And at last my brain became so weary that I could not use it.
My son would come up to my room and ask if he might read some
letters that had come. "No, Willie," I would say, "not
a word." I was in this condition for several weeks. Just
before Willie left home last winter for Washington, I saw that
his eyes were troubling him, and I offered to read some manuscripts
to him. This brought on the old trouble. After Willie had gone,
I had to give up entirely for a time. I felt that I was worn
out. My brain had ceased to work. My mental suffering was intense.
I had a great deal of pain at the base of the brain. I knew that
for a time my mind was at a standstill.
Willie expected me to go to Washington
in the spring, but it seemed to me that I could not go. I got
up one morning and it seemed to me as if I had come to the place
where I could not go another step. I said, "Lord, if it
is Thy will for me to go into the grave, take away my life, but
do not take away my life and allow me still to live." Over
and over again I offered this prayer, and all at once I seemed
to be shut in by a canopy of light. Every particle of pain had
left my head, and the next day I wrote twenty pages before dinner.
I feared that when I started for Washington,
the difficulty would come on again, but it did not. I wrote something
every day during my stay in Washington, and spoke three times.
Every time I entered the pulpit it was in fear and trembling,
but the Lord sustained me and helped me.
My brethren, the Lord calls for unity,
for oneness. We are to be one in the faith. I want to tell you
that when the gospel ministers and the medical missionary workers
are not united, there is placed on our churches the worst evil
that can be placed there. Our medical missionaries ought to be
interested in the work of our conferences, and our conference
workers ought to be as much interested in the work of our medical
missionaries.
It is time that we stood upon a united
platform. But we cannot unite with Dr. Kellogg until he stands
where he can be a safe leader of the flock of God. Until he stands
in this position, we have no right to sustain him.
I have taken my position, brethren. I am
not going to enter into controversy over anything that may be
presented. Last night I woke at ten o'clock and remained awake
for several hours. During that time the whole matter was laid
open before me, and I was instructed that I must bear the testimony
given me and then leave matters with the Lord. It is not my work
to try to make people believe the message given me. When the
assertion is made, "Someone has told her," I am to
make no response. On that point the conflict is over for me.
I shall tell you the truth as it is in Jesus. And when anyone
comes to me to know about this thing or that thing, I shall point
them to the One who has said, "Come unto Me, all ye that
labour 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).-- Ms. 46, 1904.
(MR 900.1)