Participants: Jim Nix
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000144
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
00:15 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:22 Hello and welcome to Anchors live 00:24 here at the 3ABN Worship Center 00:26 in West Frankfort/ Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:30 We're glad to see each and every one of you that are here today 00:32 in the audience, and especially those of you that are watching 00:36 from around the world. 00:37 Thank you for your love and your prayers 00:40 and financial support of 3ABN as we endeavor to take this 00:44 great gospel of the kingdom into all the world. 00:46 The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a lot of unique beliefs. 00:51 We have a lot of, maybe, things that people don't understand. 00:55 I just got a call this weekend and I was so happy, 00:58 someone I've known for many years, 01:00 internationally known song writer, who said to me, 01:04 "I've heard of Adventists for many years. 01:06 I know you, I know lots of others. 01:08 But, you know, I never really studied what you believe. 01:13 I like Adventists that I know and that I've met, 01:16 but I really have never decided to study because everything 01:20 seems to be so differently. 01:22 Going to church on a different day, 01:24 your belief in what happens to you when you die. 01:28 And there's just so many things, and about hell, whether it 01:32 burns forever or not." 01:33 But he said, "The other night I turned on my television 01:36 in Nashville, Tennessee. 01:38 I turned on," and he said, "there was Doug Batchelor. 01:42 And I want you to know that within 30 minutes, 01:46 my wife and I's lives have been changed forever." 01:49 Now that's the Holy Spirit, folks. 01:51 He said, "I've been in and around this, 01:53 and I've heard it, but I've never been open to it." 01:56 And this man, I know one song he put on, I looked it up 01:59 myself, has over eight million hits on YouTube. 02:04 That's a lot of hits. Anybody know about YouTube hits? 02:07 Oh, that's an incredible feat. 02:09 But he's very well know. 02:10 Some of you in the audience know his name. 02:13 He said, "I'd love to come up and give a testimony. 02:15 I'm looking forward to the next series that's happening." 02:20 Recently we were in the studio, we recorded a song, 02:24 and it was called, Just In Time. 02:26 It's a song that we put together in the new, 02:29 Second Coming, project we call, Hallelujah, We're Home At Last. 02:33 And one of the songs, as I was writing it I was impressed 02:36 to go to the, Great Controversy. 02:38 I was reading about Ellen White's view 02:42 of the second coming. 02:44 And in this she sees and explains, she sees a small 02:50 dark cloud about half the size of a man's hand. 02:53 And it keeps getting bigger and bigger. 02:55 And I said, "That's got to go in this song." 02:57 So I prayed about it, wrote it into this song, 03:01 we recorded it. 03:02 Backup singers that were there, studio musicians, 03:05 people came up and said, "Those are the most 03:07 beautiful words I've ever heard. 03:09 Did you write those words?" 03:11 And I said, "No, I didn't write those words." 03:13 "Well who wrote those words?" 03:15 "Well, a little lady named Ellen White." 03:18 I asked them to look her up to read about her. 03:21 But people were saying, someone was there from another, 03:24 it's a large evangelical group, and said, 03:27 "Man, I love this song. 03:28 Our choir might be interested in singing this. 03:31 Would that be okay?" 03:32 I said, "Absolutely." 03:34 So here we are, one of the things that's unique 03:37 about the Seventh-day Adventist Church 03:39 is the writings of Ellen G. White. 03:42 So no, we don't believe that she supersedes the Bible. 03:45 She didn't believe that. 03:47 But it's like a light that helps us in a time than maybe... 03:51 She calls herself a lesser light pointing 03:54 to the Light, Jesus Christ. 03:56 So all through the ages, God has had people 03:58 to give present truth. 03:59 So I'm thankful for Ellen White, for her writings and what 04:03 she has given to this church. 04:05 But today, we are so blessed to have brother Jim Nix. 04:09 He's the director of the Ellen G. White Estate. 04:12 And today his sermon is actually going to be to us, 04:15 Ellen White, The Woman. 04:17 Because so many people misunderstand 04:19 who Ellen White was. 04:21 You know, the Mormons have their Joseph Smith, 04:23 and they have all these leaders. 04:24 But the difference is, Ellen White was a servant of God. 04:27 She always put God first. 04:29 And she stands the test of a true prophet. 04:32 So today we're going to be blessed to hear some 04:35 personal stories about Ellen G. White from Pastor Jim Nix 04:40 of the E.G. White Estate. 04:42 But before we do that, Yvonne Lewis today is 04:45 actually in Detroit, Michigan ministering there, 04:49 but I've asked our production crew to put in this song. 04:54 So we're going to actually roll a video that we did here 04:56 at camp meeting of this song that has in between the words 05:01 the reading, the recitation, Yvonne Lewis does 05:04 by Ellen G. White. 05:05 The song is entitled, Just In Time. 07:33 "Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud 07:37 half the size of a man's hand. 07:39 It is the cloud which surrounds the Savior, 07:42 and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. 07:46 The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. 07:51 In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, 07:56 becoming lighter and more glorious, 07:59 until it is a great white cloud, 08:01 its base a glory like consuming fire, 08:04 and above it the rainbow of the covenant. 08:07 Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. 08:11 Not now a 'Man of Sorrows,' to drink the bitter cup 08:14 of shame and woe; He comes, victor in heaven and earth, 08:18 to judge the living and the dead. 08:20 With anthems of celestial melody the holy angels, 08:24 a vast unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. 08:29 The firmament seems filled with radiant forms; 08:32 'ten thousand times ten thousand, 08:35 and thousands of thousands.' 08:37 No human pen can portray the scene; 08:40 no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. 08:44 'His glory covered the heavens, and the earth 08:48 was full of His praise. 08:50 And His brightness was like the light.' 08:53 As the living cloud comes still nearer, 08:55 every eye beholds the Prince of life. 08:58 No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; 09:02 but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. 09:06 His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness 09:10 of the noonday sun. 09:12 'And on His robe and on His thigh a name written, 09:16 King of kings, and Lord of lords.'" 10:43 Amen, amen, amen. 10:45 Wasn't that powerful? 10:47 Do you realize she was only 17 years of age, 10:50 Ellen Harmon, not married yet, when she first had the vision 10:53 of the second coming? 10:55 And when you read those exciting words, which basically 10:58 are unchanged from when she first wrote it out 11:01 when she was 18, it was a teenager. 11:04 It's a teenager's description of the second coming of Christ. 11:08 Maybe that's why it excites Adventists so much. 11:10 Because you get the enthusiasm and the power of a teenager 11:14 who's describing the second coming of Christ 11:17 as she saw it in that first vision back in December of 1844. 11:20 Well it's good to be here with you this morning. 11:22 I didn't really plan on commenting on this song, 11:24 but it's so powerful I just had to say something about it 11:27 and remind you of the setting for when she first wrote 11:31 about the second coming of Christ back there in 1845, 11:35 a year after she had the vision. 11:38 Today, I was asked before I begin to just say a word 11:41 about the White Estate and what the White Estate does. 11:45 And so let me just put it in a nut shell. 11:46 Because that's not part of my talk this morning either, 11:49 is to talk about the White Estate. 11:50 But the Ellen G. White Estate is the literary 11:53 estate for Ellen White. 11:54 When she died in 1915, she left her materials, her writings, 11:59 copyrights to her books, to a committee, 12:03 five individuals, and she set up what was, not defined 12:07 in her will, but it's really a self-perpetuating board. 12:09 So when there's a vacancy among one of the trustees 12:12 of her estate, why, then the other trustees 12:15 elect a successor. 12:17 That has been expanded; the number of five original 12:19 trustees is now fifteen. 12:21 And we continue to serve at the world headquarters of the church 12:24 to promote, to protect and preserve the originals, 12:28 but promote the writings of Ellen White. 12:30 And we're not officially part of the General Conference. 12:33 We are a separate corporation, as she established it 12:36 or set it up back there in her will. 12:38 But we continue to work hand in glove with the church. 12:41 And we hope that the writings of Ellen White 12:44 will continue to be a blessing to many. 12:45 That's the purpose of the White Estate, 12:47 and that's what we're trying to do. 12:49 Alright, now, I'm going to finally get down 12:51 to what I was hoping to talk about today. 12:54 And that is, Ellen White as a person. 12:57 But I specifically want to talk about it from one angle. 13:00 And that is the practical gift of prophecy. 13:03 And I want to share a few stories. 13:04 That's what I've been asked to do in this series, 13:05 to share some stories. 13:07 And I want to share some stories showing the practical side 13:10 of the counsels that God gave through Ellen White. 13:14 I want to start with a text, Hosea 12:13. 13:17 "And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, 13:21 and by a prophet he was preserved." 13:24 Now what was true for Jacob has also been true 13:27 for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 13:29 But things didn't actually get started in a very powerful way. 13:34 And I want to start with, I want to begin with 13:36 a résumé of Ellen White. 13:39 Now this is not the résumé that you're probably use to hearing, 13:42 but it's all factual information about her, 13:45 before we get into the stories. 13:46 And I will ask you, with this résumé that I'm going to 13:49 share with you, what chance of success would you give a person 13:54 with a résumé such as this? 13:57 She was born the youngest of eight children, 14:00 a girl at a time when females had few options in life. 14:04 Her father was a small business man 14:07 who, in order to provide for the family, was often absent 14:10 from home for long periods of time. 14:13 As a child, nine years of age, she endured a serious 14:17 head/facial injury resulting in near death, disfigurement, 14:22 and the ending of her formal schooling at the age of nine. 14:26 Because of her families unpopular religious beliefs, 14:29 she and they were expelled from the church 14:31 that they were members of. 14:34 A devastating spiritual disappointment 14:36 was experienced due to those beliefs. 14:39 Not long after that, consumption, 14:41 or we would say tuberculosis, nearly took her life. 14:45 Some people questioned her sanity and/or her integrity 14:49 when barely beyond her seventeenth birthday 14:51 she claimed to have received a vision from God. 14:55 Her name was printed in newspapers far and wide 14:57 in connection with a sensational religious 14:59 fanaticism court case. 15:02 She was still seventeen. 15:04 Upon claiming to have received additional visions, 15:07 critics continued to belittle and attack her reputation. 15:12 Then, would you know, at the age of 18... 15:14 We're talking about what kind of success 15:15 a person like this would have. 15:16 At the age of 18 she married a man who had no money, 15:21 only 41 weeks of formal education, 15:25 and the newlyweds were so poor they had to live with 15:28 her parents for a while, and then with others. 15:31 And yet, her husband was determined 15:33 to start a religious movement, despite being so poor 15:36 that he had to borrow money from those who had accepted 15:39 his views, to go and share with other potential members. 15:45 At the age of 20, not quite 21 years of age, she urged 15:48 her husband to start a paper. 15:50 Now remember, he still has no money. 15:53 But eventually he printed the paper on credit. 15:57 Even so, the fact that they had no money, and she was 16:00 telling him to do what he didn't see how he could do, 16:02 she told him that the paper was going to be a success, 16:05 and eventually it would be like streams of light going 16:07 clear around the world. 16:08 It would be a success from the beginning. 16:12 She suffered the deaths of two of her young children, 16:18 plus the embarrassment of one of the other two surviving children 16:21 who, except for about ten years during his life, 16:24 was, in all candor, a financial and spiritual mess. 16:29 Throughout her life, critics repeatedly attacked her. 16:32 Sometimes those critics were even people she had helped, 16:36 and in at least one case, allowed to live in her own home. 16:40 She struggled to deal with her husband's strokes, 16:43 and then his death. 16:45 She was 53 when he died. 16:48 Some claim that the church she had served so faithfully 16:51 and helped found basically exiled her to Australia 16:54 for nine years. 16:55 But while she was down there in Australia, 16:58 she urged the establishment of a school on sufficient land 17:02 so that they could teach agriculture. 17:04 Now this was at a time when they had no money 17:06 down there in Australia either. 17:08 And the search committee was having a rough time 17:11 even getting enough money put together so they could 17:14 buy the tickets on the train to go and look at property, 17:17 let alone buy it if they found anything. 17:19 But she said, no, this is what she was shown. 17:22 This is what they should do. 17:23 Eventually they did find a piece of property. 17:26 And some of the skeptics among them, she said the property, 17:29 "Yeah, looks like what God showed me. 17:31 That's fine. Let's go for it." 17:33 But some of the skeptics were not so sure. 17:35 And so they asked a government expert to come 17:39 and test the soil. 17:40 If we're going to have an agricultural school, 17:42 well then you better have pretty good soil to grow anything. 17:45 And when the agricultural expert handed the report 17:50 to the church brethren, he just kind of quipped, 17:54 it wasn't in the report, but he said to them, 17:57 "If a bandicoot," which is a small Australian marsupial, 18:00 "If a bandicoot tried to walk across that piece of property 18:03 that you're wanting to buy for agriculture," 18:06 he said, "it's so bad that the bandicoot 18:08 would have to take his lunch bucket with him 18:10 or he would starve before he got to the other side. 18:11 This land will grown nothing." 18:14 And she said, "But false witness has been 18:16 born against this property. 18:18 It will." 18:19 And of course, it did. 18:22 She was also sued by an extended member of her family one time 18:26 for alienation of affection because of some other 18:30 members of the family. 18:31 It was settled out of court. 18:33 When she came back to the United States in 1900 from Australia, 18:36 she urged the purchase of properties in southern 18:38 California to establish sanitariums. 18:42 But again, they had no money. 18:43 They had to borrow money just to buy the sanitariums. 18:45 And yet she said, "One of these is going to be a 18:48 great educational center. 18:50 Talk about someone who, some might say, had 18:53 delusions of grandeur. 18:54 And yet, she knew where the messages were coming from 18:58 that was giving her the counsel of what they should do. 19:00 And of course, today we have Loma Linda University 19:03 as one of those three sanitariums. 19:05 At the end of her life, her estate was $21,500 in debt. 19:11 She had given away so much money she died in debt. 19:15 Though actually I don't think she knew she was in debt. 19:17 Her accountant figured his books differently than 19:20 the executors of the estate. 19:22 But never the less, officially she was in debt. 19:26 In recent years, critics have claimed that she was so 19:30 illiterate she needed secretaries 19:32 to write things for her. 19:34 Though other critics claimed that she was so cleaver 19:37 she could plagiarize everything. 19:39 And so I guess she didn't need the secretaries. 19:41 You can't have it both ways, I might point out. 19:44 Either you're so dumb you have to have somebody 19:46 write for you, or else you're so cleaver you can 19:48 cover it all up, but you can't have it both. 19:49 But the critics seem to like it both ways. 19:53 And to top it all off, she was plain in appearance. 19:56 Some might even say homely. 19:59 So with a résumé like that, what kind of success 20:03 would you expect from such a person? 20:05 Or to put it another way, why are we here today 20:09 even talking or thinking about Ellen White? 20:12 And it's because of the fruits of her God directed life. 20:18 Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, 20:21 God's counsels through Ellen White remain the inspiration 20:25 behind most facets of the 20:27 Seventh-day Adventist Church's work. 20:29 Now let me just give you a few indisputable facts 20:32 about the lasting impact of her life. 20:35 The Seventh-day Adventist Church, of which Ellen White 20:37 is recognized as one of the co-founders, 20:40 is the largest worldwide denomination 20:43 founded in the United States with now over 18 million 20:47 members on its books worldwide. 20:49 According to one source, Adventists currently are the 20:52 sixth largest international religious 20:55 organization worldwide. 20:56 We have work established in 216 of the 238 countries 21:02 recognized by the United Nations. 21:04 There was a church that broke off of the Sabbath keeping 21:08 Adventists way back in the 1850's. 21:10 And today it's called, The Church of God Seventh-day. 21:13 And if you go to their website, you'll see what is the main 21:16 difference, there's a question and answer section. 21:19 One of the questions is, "What is the difference 21:21 between the Church of God Seventh-day," 21:23 that had its origins back in the 1850's and 60's, 21:26 but among other things rejected Ellen White's 21:29 claim to inspiration, "What is the main difference," 21:32 it says on that website. 21:34 And here is quoting from their website, 21:36 "The Church of God Seventh-day considers Mrs. White 21:39 as it would any other writer since the completion 21:41 of the biblical canon. 21:43 It regards neither Mrs. White nor her writings to be an 21:46 expression of the spirit of prophecy. 21:48 This is the fundamental difference 21:50 between the two churches." 21:53 But there's something else that is a major difference 21:55 between the two churches. 21:57 One has accepted the gift that God gave 22:01 through the ministry of Ellen White, 22:02 with over 18 million members and work, as I said, 22:06 in over 200 countries. 22:08 The other, according to their website, 22:10 has about 200 local congregations in the 22:12 United States and a worldwide affiliation in more than 22:17 25 countries, with a total of about 300,000 members. 22:21 At the time of her death, there were 24 books in print 22:24 under her name, plus two other book manuscripts 22:26 that were almost completed. 22:28 Ellen White still remains the most translated female author 22:31 in the world in terms of languages, 22:33 not in total number of titles translated, 22:36 as well as the most translated single American author 22:39 of either sex. 22:40 And because of her nurturing, the churches publishing ministry 22:44 has been impacted, educational ministry. 22:47 I mean, you look at 63 publishing houses 22:48 publishing in 365 languages around the world. 22:52 A medical health work; over 600 healthcare facilities. 22:56 American and Australian eating habits, especially for 22:59 breakfast, indirectly but impacted by corn flakes... 23:06 Who invented corn flakes? 23:08 Dr. Kellogg who was a believer in Ellen White. 23:10 According to Wikipedia... 23:12 You know that very substantiated source. 23:15 Anyway, according to them the Adventist church, 23:18 Seventh-day Adventist Church, operates the largest 23:21 Christian school system, Protestant Christian 23:23 school system in the world with over 7800 schools. 23:27 To give you some impact for just a minute before we get into 23:30 the stories, to give you some impact to show you 23:32 what influence she had on education, 23:36 in 1895 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 23:40 operated 18 schools, we had 35 teachers, 23:45 with a combined enrollment of 895 students. 23:48 In 1897, Ellen White, after being shown that we should 23:52 start church schools, she urged that every church that has 23:55 at least six children should have a church school. 23:57 So remember, 1895; 18 schools. 24:00 1900, anybody want to guess how many schools we had? 24:06 220 in those five years as a direct result of the counsel; 24:12 every church should have if they have at least six children. 24:15 1900; 220 schools, 24:17 250 teachers verses 35 before, and about 5000 students. 24:21 And in 1905, it almost doubled again to 417 schools, 24:25 with 466 teachers. 24:28 Just to show you the impact that Ellen White's writings 24:32 have had in that one regard on the history of the church. 24:36 Well, all this is pretty astonishing for the person 24:38 that had the résumé that we began with. 24:41 In 1935, A.G. Daniels, former president of the 24:44 General Conference, wrote this about Ellen White: 24:48 "It is my deep conviction that Mrs. White's life 24:51 far transcends the life of anyone I have ever known 24:55 or with whom I have been associated. 24:57 I never once," he said, "I never once heard her boast 25:01 of the gracious gift God bestowed upon her 25:05 or of the marvelous results of her endeavors. 25:08 She did rejoice in the fruitage, but gave all the glory to Him 25:13 who wrought through her." 25:15 So what are a few other reasons, how are some ways that she 25:20 has impacted the church? 25:21 You remember in Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul talks about 25:25 the gifts that God puts in the church. 25:27 And one of those gifts, of course, He placed in His church 25:30 is that of prophets. 25:33 And in Ephesians 4:12, he gives a reason for the gifts. 25:37 And this would apply also to prophets. 25:38 "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of 25:41 the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." 25:44 So for the next few minutes, what I want to do is 25:46 to look at a few stories from Ellen White's experience 25:49 that deal with perfecting of the saints, or the 25:52 work of the ministry, or the edifying of the body of Christ. 25:56 And let me start with a story that was told to me 25:59 many years ago by Ellen White's oldest granddaughter, 26:02 Ella White Robinson. 26:04 Ella was a teenager in Australia living in a tent 26:09 with her grandmother while they were building 26:11 what became Avondale College. 26:13 And then later they had their own home, 26:15 and Ellen White had her home across 26:17 the road called, Sunnyside. 26:18 So the two families, Ella's father and stepmother 26:22 and brothers and sister lived in one, and across 26:25 the road just a little ways away was Ellen White. 26:27 And the usual routine when Ellen White was not traveling, 26:30 as Ella described it to me, was that in the morning 26:34 after breakfast her grandmother would come across the road 26:38 and she would meet with the family 26:39 for a short period of time. 26:41 And they would visit a little bit. 26:43 Now Ella was an interesting person to meet, 26:45 even when I knew her in her 80's. 26:47 She was still a very dynamic person. 26:49 And I guess she was really full of energy 26:52 when she was younger. 26:53 I can only imagine what she must have been 26:54 when she was a teenager. 26:55 But anyway, she was concerned because there in Cooranbong 27:02 where the new school was being established 27:05 they did not have any motels or places for people, parents, 27:09 that wanted to look at the new school to see if they 27:11 wanted to send their children there. 27:13 They had no place for the parents to stay. 27:15 That meant that anybody coming to the school needed to stay 27:18 in the homes of one of the faculty members. 27:21 And Ella said that it seemed like the most popular place 27:25 of all the places where you could stay 27:27 was Ellen White's place. 27:29 And in fact, in one letter Ellen White said she thought 27:31 she should just put a sign on the front of her house saying, 27:34 "free lodging," because so many people came. 27:36 Anyway, so that kind of substantiates what Ella said. 27:38 That was number one. 27:40 And Ella said, "If they couldn't get to stay with my grandmother, 27:43 then it seemed like they wanted to stay with us. 27:45 And so she said, "We always had a lot of company." 27:47 And all the company, of course, meant extra work. 27:49 Extra food to prepare, extra laundry to do. 27:53 Even the chimneys on the kerosene lamps had to be 27:56 cleaned, the smoke off of them, and all that. 27:58 And she said it seemed so unfair, because there was a 28:01 small church school that she was attending, 28:03 and she said, "My other classmates, they didn't 28:07 have all that company. 28:08 So they didn't have all of this extra work." 28:12 And so she said, "I began to pray to God to impress 28:14 my mother," which was her stepmother... 28:17 Her mother had died a few years earlier 28:18 and her father had remarried. 28:20 "...to impress my mother not to ask me to do 28:23 so many chores." 28:25 Now that might be a natural prayer for a teenager, 28:27 so it's a believable story she was telling me. 28:30 And she said her grandmother, she thought it was just 28:32 a day or two later after she prayed this prayer, 28:35 her grandmother came across the road 28:37 for one of these morning visits. 28:39 And it seemed like just a natural thing to do, 28:41 the family all gathered, Willy White and his family 28:43 all gathered there in the parlor to meet with Ellen White. 28:46 And they visited a little while, like normal. 28:49 And Ella told me, "When it came to the time when usually 28:52 in the conversation it just seemed natural that 28:55 my sister and I would take our little twin half brothers, 28:58 little twin brothers, into the other room 28:59 to play with them so that grandma could talk with 29:01 papa and mama a little bit longer," she said, 29:04 "we started to pick up the twin boys, the little baby twins, 29:09 and grandma said, 'No, I have a message for you.'" 29:13 And Ella said, "All of a sudden I realized this was 29:16 a different type of visit than what grandmother usually had 29:19 when she came across the road in the morning 29:21 for one of these after breakfast visits." 29:22 And she said her grandmother reached into her satchel 29:24 and she brought out some manuscript, 29:26 and she began to read. 29:28 And the first was some counsel that she had for her son, 29:31 Willy White, Ella's father. 29:33 And Ella said, "No problem, she wasn't talking to me. 29:37 So there was no problem. 29:38 Whatever she needed to tell my dad..." 29:41 "My father," I think she called him. 29:42 "...my father, whatever she needed to tell him, 29:45 counsel, that was fine. 29:46 It wasn't addressed to me." 29:48 And she said, "Grandma kept talking. 29:50 And she kept reading." 29:51 And pretty soon, she started talking to Willy's second wife, 29:55 Ella's stepmother. 29:57 And again Ella said, "No problem. 29:59 She's not giving me any counsel. 30:01 So, you know, it's fine. 30:03 Whatever she needs to say, well that's fine." 30:05 And so there was some counsel. 30:07 But she said, "Grandma didn't quit. 30:09 She kept reading." 30:11 And she said, "Now the counsel was to me. 30:14 All of a sudden, now it's a little bit different." 30:16 And what was some of the counsel that she told me 30:20 her grandmother advised her to do? 30:26 "You need to help your mother more. 30:30 Your mother has so many pressures on her, 30:33 so many responsibilities, you need to help her more." 30:37 Now what was she praying? 30:40 Mother to ask me to do less. 30:42 And here, she's being asked to do more. 30:44 "Furthermore," she said, "grandma went on to say, 30:48 'Everything you do, no matter how insignificant it may 30:52 seem to you, whatever, you should always do everything 30:56 to the very best of your ability.'" 30:59 Ella told me, "The longer I sat there, 31:02 the more angry I was becoming. 31:04 This seems so unfair. 31:05 I had just been praying to God, 'Please impress my mother 31:09 to ask me to do less,' and here grandma is saying 31:12 I should be doing more." 31:15 And she said, "I was so upset I blurted out to my grandmother, 31:20 'Did you just make that up, 31:22 or did the angel really tell you all that?'" 31:26 And she said her grandmother responded, "I didn't put 31:28 anything in the testimony that I wasn't shown." 31:32 Ella told me, she said, "There was some for my 31:34 younger sister Mabel. 31:36 I don't have a clue what she said to Mabel. 31:38 I was so angry, I could hardly wait for grandmother 31:42 to get out of there that morning." 31:44 Now this was unusual, frankly, because if you talk to Ella 31:47 for just a few minutes, she was 33 when her grandmother died. 31:52 She had a lot of memories of Ellen White. 31:53 And she loved her grandmother. 31:55 You could tell that by talking with her. 31:57 But on this occasion the counsel comes, 31:59 it's cutting across what she wants to do, 32:01 and she's angry. 32:02 And as soon as her grandmother left, she said, 32:04 "I ran to my bedroom, I threw myself across the bed, 32:08 and I began to sob, and sob, and sob. 32:11 It seemed so unfair." 32:14 And then I can still remember this little wisp of a woman 32:16 telling me this story with her thin little finger 32:20 pointing towards heaven, and she said, 32:21 "All of a sudden it dawned on me. 32:24 This was the answer to my prayer. 32:27 Oh it wasn't the answer I wanted, 32:30 but it was the answer to my prayer." 32:32 And then she said, "Such awe came over me to think 32:35 that the great God of the universe up there 32:38 took time out of what He's doing to send an angel down 32:43 to my grandmother to give her a special message for me." 32:49 She said, "I'm embarrassed to tell you, Jim, 32:51 that was not my first response. 32:53 But ever since, I have been extremely grateful 32:57 to God for what He did for me as a teenager." 33:00 Now she's written the story out. 33:02 Some of you may have seen it in her book. 33:04 In her book, she adds something that I don't remember her 33:06 telling me when she told me the story. 33:08 And that was, that one of her duties was to scour the smoke 33:12 off the bottom of the kettles, the big pans that they cooked 33:15 with on the wood stove. 33:16 And in the book, she tells how she dried her eyes, got up, 33:19 and she went out into that sand pit out behind where she was 33:22 suppose to be scouring the smoke off the bottom of the kettles. 33:25 And she said, "I gave those pots the best scouring 33:30 I ever did in my life." 33:31 But it changed the impact of this woman's, or the focus 33:36 of this woman's thinking, this young girl's thinking. 33:38 Because, as we say, it was for the perfecting 33:42 of the saints. 33:45 Well, there's another story I could tell, but I think 33:47 I'm going to go to the work of the ministry next, 33:49 because I get to watch the clock up there also. 33:53 And I want to make certain I get some in to illustrate these. 33:56 So let's think about a man that you probably have all heard of 34:00 if you know anything about Adventist history at all. 34:02 And that is Uriah Smith. 34:05 Uriah Smith worked for the church paper, 34:08 The Review and Herald, for a total of about 50 years. 34:12 From, just one little time I think he was gone 34:15 for a short time, but basically from 1853 to 1903. 34:18 And for many of those years, probably half of them or so, 34:21 he was editor of the church paper. 34:23 He was a very gifted writer. 34:25 We don't have time to talk a lot about what all he did, 34:27 but he was extremely gifted in a number of areas. 34:30 He did the first woodcuts, because he was an artist. 34:33 So the first woodcuts, primitive though they were, 34:35 that appeared in Sabbath keeping Adventist publications. 34:38 If you look closely, you'll find a little "U.S." 34:40 somewhere in the woodcut showing that he was the one 34:43 who had made the woodcut. 34:44 He was a poet, he was an inventor. 34:47 And as I've said, he was an editor. 34:50 He was a teacher, though he was recalled as 34:53 being a fairly dry speaker. 34:56 No, dry speaker. Not just fairly dry. 34:59 A dry speaker, but a wonderfully gifted writer. 35:02 Now in 1881-82, back in that era, there was a problem 35:08 at the new Battle Creek college that had been established. 35:11 They had hired a new president by the name of 35:13 Alexander McLearn. 35:15 And McLearn had, as I understand, not joined 35:17 the church, but he indicated that he wanted to, 35:19 and he had a degree, so that would be good to have him 35:22 charge of the school. 35:23 And McLearn had an interesting philosophy, 35:27 and that had to do with the rules. 35:29 They should not have many rules for the students. 35:31 And the rules they did have for the students 35:33 did not need to be enforced too vigorously. 35:37 And the chairman of the school board for that period of time 35:40 was Uriah Smith. 35:41 And he tended to agree with Alexander McLearn, 35:45 the principle. 35:46 Now on the other side you have the head of the 35:48 English department, a man by the name of Goodloe Harper Bell. 35:52 That's a good name for a school, isn't it; Bell. 35:54 Anyway, Goodloe Harper Bell. 35:56 And he believed that you should have many rules 36:00 and you should enforce them rigorously. 36:02 Fairly, but you enforce them. 36:04 And he had on his side an ally. 36:07 And that was G.I. Butler, who was the president 36:11 of the General Conference at the time. 36:13 So here you have the church paper editor supporting the 36:16 president or principle, and on this side you have the 36:18 president of the General Conference supporting 36:20 the head of the English department. 36:22 And it did not go well. 36:25 Believe me, it did not go well. 36:26 In fact, it went so bad they had to close the college 36:28 for one year, 1882-83, until they could sort it all out 36:32 and figure out what rules they were going to use, 36:34 and everybody's tempers could calm down, 36:35 and all that, and then they re-opened the school. 36:38 Well then you have, a few years later, you have another 36:41 situation that Uriah Smith is involved with. 36:42 And I'm telling you this as background 36:44 for what I want to share in a minute. 36:47 1888, the great righteousness by faith General Conference 36:50 session in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 36:53 Uriah Smith went to that session. 36:55 He was editor of the paper. 36:57 He reported, from what people say, quite fairly, even though 37:01 he was not one who accepted or resonated with the new emphasis 37:06 on Christ and His righteousness that was being presented 37:09 there by elders A.T. Jones and E.J. Waggoner, 37:12 and Ellen White supporting them. 37:14 In fact, Elder Smith was so upset by this 37:19 that when he came back home, Ellen White tried to reach out 37:23 to him because she knew he had not accepted 37:26 the new insights that had come at this session. 37:29 And he refused to talk with her. 37:32 He didn't want a thing to do with her. 37:34 And so, you could imagine there is some strain going on there. 37:38 He's editor of the church paper. 37:39 And she's in Battle Creek, came to Battle Creek later. 37:43 Well on December 31, 1890 she wrote a letter 37:49 to Uriah Smith. 37:51 And it's twelve pages type written, 37:53 double spaced type written. 37:54 And I want to just read you a few lines from this 37:58 to give you some idea of how she went out... 38:00 Not just working for him because he was a church leader. 38:03 The same kind of passion for souls she expressed 38:07 in other letters to other people when they were not living 38:11 or doing right. 38:12 But I'm going to read a little bit from this. 38:14 "Dear Brother Smith, I have been remarkably exercised 38:19 in regard to your case several times during 38:21 my last round of labors. 38:23 I have been greatly blessed of the Lord; 38:26 but at times your case has been presented before me 38:29 in a very clear light, just where you are standing. 38:34 I have carried the burden with but little hope 38:37 that I could do you any good." 38:38 Now she's going in the next few pages, she's going to go back 38:41 and refer clear back to the situation of the 38:43 Battle Creek college about eight or nine years before, 38:45 seven or eight years before. 38:47 She's going to talk about his views and his being on the 38:50 wrong side in Minneapolis 38:52 at the General Conference session of 1888. 38:54 And she's going to move back and forth between appeals 38:57 to this man and relating some of the problems 39:00 that he had in his life. 39:02 So skipping over a couple or three pages, 39:04 we're just going to talk about the appeals. 39:06 "I am sorry," she wrote to him, "I am sorry that you 39:09 are affected with defective spiritual eye-sight." 39:14 That's pretty straight talk, isn't it, to write to the 39:16 editor of the church paper. 39:19 Maybe the editor still gets those kind of talk, 39:21 but not from a prophet. 39:22 You know, this is coming from the servant of the Lord. 39:25 "I beg of you for your soul's sake to buy of the heavenly 39:28 merchant man gold that ye may be rich; 39:30 white raiment that ye may be clothed, 39:32 and anoint thine eyes with eye salve that thou mayest see." 39:36 Skipping over another page. 39:38 Again, she's moving back and forth between things 39:40 in his life that he needs to change, and then the appeal. 39:43 "My brother, Uriah Smith, whom I have loved 39:46 and respected in the Lord, you have been working 39:49 at cross purposes with God, practicing upon yourself 39:53 deceptions which, if you continue as you have done, 39:57 will be succeeded with deceptions and delusions 40:01 which will end in irrevocable separation from God." 40:06 Can you be much plainer than that? 40:08 "If you keep going as you are going, 40:10 you will be eternally lost." 40:14 Well, she's moving back and forth again about things that 40:17 are going on in his life. 40:18 And get over another two or three pages, 40:21 and here's what we find her saying. 40:22 "'Without Me,' said Christ, 'ye can do nothing.' 40:25 Do you refuse to fall on the Rock? 40:29 If so, there is not the slightest assurance 40:31 in your case that you will ever recover yourself 40:34 out of the snare of the devil." 40:38 Well, skipping over some more. 40:40 Coming towards the end of the letter, 40:41 we're over to page ten now. 40:43 "Why your particular case agonizes my soul 40:47 so continuously, I cannot define. 40:50 Again and again have I seen that blindness was upon you 40:53 to an alarming degree. 40:55 I give you up to the hands of Jesus, and then think I have 40:58 not more to say, not another word, then I find my soul torn 41:03 with anguish and I am weeping and praying with strong 41:06 crying and tears, 'Take not thy Holy Spirit from him; 41:10 O, let something from Thy spirit break this spell.'" 41:16 Do you feel the intensity of Ellen White, 41:18 just a little parenthesis here, do you feel the intensity 41:21 for Ellen White when she is writing, trying to appeal 41:24 to a soul to come back to Christ, 41:26 or to change his or her life? 41:28 I think it comes through pretty clear. 41:30 And I just throw in that when critics, who have never read 41:34 these kind of letters probably, say that Ellen White 41:36 asked her secretary to write them, it just... 41:39 I mean, you can't believe it when you've read how intense... 41:43 In fact, one of her secretaries wrote and said, 41:45 "Anybody that knows the burden that Ellen White carries 41:48 for a soul when she's really intently trying to 41:52 reclaim that soul knows that she could never have asked us 41:54 to write anything." 41:56 There's no way Ellen White could say, "Oh, come on in here, 41:58 Marion Davis," or one of the other secretaries, 42:00 "and go rough up Elder Smith a little bit," 42:02 and come up with something like this. 42:03 I mean, here she is, the servant of the Lord, 42:05 she's been shown the situation. 42:07 And now with the intensity of that burden that's on her, 42:10 knowing what's at stake, she is appealing to this man. 42:14 Well, we're talking about the work of the ministry, 42:17 what impact did this have on Uriah Smith. 42:21 Ellen White did not ask him to do what he did, 42:24 but he called for a meeting, he asked for a meeting 42:27 with Ellen White, and he invited along a few of the 42:30 church leaders, including the General Conference president 42:33 and some others. 42:34 And then, as I say, Ellen White did not ask him to do this, 42:37 but then the report is that he read out loud 42:41 every word in this testimony. 42:45 And then with tears of repentance and confession, 42:49 he broke down and wept and apologized 42:53 for his wrong attitude, going clear back to the situation with 42:56 the college, as well as Minneapolis. 43:00 Now that was not enough for Uriah Smith. 43:04 Because Uriah Smith knew he was a church leader, 43:07 and he needed to do more. 43:09 There was a workers meeting, ministers had gathered there 43:11 in Battle Creek, and he asked if he could speak to them. 43:14 And the report is that he did. 43:16 Now on that occasion, he did not re-read the testimony. 43:19 So he just described what the counsel was that 43:23 Ellen White had given him. 43:25 And then again, the report is that with tears of repentance 43:28 and confession, he begged the ministers to forgive him. 43:32 Because he knew some had sided with him 43:34 and some had been against him. 43:36 He had divided the working force, and now he's apologizing 43:40 for his wrong influence. 43:43 But that was not enough for Uriah Smith. 43:48 Because Uriah Smith knew he was a church leader. 43:53 And so he asked the following Sabbath, according to the 43:56 account that we have, he asked if he could speak 43:58 to the congregation in the large Dime Tabernacle, 44:02 the big Adventist church in Battle Creek, Michigan. 44:05 He had divided that congregation also, just like 44:07 he had the pastoral force. 44:09 Some with him, some against him. 44:11 But he had divided. 44:12 And now on Sabbath, again the account is 44:15 he did not read the testimony, but he referred to its contents. 44:19 And with tears of repentance and confession, 44:22 he apologized and begged their forgiveness. 44:26 Was he a perfect individual after this? 44:30 No, he was still human. 44:31 But was he a changed man? 44:34 Definitely. 44:35 And why would I say that? 44:37 Well let me give you just one other little vignette 44:40 in Elder Smith's life, this man who contributed so much 44:43 through the years to our church. 44:44 But occasionally he did get on the wrong side. 44:46 And that's what encourages me about 44:47 these stories, is when we do. 44:49 Because we all get on the wrong side at some point 44:50 or other in our life; we're sinners. 44:53 But God doesn't give up on us. 44:55 He comes through again and again. 44:56 And that's what He did with Elder Smith. 44:58 Well in 1897, Elder Smith was not asked to continue 45:04 as editor of, The Review. 45:07 He was 65 years of age at the time. 45:10 He had invented several things, so he had royalties coming in 45:13 from his patents. 45:14 He also had authored a number of books, so he had 45:16 royalties coming in from those. 45:18 He had a large house just a block or so from the college, 45:21 which he had a number of rooms that he rented out to students. 45:23 Because in the early days of the college, they didn't have dorms. 45:26 So he had an income. 45:28 And now he is not elected or re-elected to be editor 45:32 of the church paper. 45:34 Who did they put in? 45:36 A.T. Jones. 45:38 The man who had publically humiliated Uriah Smith 45:42 in 1888 at the General Conference session. 45:45 He had stood up and said, "Brother Smith thinks 45:48 he knows what he's talking about, but he really doesn't." 45:50 Well I'm paraphrasing. 45:51 They disagreed on the ten kingdoms; 45:54 the identity of the various ten horns, ten kingdoms, 45:58 ten toes, all that. 45:59 They agreed on all, but I think there was one. 46:01 But they disagreed vehemently on one. 46:03 And Smith would submit, as a kind gentleman that he was, 46:06 "Well I think this is the identification." 46:08 And Jones said, "He doesn't know what he's 46:09 talking about; here it is." 46:10 So I mean, here was a younger man taking on the older man 46:13 publically at the session and putting him down. 46:16 And now he is put in as editor, and Smith is asked to be 46:20 associate editor. 46:22 Now what would you have done if you had been Elder Smith? 46:26 Probably most of us at 65 years of age, 46:28 if we had another income, we would have retired. 46:32 But he didn't. He stayed on. 46:34 And in 1901, Ellen White, among others, was thrilled 46:38 when the church at the 1901 General Conference session 46:40 again put Uriah Smith back in as editor of the church paper. 46:44 Did Ellen White's ministry have an impact on this minister? 46:50 Well, certainly it did. 46:52 Let me give you another little interesting, it's a short story, 46:55 but I find it very interesting. 46:57 It's about a young minister in Australia. 47:01 And one day he went to get his mail, 47:06 and he probably found an envelope about like this. 47:08 Maybe there were shorter ones also, but this is an original 47:10 envelope from Ellen White with her return address up here. 47:13 And here was his name on it. 47:16 And he thought to himself, "What in the world have I done? 47:21 Why is Ellen White writing to me?" 47:25 I mean, now let's be honest. 47:27 I see a couple of you chuckling. 47:29 Let's be honest, if you were alive back then 47:33 and you were, for instance, a minister, or someone else, 47:36 but a minister, and you knew Ellen White was going to be 47:39 at a camp meeting that you were scheduled to be at, 47:43 would you possibly approach the camp meeting 47:47 with a little bit of fear and trepidation? 47:50 We're told that some of the ministers did. Why? 47:51 Because they knew if God had given her a message for them, 47:54 she would invite them to come to the room where she was staying, 47:57 or her tent, and she always had someone there with her. 48:00 Often the conference president when she would read a testimony. 48:03 So here's this young minister. 48:05 He knows about some of the messages. 48:06 And he thinks to himself, "What in the world have I done? 48:10 Why has Ellen White written to me?" 48:13 So he prayed a prayer, which I think was a pretty good prayer. 48:15 He said, "Lord, give me the courage to open this envelope 48:21 and to see what's in here. 48:22 And then give me the strength to do whatever it is 48:25 that the Lord has shown that I should be doing." 48:29 So he went out into the bush, and again he knelt down 48:32 and he prayed the prayer, "Give me the courage 48:34 to tear this envelope open, and then give me 48:37 the strength to do whatever it is." 48:39 And he opened up the letter and read it. 48:41 And here's the story, he tells the story 48:42 on himself what happened. 48:44 What was the counsel that God had given Ellen White 48:47 for this young minister? 48:49 Preach shorter sermons. 48:53 Preach shorter sermons. 48:55 He admitted that at the time he was preaching 48:57 for about an hour and a half. 48:59 And he was thinking about lengthening them to two hours. 49:02 Because if he did that, he might hit a few more 49:04 people in the congregation. 49:05 And here comes the message from the Lord, 49:07 "Preach shorter sermons." 49:10 Now talk about a practical counsel, 49:13 practical advice for this young man. 49:15 When you look back over his life from then on, 49:18 what did he do most of the rest of his career? 49:23 He was a chaplain in several of our sanitariums. 49:27 And if there is any one thing that sick people don't like, 49:31 it's someone that comes in and talks and talks and talks. 49:35 This was practical advice. 49:37 Say what needs to be said, and then, bluntly, shut-up. 49:41 I mean, you know, then be quiet. 49:43 Don't just keep talking. 49:45 Talk about practical advice for this young minister. 49:50 Well, there are other stories that could be told about 49:53 the work of the ministry. 49:56 Yeah, let me just tell one short one. 49:57 I think I can get this in, and still a couple more 49:59 in the time we have. 50:00 This is about Eugene Farnsworth. 50:02 Eugene Farnsworth, who we talked about last night, 50:05 at the Washington, New Hampshire church. 50:06 In 1867, the minister of the church, Frederick Wheeler, 50:10 that we also talked about in the previous segment, 50:12 he had been called away to another place in 1857. 50:15 And so for the next few years there was 50:17 no pastor over the church. 50:18 And things kind of spiritually kind of slid 50:20 in the congregation. 50:21 And it was not going well spiritually for that 50:25 little congregation. 50:26 And so, James and Ellen White and J.N. Andrews 50:29 came to Washington, New Hampshire 50:32 in Christmas week of 1867. 50:35 Now the way they did it in those days, back in the early days 50:37 before you had, you know, all this easy communication 50:39 like day, was that if a minister was going to 50:42 be at a certain place to hold preaching 50:44 on a certain date or dates over a weekend, 50:46 they would put a notice on the back page of, The Review. 50:49 And then, of course, given traveling connections 50:51 and changes in plans, and all that, they tried their 50:54 best to show up, but they didn't always. 50:56 So there was a notice that was placed on the back page 50:58 of, The Review, saying that James and Ellen White 51:00 and J.N Andrews were coming to Washington, New Hampshire. 51:03 I might just throw in that J.N. Andrews, one time, 51:06 said about James White and his keeping to his schedule 51:10 that he would print on the back page of, The Review, 51:12 that if there's one thing that God doesn't know about the 51:15 future, it's where James White is really going to 51:17 be next Sabbath. 51:18 Because he didn't always make it. 51:19 But anyway, he shows up for this meeting. 51:21 And on Monday, December 23, 1867, 51:24 something happened there that was very unusual. 51:27 It's not the only time it happened, but it was very 51:29 unusual in the experience of Ellen White. 51:32 God had given her messages for members of that congregation. 51:36 Apparently the meeting was not held in the church. 51:37 It was held in the home of the first elder, Cyrus Farnsworth. 51:40 But in it she was shown the sins and the problems 51:45 of several members of the church. 51:48 And she stood up, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, 51:51 and began to call to people and say, 51:53 "I've been shown this about you, 51:55 and I've been shown that about you." 51:57 And let's be honest, some of us would be sitting like this 52:00 in our chairs, I think probably, the longer this meeting went on. 52:03 And it went on for five hours. 52:05 Well there was a young man, Eugene Farnsworth, 52:07 sitting in the congregation that day. 52:10 Or at his uncle's house probably. 52:12 And he's thinking to himself... 52:15 Because he's never really accepted Ellen White's visions. 52:18 He had never had any reason to accept them or not accept them. 52:22 And so here she is. 52:23 And he's thinking to himself, "If she's genuine, 52:27 she will reprove my father." 52:30 Because he knew that his father had started chewing tobacco. 52:35 Now his father had claimed to have given it up 52:36 when he joined the church. 52:38 Now he comes, you know, he's doing it again. 52:41 And Eugene knew it because when they worked out in the woods 52:44 in the winter, he sometimes would be working 52:47 behind his father and he would see where his father had kicked, 52:50 where he had spit out the tobacco juice 52:52 he would kick it over with his shoe trying to 52:54 cover it up so his son didn't know. 52:55 But Eugene knew. 52:56 And so Eugene thought to himself, "If she's from God, 52:59 she will rebuke my father. 53:01 She will call him out on this thing." 53:03 Because he's publically saying he's not using any 53:06 tobacco anymore. 53:07 And as Eugene himself would later tell the story, 53:10 almost as the thought went through his mind, 53:12 Ellen White turned to Williams Farnsworth 53:14 and said, "I have been shown that you are the slave 53:18 of nicotine, king nicotine," and went on to explain 53:22 that apparently some knew that he was there 53:26 and he thought they didn't know. 53:27 And she appealed to him to give up the tobacco. 53:32 Now let's just step aside for a minute here and think about 53:35 how some people react to the gift today. 53:38 Do you think that for teenage Eugene Farnsworth, 53:41 who was about 19 years of age, do you think at that point 53:45 he thought the spirit of prophecy was not relevant? 53:48 Of course not. 53:49 He knew it was relevant. Why? 53:50 Because as a teenager he put it to the test, 53:53 and he knew it was trustworthy. 53:54 And what happened? 53:57 Well, revival broke out as a result of the meeting. 53:59 Two days later on Christmas day, 1867, they actually 54:05 went after, James and Ellen White then started 54:07 working especially for the young people. 54:09 They worked initially for the adult side thinking, 54:11 "If we want revival in our church, one thing 54:13 we need to do is, we adults need to get our lives right. 54:15 And then maybe some of the people, young people, 54:18 will see some reason to get their lives right." 54:20 Just kind of a novel approach to evangelizing young people. 54:24 Anyway, there were all together thirty young people 54:28 on Christmas day gave their heart to the Lord. 54:30 Five later did. 54:31 Twelve of them wanted to be baptized immediately. 54:34 They went out and chopped a hole in the ice 54:36 in the nearby pond. 54:37 And twelve of them were baptized. 54:39 Six must have been like me from California 54:41 originally, they waited until the spring to be baptized. 54:43 Anyway, nine of them eventually became paid 54:47 workers in the church. 54:48 Now I think we have time for just one more story. 54:50 And we're going to talk about edifying the body of Christ. 54:52 And there are many stories that could be told about that also. 54:55 This is a story that was told to me by Ellen White's 54:57 youngest granddaughter, Grace Jacques. 54:59 She said it happened when she was about 10 or 11 years of age. 55:02 And she was born in 1900, so do the math. 55:04 This happened about 1910 or 1911. 55:07 There was a publishing house, as near as we can tell 55:10 from our records at the White Estate 55:11 it was probably the evangelical publisher, Fleming H. Revell, 55:15 who wanted Ellen White to produce a book just for them. 55:19 Now the first edition of, Steps to Christ, 55:20 had been printed by Fleming H. Revell. 55:22 And it sold well. 55:25 So now they wanted to do another book. 55:28 And so they made arrangements to come to Ellen White's 55:31 home at Elms Haven. 55:32 They met with her upstairs in her writing room. 55:35 They were gathered there in a semi circle around. 55:37 And first one and another presented the importance 55:41 of this project, how they thought it would be a blessing 55:44 to everybody that read the book, 55:45 how it would help her financially. 55:47 They would promote the book, etcetera. 55:49 And they made quite an impression on her. 55:52 And she reached over to pick up her pen, because 55:54 of course she had to sign a legal contract 55:57 signifying that she was going to produce this book 55:59 exclusively for them, and then she laid the pen down. 56:02 They thought, "Well, she's getting old. 56:05 She must not understand that she needs to sign that." 56:09 And so they went through their presentation a second time. 56:11 The second time, she didn't even pick up her pen. 56:13 She just changed the subject, started talking about 56:15 something else. 56:17 So they thought, "Well..." 56:19 Or I should say, her son thought, "Well, you know, 56:21 mother is not going to sign right now." 56:23 He took them downstairs, came back upstairs 56:25 to where his mother was still seated in her writing room, 56:27 same chair, and he knelt down by her and he said, 56:30 "Mother, you know why the men are here?" "Yes." 56:32 "You know you need to sign that if you're going to 56:35 do this book for them." "Yes." 56:36 Well he said, "You picked up the pen, and then you laid it down. 56:38 Why was that? Why didn't you sign it?" 56:41 And she said, "Well just as I picked up the pen, 56:43 I saw an angel standing behind them gesturing. 56:46 And I know I'm not to sign that contract." 56:50 Now we know that Ellen White books can be read, published, 56:53 anywhere in the world. 56:54 And if she had given the exclusive rights to that 56:56 publishing house, the church would have had to buy the rights 56:59 for that book, because otherwise they could not have printed it. 57:03 So the question we have is, are we today listening 57:06 to these counsels that God has given us? 57:09 She'll drive us to Jesus as our best Friend. 57:12 She'll catch us from falling. 57:14 Sometimes we may feel crowded by her, but in the end 57:17 we will feel blessed for having spent time 57:19 with her writings. 57:21 King Jehoshaphat's admonition is still true, 57:24 "Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; 57:27 believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper." |
Revised 2015-04-28