------------------------Manuscript Releases Volume Twelve [Nos. 921-999]
12MR	1	1	MR No. 921--Ellen White's Concern for Doctor Kellogg
12MR	7	1	MR No. 922--The Sin of Faultfinding
12MR	10	1	MR No. 923--The Stoning System
12MR	12	1	MR No. 924--Reflections on the Minneapolis Conference
MR926	1	1	MR No. 926--Manuscript Release No.926
12MR	30	1	MR No. 927--Country Living
12MR	33	1	MR No. 929--Words of Encouragement
12MR	40	1	MR No. 930--Things That Impeded Ellen White's Work
12MR	42	1	MR No. 931--Events Related to Christ's Second Coming
12MR	44	1	MR No. 932--W. C. Sisley Biography
12MR	50	1	MR No. 933--The Christian Life
12MR	56	1	MR No. 934--Counsel to G. H. Bell
12MR	57	1	MR No. 935--Additional Information for Prescott Biography
12MR	59	1	MR No. 936--Ellen White and the Kellogg Crisis
12MR	64	1	MR No. 937--To the Leaders in Our Medical Work
12MR	72	1	MR No. 938--Ellen White's Missionary Visits
12MR	85	1	MR No. 939--Means for God's Work To Be Appropriated Evenly
12MR	87	1	MR No. 940--How Ellen White Dealt With Cavilers
12MR	89	1	MR No. 941--Ellen White and the Australian Depression of the 1890's
12MR	96	1	MR No. 942--Compassion Toward the Penitent
12MR	98	1	MR No. 944--Luther Warren and Work in New York City
12MR	102	1	MR No. 945--O. A. Olsen Materials
12MR	104	1	MR No. 947--Letter to Emma Weber
12MR	112	1	MR No. 948--Fanaticism as Leaven in Meal
12MR	113	1	MR No. 949--Standard of Truth To Be Upheld in Christ's Love
12MR	120	1	MR No. 950--Counsels to Students
12MR	129	1	MR No. 951--Testimony to Battle Creek Sanitarium
12MR	136	1	MR No. 952--Material for Piper Biography
12MR	139	1	MR No. 953--Sale of Testimony No. 34 for Relief of Institutions in Denmark
12MR	140	1	MR No. 954--Study of Growth of Ellen White's Theological Understanding
12MR	149	1	MR No. 955--Items for Newbold--Part II
12MR	151	1	MR No. 956--Revival at Danvers, Massachusetts
12MR	158	1	MR No. 957--Unity Prevails at 1889 General Conference
12MR	159	1	MR No. 958--Sabbathkeeping in Arctic Lands
12MR	160	1	MR No. 959--Wages for Women Doing Gospel Work
12MR	168	1	MR No. 960--Necessity of Balance in Health Reform
12MR	179	1	MR No. 961--Looking Back at Minneapolis
12MR	206	1	MR No. 962--The Value of Pictures in Educating Children
12MR	207	1	MR No. 963--The Days of Noah
12MR	210	1	MR No. 964--SDA Work in England in 1887
12MR	212	1	MR No. 965--Counsels to E. J. Waggoner
12MR	217	1	MR No. 966--True Worship Vs. False Worship
12MR	223	1	MR No. 967--Controversy Over the "Daily" to be Avoided
12MR	227	1	MR No. 969--Faithfulness in Confessing Christ
12MR	232	1	MR No. 970--Jesus--Our Righteousness, Example, and Partner
12MR	239	1	MR No. 971--Counsels on Soul Winning
12MR	242	1	MR No. 972--Counsel to a Husband
12MR	246	1	MR No. 973--Need for Unity Among Spiritual Shepherds
12MR	253	1	MR No. 974--The Results of Selfishness
12MR	254	1	MR No. 975--The Value of Bible Study
12MR	255	1	MR No. 976--God the Source of All Wisdom
12MR	257	1	MR No. 977--The Power of the Holy Spirit
12MR	262	1	MR No. 978--A Trip to Lake County, California
12MR	267	1	MR No. 979--More Counsel to Frederick Griggs
12MR	269	1	MR No. 980--The Need for Insurance
12MR	270	1	MR No. 981--Ellen White's Sixty-Eighth Birthday
12MR	271	1	MR No. 982--Conforming to God's Will in Tithe Paying, Soul Winning, and Unity
12MR	274	1	MR No. 983--Counsel on Solving Church Difficulties
12MR	296	1	MR No. 984--The Matchless Christ Offers His Spirit to the Humble and Contrite
12MR	299	1	MR No. 986--Comments About Dr. Caro, A New Zealand Dentist
12MR	300	1	MR No. 987--Definitions of Righteousness and Iniquity
12MR	301	1	MR No. 988--Christ in Both Old and New Testaments
12MR	302	1	MR No. 989--Jesus, Comforter of the Afflicted
12MR	307	1	MR No. 990--Heaven Cooperates in Fulfilling the Gospel Commission
12MR	309	1	MR No. 991--At Times Jesus Spoke Cutting Truths
12MR	310	1	MR No. 992--Importance of Medical Missionary Work
12MR	315	1	MR No. 993--A Visit to the Veterans' Home at Yountville, California
12MR	318	1	MR No. 994--An Appeal to Live the Truth and Share It
12MR	329	1	MR No. 995--Greater Concern and Zeal Needed for Soul Winning
12MR	339	1	MR No. 996--The Far-Reaching Influence of Wives
12MR	345	1	MR No. 997--Ellen White and the Stanmore Church in Sydney, Australia
12MR	364	1	MR No. 998--Warnings Against Jealousy and Misjudging; A Defense of Dr. Kellogg
12MR	385	1	MR No. 999--Christ as Sacrifice and High Priest

------------------------MR No. 921--Ellen White's Concern for Doctor Kellogg
12MR	1	1	Should I be considered your enemy, because I will not hold my peace when the Lord instructs me to tell you that you need a work done for yourself which will give you an altogether different experience from that which you are now having?
12MR	1	2	You feel that Sister White has turned away from you, but it is exactly the opposite. Sister White has no different testimony to bear from the testimony she has borne for the last fifty years. It is you who have changed and changed decidedly. You have refused to accept the light which the Lord has been pleased to give you, that you were to work in harmony with your brethren.
12MR	1	3	According to the light God has given me, sore and troublesome annoyances will come. I have been instructed that for a time your presence is needed at the sanitarium in Battle Creek. There are trials to come to the sanitarium. Its help is not all that it should be. I am instructed, Look not to human beings for wisdom. If we trust in the Lord, nothing can prevail against us. There is a tree of life in Battle Creek, to which all have free access. All may pluck and eat of it. My brother, look constantly to Jesus. Eat His flesh and drink His blood. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. If you will walk in the light, your heart and your mind will be under the supervision of God....
12MR	2	1	I do not want you to have any wrong upon your soul. I want you to come off more than conqueror. God wants you to stand on the high platform of eternal rectitude. Let not your good be evil spoken of. You have a living Saviour. Cling fast to Him. Pray, Oh, pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to you, and will maintain you ever to work for Him. You must often feel the necessity of dying to self. Then you will not yield to [any] influence but the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
12MR	2	2	I have the greatest interest in you. I understand you much better than you understand yourself. It is not only your privilege, but it is your duty to seek a character so consistent that sin will find no place in your words or actions. Walk wisely in your home. Walk wisely before your patients and your students, that when you bow in prayer, the Lord can hear and answer you. Walk wisely in a perfect way. Let your words be seasoned with the grace of Christ. Let the Christlikeness of your words and actions be a sign between you and Christ's followers that you walk with God. Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart. Let its power strengthen and mellow your disposition. In all your associations, reveal the uplifting principles of heaven, that when your work here shall close, only the fragrance of your good works and words may be remembered.
12MR	2	3	I felt that I must write this now, because at any time I may be called upon to lay off my armor. I am watching and waiting. You need to feel the softening, subduing influence of the grace of Christ. You are certainly in danger of exaggerating your power of authority. This ... you have done many, many times.
12MR	3	1	Night after night I am in distress, walking the floor with a burden almost unendurable. I have a deep interest in you, my brother. The Lord has given me messages for you, warning you not to be as Nebuchadnezzar, filled with self-exaltation. You have before you every temptation to sway the work in such a way that God cannot put his signature upon it. Altogether too much power and authority rests in your word. You are not sufficient for these things. The Lord must be the ruler.
12MR	3	2	I must say unto you that trials will come to me and to others, for I have been instructed there will be men and women who are not always wise because they are not sanctified through the truth, and they will not behave judiciously. They will walk and work unwisely, and there will be those who will corrupt the doctrines we now hold. If reproved they will falsify and misstate the words spoken. Publications will be multiplied and the world will be warned. But dangers are before us all now in the field. Not one third of the working force of men and women we have in the field are rooted and grounded in the faith, and to be trusted.
12MR	3	3	Even if you continue to refuse to accept what I say, I shall not feel that I have nothing more to say to you. I love your soul too well to keep silent. I shall continue to warn you. I promised the Lord that I would do this. And when I see the people of God in danger of accepting your wrong version of things, and of moving blindly, I shall present to them that which I have presented to you, else I shall be held accountable. I love your soul and I want you to have eternal life. I must tell you the truth. And whether you acknowledge it or not, you know that what I tell you is truth.
12MR	4	1	Shortly before your father died, he called me to him, saying that he had something to say to me. "I feel that John is in great danger," he said. "But, Sister White, you will not get discouraged, will you, even though he seems to be headstrong? You are the only one who can help him. Do not let him go, even though his case appears discouraging."
12MR	4	2	I promised that I would do as the Spirit of the Lord directed me. God's word to me has always been, "You can help him."
12MR	4	3	Dear Brother: A scene has been presented before me of actions performed by you, similar to the actions of Satan in the heavenly courts. From time to time I have given warnings to different ones who were being blinded by your sophistries and misrepresentations. Your power of misrepresentation is so continuously exerted that many have been deceived.
12MR	4	4	In some things you act like a man bereft of his reason. It is a marvel to me how one who has had the light in so many ways, who has received so many warnings and reproofs, can yet go on blindfolding himself and others.
12MR	4	5	You wrote me that you had surrendered. But wherein have you surrendered? When I received this word from you, I forbore to open before you some things that I shall now have to tell you. I hoped that you would seek to reform. Many times you have been entreated to change your course. You certainly need to do so; for you have been the greatest hindrance to the work that God would have advance in straight lines. Other men have acted a part in some respects similar to the part that you have been acting, but they have not been so regardless of justice, honesty and truth.
12MR	5	1	You have not been given occasion to do the things that you have done. For years I have striven to give you every word of encouragement that I dared give you, hoping that you might take hold of the encouragement and make thorough work for eternity. At the General Conference held in Battle Creek in 1901, I treated you as a man who would make every effort to set things right. When your long-drawn-out documents were presented to me to commend and approve, I was shown clearly by the heavenly agencies the sure results of receiving such documents. I was shown the oppression that would be exercised by you and by others linked up with you, who were spiritually blind.
12MR	5	2	You have made persistent efforts to try to center everything in Battle Creek, after clear light had been given that this should not be done. For years messages have been coming to you, distinctly pointing out the fact that plants should be made in many places, and that so much should not be gathered into Battle Creek. I was surprised that you took so little heed to messages regarding this that the Lord has repeatedly sent you. You were professedly believing the Testimonies, and yet walking and working contrary to them, following your own impulses, turning from the plain, Thus saith the Lord, to carry out your own plans and devisings. You have had little use for those whom you thought would obstruct your way. You would not harmonize with them, and refused to recognize in them any virtue or righteousness.
12MR	5	3	"Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto Him, Master, thus saying Thou reproachest us also. And He said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers" (Luke 11:45, 46).
12MR	6	1	I have no liberty to withhold any longer the matters that I have written. There is much that must be brought out. And yet I say unto you, as I have said many times before, I have an intense desire that you shall show by your words of confession and by your actions that you will now make thorough work for repentance. Let the plowshare of truth go deep and thorough into your heart. Do not surface work; for God will not accept superficial promises. The Lord Jesus reaches out His hand once more to you, and He will not be trifled with. You have a work to do. Cease your underhand work, which shows that you would spoil the work of God. If you will repent, and be converted, the Lord will have mercy upon you.
------------------------MR No. 922--The Sin of Faultfinding
12MR	7	1	Sabbath, January 14, was of great interest to us. In the morning I spoke from Isaiah 58. The Lord gave me strength and grace to deliver His message to the people. I did not intend to speak again in the afternoon as a social meeting had been appointed. But as the testimonies were borne I felt urged to present the case of some who seemed altogether too blind to comprehend their true position.
12MR	7	2	The Lord constrained me to speak in regard to the dangers of those who were so completely absorbed in dwelling upon the failings and mistakes of others that they themselves were falling into far greater evils, and sinning against God. I told Brother A that he would surely lose the reason that God had given him if he did not cease this work of accusing, and employ his powers to a better purpose than feeding on the faults and errors of others. Christ declared Himself to be the bread which cometh down from heaven. He said, [John 6:51, 53-57, 63, quoted].
12MR	7	3	Our bodies are built up from what we eat and drink; and the character of our spiritual experience depends on what our minds feed upon and assimilate. By continually dwelling upon the mistakes and defects of others, many become religious dyspeptics. The Lord has bidden us, "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8). But those who are so busy in dissecting the words and acts of others, to discover all that is objectionable, fail to discern the good and pleasant things. They do not eat of the proper food to promote spiritual vitality and healthy growth.
12MR	8	1	Many are bearing a yoke that Christ never placed upon them. It is galling to the neck, and it brings no rest to the soul. I said to Brother A, The Lord has not placed the sins of the people upon you. You are not the sin-bearer. Jesus, the world's Redeemer, was able to tread the wine press alone. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, and there is not an angel in heaven who is able to bear the sins of one soul. No human being can bear the guilt of his own sin. Then how inconsistent for him to think that the Lord has laid upon him the sins of his fellow men. If it were so indeed, his life would be crushed out. From henceforth please remember that not one of you is able to be a sin-bearer. Do not feel that you are under the necessity of talking of the faults and errors of others.
12MR	8	2	God has given His only begotten Son, "that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Thank God for this. Christ has invited us, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). O what a promise, that! "I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; ... and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). Let these words fill us with comfort and hope and peace. While you are worrying over the sins of others Jesus says, turn your eyes away from these things and behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. There is a balm in Gilead; there is a Physician there. Jesus is the great physician, and He can cure all the maladies of the soul.
12MR	9	1	The infinite wisdom of God has employed human agencies to cooperate with Him in His work for the salvation of men. He has a variety of agencies, with different gifts, and they are to cooperate harmoniously, each filling his own God-given sphere of action. We are to work for the salvation of our fellow men, not by judging them, but by showing forth what the Lord has done for us in the transformation of character. Your faith, your sympathy, your forbearance, your love, your gentleness, your temperance in all things, will be as a light shining in a dark place.
12MR	9	2	God has often used the spotless example of a poor and illiterate man as successfully promoting the great designs of the gospel as the labors of the minister who is lauded for his talents and eloquence. The Lord's wisdom and power are revealed in the humble, devoted worker who lives his religion, more than in the educated man who does not rely so fully upon God's help.
------------------------MR No. 923--The Stoning System
12MR	10	1	I had a dream. I saw A in close conversation with men and with ministers. He adroitly would make statements born of suspicion and imagination to draw them out, and then would gain expression from them. I saw him clap his hands over something very eagerly. I felt a pang of anguish at heart as I saw this going on. I saw in my dream yourself and B in conversation with him. You made statements to him which he seemed to grasp with avidity, and close his hand over something. I then saw him go to his room, and there upon the floor was a pile of stones systematically laid up, stone upon stone. He placed the additional stones on the pile and counted them up. Every stone had a name--some report gathered up--and every stone was numbered.
12MR	10	2	The young man who often instructs me came and looked upon the pile of stones with grief and indignation, and inquired [of A] what he had and what he proposed to do with them. A looked up with a sharp, gratified laugh. "These are mistakes of C. I am going to stone him with them, stone him to death." The young man said, "You are bringing back the stoning system, are you? You are worse than the ancient Pharisees. Who gave you this work to do? The Lord raised you up, the Lord entrusted you with a special work. The Lord has sustained you in a most remarkable manner, but it was not for you to degrade your powers for this kind of work. Satan is an accuser of the brethren.
12MR	11	1	I thought A seemed very defiant and determined. Said he, "C is trying to tear us to pieces. He is working against us, and to save our reputation and life, we must work against him. I shall use every stone to the last pebble here upon this floor to kill him. This is only self-defense, a disagreeable necessity."
12MR	11	2	And then said the young man solemnly, "What have you gained? Have you in the act righted your wrongs? Have you opened your heart to Jesus Christ, and does He sit there enthroned? Who occupies the citadel of the soul under this administration of the stoning system?
12MR	11	3	"You have a higher calling, a more important work. Leave all such work of gathering stones for the enemies of God's law. You brethren must love one another, or you are not children of the day, but of darkness."
12MR	11	4	I then saw C engaged in a similar work, gathering stones, making a pile, and ready to begin the stoning system. Similar words were repeated to him with additional injunctions, and I awoke.
------------------------MR No. 924--Reflections on the Minneapolis Conference
12MR	12	1	Dear Children of the Household, I have good news to report this morning. There has been a break in the meeting. Praise the Lord, He is at work for His people. We have felt surely that the enemy of Christ and all righteousness was upon the ground. [Written May 12, 1889, from Ottawa, Kansas, where Ellen White was attending camp meeting.] There were some ministers from Iowa who came armed and equipped to leaven the camp with the very same spirit that was so prominent in Minneapolis. Brother Jones had labored every day, speaking three times a day, but it seemed so hard to make an impression.
12MR	12	2	We arrived here on Tuesday evening [May 7]. Wednesday I attended the early morning meeting and bore a decided testimony and entreated all present not to act over Minneapolis, and not to be like those Paul describes in Hebrews 4:2. I then entreated them to humble their hearts before God and put away their sins by repentance and confession, and receive the messages God sends them through His delegated servants.
12MR	12	3	Thursday morning I attended the early morning meeting and felt that I must be more explicit. I was led out to speak more freely in regard to the conference held in Minneapolis, and the spirit that our brethren brought to that conference. I felt that it was not enough to longer deal in general terms uttering truths which might be assented to, but that would not cut deep in the fleshy tables of the heart. The work to be done demanded something more than smooth words, for God would put His rebuke upon anything and everything savoring of the same kind of spirit and influence that was brought into Minneapolis--doubts, cavilings, playing upon words, turning aside from the close reproofs of the Spirit of God, and regarding them as idle fables and ridiculing and misrepresenting and quibbling upon words.
12MR	13	1	All this was an offense to God and must not have any place here at this meeting. There were souls starving for food and they must be fed. I told them that which the Spirit of God had revealed to me as I was conducted to the rooms of those who came to the conference. I was made to hear the conversation, the sarcasm, the evil feelings expressed, the bearing false witness, the making light of the message God sent, and the messenger who brought the message. I was told all this was wisdom that was from beneath in marked contrast to the wisdom that was from above, which has been specified by God through His apostles. [James 3:13-18, quoted.]
12MR	13	2	I related in the Thursday morning meeting some things in reference to the Minneapolis meeting. I told them by what means the Lord had opened to me the spiritual condition of many of those who came to that conference. They came under a delusion, with false impressions upon their minds. This was Satan's work, for the Lord was to revive His people and give them light in clear distinct rays that would lead to the magnifying of Christ. The Lord's command to His people through His messengers was "Go forward." And now Satan determined to hold the people away from the light, that the rich blessing of God should not come upon the delegates.
12MR	13	3	Satan raised an alarm. They thought the law in Galatians would come up and they would go armed and equipped to resist everything coming from those men from the Pacific Coast, new and old.
12MR	13	4	I never labored in my life more directly under the controlling influences of the Spirit of God. God gave me meat in due season for the people, but they refused it, for it did not come in just the way and manner they wanted it to come. Elders Jones and Waggoner presented precious light to the people, but prejudice and unbelief, jealousy and evil-surmising, barred the door of their hearts that nothing from this source should find entrance to their hearts.
12MR	14	1	I had been, during the forty-five years of experience, shown the lives, the character and history of the patriarchs and prophets who had come to the people with a message from God, and Satan would start some evil report, or get up some difference of opinion or turn the interest in some other channel, that the people should be deprived of the good the Lord had to bestow upon them. And now in this case a firm, decided, obstinate spirit was taking possession of hearts, and those who had known of the grace of God and had felt His converting power upon their hearts once, were deluded, infatuated, working under a deception all through that meeting, and it took but a tiny seed of doubt and questioning to find fruitful soil in the hearts of those who had no living connection with God, whose hearts were hard and unimpressionable. Their base passions were stirred and it was a precious opportunity to them to show the mob spirit.
12MR	14	2	I could but have a vivid picture in my mind from day to day of the way reformers were treated, how slight difference of opinion seemed to create a frenzy of feeling. Thus it was in the betrayal, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus--all this had passed before me point by point. The Satanic spirit took control and moved with power upon the human hearts that had been opened to doubts and to bitterness, wrath and hatred. All this was prevailing in that meeting. I decided to leave the meeting, leave Minneapolis. I refused to speak again to our people, but consented to speak to the Scandinavians.
12MR	15	1	In the night season, one of God's messengers stood by my side and asked: "Did not I raise you up when you were sick nigh unto death in Healdsburg? Did not I put My Spirit upon you and sustain you to bear your testimony in Oakland? Did not I your Lord strengthen you to come the long journey to this place? Have not I kept your mind in peace amid the strife and confusion of tongues, and now I have a work for you to do in this place. My everlasting arms are beneath you. I have given you a message to bear. I will show you many things."
12MR	15	2	I was conducted to the house where our brethren made their homes, and there was much conversation and excitement of feelings and some smart, and as they supposed sharp, witty remarks. The servants, whom the Lord sent, were caricatured, ridiculed, and placed in a ridiculous light. The comment of words passed upon me and the work that God had given me to do was anything but flattering. Willie White's name was handled freely and he was ridiculed and denounced, also the names of Elders Jones and Waggoner.
12MR	15	3	Voices that I was surprised to hear were joining this rebellion and those with whom I had labored in past years, without any evidence or any sure knowledge of any change in Sister White, were hard, bold, and decided in denouncing her. And of all those so free and forward with their cruel words, not one had come to me and inquired if these reports and their suppositions were true. I was represented as telling things untrue, when I made the statement that not a word of conversation had passed between me and Brethren Jones and Waggoner nor my son Willie upon the law in Galatians. If they had been as frank with me as they were in talking with one another against me, I could have made everything plain to them in this matter. I repeated this several times, because I saw they were determined not to take my testimony. They thought we all came to the conference with a perfect understanding and an agreement to make a stand on the law in Galatians.
12MR	16	1	After hearing what I did my heart sank within me. I had never pictured before my mind what dependence we might place in those who claim to be friends, when the spirit of Satan finds entrance to their hearts. I thought of the future crisis, and feelings that I can never put into words for a little time overcame me. [Mark 13:9, 12 quoted.]
12MR	16	2	All this passed through my mind like a flash of lightning and I was sensible how little trust or dependence could be put in the friendship of men when human thoughts and human passions bear sway. Just as sure as the enemy is permitted to bear sway then we may expect anything. Human friendship, bonds, and ties of relationship are severed, and why? Because there is a difference of opinion in interpretation of the Scriptures. It is the same spirit which condemned the Lord of life and glory. The truth that sanctifies the soul produces no briers and thorns. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). Then the words were spoken, "Only lay hold of the strength of the Mighty One. He is a friend that will never leave thee, never betray thee. He is thy refuge. No storm or tempest can move thee. In God is thy strength. Faith in God is thy shield and buckler. His grace is sufficient for thee."
12MR	16	3	And what created all this stirring up of human passions which was bitterness of spirit, because some of their brethren had ventured to entertain some ideas contrary to the ideas that some others of their brethren had entertained, which were thought from their understanding to be inroads upon ancient doctrines?
12MR	17	1	The guide which accompanied me gave me the information of the spiritual standing before God of these men, who were passing judgment upon their brethren. They were not keeping their own souls in the love of God. Had they been growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they would have distinguished light from darkness, and truth from error.
12MR	17	2	I had declared my intention of leaving the meeting as soon as the Sabbath should close, but when I was assured I had a work to do, to stand at my post, that God had given me a message to bear in His name, and even if I had foreseen the consequences, I could not be clear before God, and have my peace. And my work must not cease here, for my testimony of this character must continue as God should direct until these wrongs were expelled from the churches. Unless the faithful testimonies are continually repeated in the ears of the people of God, the mold which has been left upon the work would not be removed.
12MR	17	3	There have been, I was informed, misunderstandings not only of the testimonies, but of the Bible itself. Men have exalted themselves and esteemed themselves too highly, which leads to the denouncing of others and passing judgment upon their brethren. Envy, jealousy, evilspeaking, evil surmising, judging one another, has been considered a special gift given of God in discernment, when it savors more of the spirit of the great accuser who accused the brethren before God day and night. There has been a spirit of Phariseeism, a hard, unsympathetic spirit towards the erring, a withdrawing from some and leaving them in discouragement, which is leaving the lost sheep to perish in the wilderness. There has been a placing of men where God alone should be.
12MR	18	1	You must do your work with fidelity. You must under the constraining influence of the love of Christ do the work God has given you. Let not your zeal diminish. Then trust the result with God. This was not all that was said, but I did not hesitate a moment in my decision. I prayed the Lord to unite me more fully to Himself. I decided I must work, bearing the message God should give me without calculating the consequences, whether men would hear or forbear. I must not abate one jot or tittle of the message given me to bear, either for favors or because of frowns and alienations of any mortal.
12MR	18	2	I sent word to Brother Kilgore that I would speak to the Scandinavians in the afternoon, and to the American brethren in the forenoon. I stated to the brethren that I had continued the same work since the Minneapolis meeting. Success has attended my labors, but only one man has had the moral courage to confess that he had done and spoken wrong both of me and the work God had given me. They have not repented of their evil work. I had testimonies for individuals that were in sin, but I had no liberty to reprove them, for these were joined with those who held responsible positions and had a mob spirit, the spirit of the devil to berate, to falsify and inflame the minds of those who ought to have had the spirit of Jesus.
12MR	18	3	While in Europe, in different ways, at different times, in different places, I was speaking to the people in America, and warning, cautioning, entreating them to have their spirit and works corresponding with the character of the truth which they profess to believe and love. I was shown that there was coming into the ranks of Sabbathkeepers a self-sufficient spirit. [A self-sufficient spirit] was cherished by young men in responsible positions. A worldly wisdom was taking the place of the wisdom from above. Men were trusting in men. Form and ceremony were taking the place of true piety.
12MR	19	1	Men were almost devoid of love. Those who praised and glorified them, they would praise and glorify in return. Those who highly esteemed their capabilities were getting above the simplicity of the work. They shaped the work to go in their line, and God would disappoint them and move in His own mysterious way His wonders to perform; and God's ways would not be seen and acknowledged by those who had brought in their own spirit to take the place of the Spirit of God.
12MR	19	2	That which was presented to me at Minneapolis opened to me the true state of many conference [workers]. If the testimonies which they have long professed to believe crossed their track, or rebuked and corrected their errors, there must be, they thought, some mistake in the testimony.
12MR	19	3	I told them plainly [that] the position and work God gave me at that conference was disregarded by nearly all. Rebellion was popular. Their course was an insult to the Spirit of God. The Lord sustained me by His Holy Spirit and told me that my work was to stand at my position of trust to do the work the Lord had set me to do, and raised me up from a bed of sickness to do, and His sustaining power would be with me, for His everlasting arms were beneath me; [that] the spirit that was brought at that meeting was a zeal not according to knowledge; that wrong ideas and a spirit not of God had been for years taking control of those who were standing in responsible places. They were lifted up, exalted.
12MR	19	4	Many things were specified that were being cherished as truth, but which were not in harmony with the message of the truth, and Satan was having things very much his own way. He was taking advantage of human nature. The disposition and strong traits of character which had not been under subjection to the Spirit of God were stirred into activity as worked against Jesus Christ at His first advent, and led to their taking the first steps in the rejection of Christ. And after their feet were once set in a wrong path, their pride, their jealousy, and self-righteousness would not allow them to acknowledge they had made a mistake.
12MR	20	1	Many were drawn into this snare by the misrepresentation of others, knowing not what they were doing, not understanding what they were stirred up about. A bewitching power attends all rebellion of whatever order. After they had taken the position with the more responsible ones in attempting to destroy the Son of God after His discourse at Nazareth, they would not repent and retract. Jesus gave them an opportunity after His character and His work were more fully known. He had wrought miracles. He had done works that no other man had done or ever could do, but they did not afterward repent and give Him glory.
12MR	20	2	I was encouraged to stand firmly against the human impulses that were bearing strongly against [the] light and truth which the Lord had for this time for His People. I was told that, comparatively, I should stand almost alone; but I was not alone, for His Spirit was moving upon many hearts who were like-minded with the Spirit of God. [God said to me], "I have a testimony for you to bear before My people who are hungering for truth. Be not of a doubtful heart, neither be discouraged. My word shall be as a hammer to break the flinty hearts. Be zealous only for the honor of God."
12MR	20	3	The president of the Kansas Conference solicited an interview with me and said his confidence in the testimonies was greater than ever before, for he was in that house where it seemed indeed to be as I had said, a godless, prayerless house. Such comments as were made of me and my work from men he supposed would never speak such words, so astonished him that he felt that he must speak and let them know he was not of the same mind. He reproved the spirit, the words, that had been spoken.
12MR	21	1	Several others were in the same house and stated the same things. They thought they would never mention the matter to anyone, but now they felt that they must speak. They acknowledged [that] every word Sister White had spoken was true, that her name, her work, her testimonies of the Spirit of God were freely commented upon; and the statement was made that Sister White was under the influence of Willie White, A. T. Jones, and E. J. Waggoner, and that they were not reliable. These brethren named were treated in words and charged with many things, that there was, I had stated, a wrong spirit. They deeply regretted they were in that company where for a long time not a vocal prayer was offered, but [there was] enough talk to confuse the minds of those who had not a long experience in the work of Sister White.
12MR	21	2	Thursday afternoon I spoke to the people, although I was weak, for the air was depressed. The word was received in just that way and in just that spirit that the individual hearers possessed. Those who were watching to find somebody to pick flaws in, whose hearts were barricaded with unbelief, thought Sister White did not talk with much spirit. Those who wanted light and truth were fed and considered the words spoken as from God. I had a long talk with young Brother Washburn, who opened his heart frankly to me.
12MR	21	3	Friday morning again I read some things before the people assembled, in reference to Minneapolis and the way my brethren treated the servants whom the Lord sent to them with messages of truth. Then several bore testimony in regard to their experience at the meeting at Minneapolis; and yet we did not seem to break through.
12MR	22	1	Sabbath Brother A. T. Jones talked upon the subject of justification by faith, and many received it as light and truth. I spoke in the afternoon, and the Lord strengthened me to bear my testimony with freedom. Then there were many testimonies borne, testifying that they appreciated the light and truth presented to them. But it seemed difficult for those who had been dwelling in an atmosphere of doubt, to take the position of learners. They would quibble at little points that were of no consequence. The leaven that has wrought in Iowa Conference, was in our midst.
12MR	22	2	Sunday morning I attended the meeting, and prayed and talked. I bore to the company assembled a plain, clear, sharp testimony, taking up again a solemn reproof against the sin of our doubts and unbelief; that in every congregation Satan had his agents right among us through whom he could work. Their natural and acquired abilities he could use if there was any chance for him to do so.
12MR	22	3	There are those who have lived in an atmosphere of doubt, men of talent and acquirements who attend our special meetings for business and for counsel, whom Satan works through, to hinder the work of God. When propositions are made to advance the work, when the glory of God alone is considered, these men, supposing themselves to be wise and of far-seeing judgment, will catch at a little item of no particular consequence, and they will talk over it and make everyone else talk over it, and hinder the work which might have moved right along to its completion. And when once they start a thing, they will hold tenaciously to their ideas. They consider it a virtue, a matter of praise in them, to appear to have this great caution and wonderful foresight, when [they] are only carrying the stones to trig the wheels, making the work exceedingly trying in these business meetings because these men intrude themselves to notice, when the "Well done" would have been said to them in heaven and in earth if they had kept silence.
12MR	23	1	The very thing that the Lord had impressed upon the minds of His servants that ought to be done has not been done at the right time, because these men advanced their own ideas under the suggestions the devil had put in their minds to hinder the work of God and to disgust those who would see the work of God move. There have been suggestions made by themselves which have carried, which God never put into their minds. Satan attends every board meeting, every business meeting, every committee meeting, and if he can impress anyone's mind to make objections or to throw in suggestions that will delay the work hours and weary out those who are called upon to attend these meetings, he is wonderfully pleased. He has had his way in the matter. And the business which should be pushed through with dispatch, yet in an intelligent manner, is made tedious and to drag along because of the human, unsanctified elements in the character of some who are placed in responsible positions, who do not have knowledge when to speak and when to keep silent.
12MR	23	2	This is the way Satan has wrought among us effectively. If these men are not converted, [these men] who are so ready to block the wheel, who will oppose things which commend themselves to the judgment of those who generally preside at these meetings, let them be left off the board, for although they may have some excellent ability they have mingled with it a self-esteem and ideas that they wish to have prevail which will be carrying out Satan's line as he wants it. They are a detriment, a hindrance, to your business meetings, and make them unsatisfactory, wanting in dignity and make most tedious delays of business that might be executed with expedition and thoroughness.
12MR	24	1	Another thing where Satan comes and uses his power is to work upon the human elements to foster unbelief, and they have lived and breathed in the atmosphere of unbelief until it is second nature to hunt up doubts and sow the seeds of doubts. They have some precious qualities, but when doubts and quibbling take hold of their mind, all the gifts and abilities entrusted to them from God are used as weapons of darkness. They do not know that they are under the influence of the great deceiver, to assault the most sacred things of God with wicked self-deification. They use the power they possess and the confidence entrusted in them by other minds to rivet more firmly the bonds of infidelity, questioning, and doubts of the very truths God would have them, His people, respect and reverence.
12MR	24	2	I say, let not these be deceived. Mistake not your influence to deceive others for the final come out of the matter. There is a decision to be pronounced by Him who is a true watcher, who weighs with other scales than those who are deluded. Your time has not been employed in a manner to meet the "Well done," when the last decision shall be made.
12MR	24	3	Think ye not that the heavenly Watcher sees your unbelief and opposition? Think ye not your ridiculing, scoffing words are never to appear before you again? Even the outpouring of the Spirit of God you have treated with contempt, and have passed your unsanctified judgment upon; and when the messages have come to you that you must be converted to God, how you have misunderstood and perverted the meaning of these words. The voice of unbelief and contempt of God's work and God's servants have been by those blinded by selfishness and self-deception, as the voice of God. But an almighty hand is at work for His people, to purge from them the spirit of self, the base material that they flattered themselves was gold.
12MR	25	1	Who shall comfort God's servants when they are grieved and disappointed? Will their faith steer clear? Will they be Christlike amid the rocks without shipwreck? God does not take pleasure in disappointing our hopes and bowing our souls down with anguish. God will fulfill the desire of them that are faithful to do His bidding. But we must not prescribe to Him time, place, or manner, when this must be done. He will not suffer His servants to spend their strength for naught. There may be an appearance that they are frustrated for a time. It is for their good, for their success is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth.
12MR	25	2	The Lord has His eyes upon the workers. He suffers obstructions and apparent failures to take place that His wisdom and His power may be more decidedly manifested, and that His own Name may be glorified, for the Lord alone is to be exalted. God's workers must walk in the way of duty and commit themselves, their work, their time and talents, to God.
12MR	25	3	In the providence of God I bore my testimony in Battle Creek, in Potterville, in Des Moines. There the reports have been circulated in regard to the meeting at Minneapolis, but God gave me perfect freedom before [our] ministering brethren and the church, but those who had misinterpreted me and made statements that were in accordance with their feelings, have said nothing to retract their evil work upon the mind of Elder Butler and upon the minds of others.
12MR	25	4	Jesus says in solemn accents, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." While Christ was teaching the most important truth, there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews, about purifying. This was one of the ways the Pharisees worked when the truth they saw was affecting men's consciences. They would start some question of little importance to create a dispute, and thus divert the minds that they saw were being convicted.
12MR	26	1	This plan of Satan has been carried on through the ages. He will work upon some minds to get into a dispute about some things in the church whenever the Lord begins to revive His people. He lays hold of human elements in the church, upon something that might be as well left wholly alone, to quench the spirit of harmonious action and to divert the mind from living issues. In every church gathering for worship, Satan is there also, to use every element that he can use in human nature to serve his purpose. He will use to bring in unbelief, evil surmising, and [he will endeavor] to get up side issues to divert the mind from the living issues; and [so] the Lord Jesus has warned us to watch and pray [lest] ye enter into temptation.
12MR	26	2	When our brethren were engaged in their unholy work of contempt for their brethren whom the Lord sent with a message to them, did they think that they were doing God service? Did it not enter their minds that they were entering into temptation? They did not pray. They had no disposition to humble their hearts before God and stop their contention and plead with God for the enlightenment of His Spirit.
12MR	26	3	Have they not examples before them in the past and in the present, where the banners of rebellion against the messages God sends and against His servants, are waving around us? Are there not enough blasphemers and despisers who have rejected light and cast aside His counsel? Must there be, even in our very midst, those who claim to be doing the work of God but who are openly profaning His name in word, in spirit, and in actions; and will this unhallowed work go on, that the measure of iniquity shall be still swelling the figures, before the church shall feel the importance of wrestling with God for the revealing of His power?
12MR	27	1	Are prayerless companies to associate together in their spirit of opposition against light and truth, but not associate together to seek the Lord with all their hearts? Did these who formed a confederacy expect that this was the sanctifying influence of the truth upon them? Did they expect the Lord would guide them into all truth [while they were so] lukewarm [and] lifted up in self-sufficiency that they felt no need of keeping their hearts with all diligence, out of which are the issues of life? Personal piety, practical piety and spiritual-mindedness, were not kept up by secret and vocal prayer. Is not this the true state of the case? Was the course pursued by those congregated in these houses, of a character to kindle the fire of devotional love in their hearts?
12MR	27	2	The light given me was that after a few superficial performances in private or public, they were filled with the accusing spirit, with evil surmisings, and several have acknowledged they did not want to say that Sister White lied, but they did say they did not believe she told the truth when she stated that she had not had conversation with W. C. White, Elder Waggoner, or Elder Jones. Have not these, my brethren, been wrought up by the spirit of Satan to thus judge me? And yet not one of them sought an interview with Sister White. Not one tried to obtain the true state of the case from her. In all the scenes of rebellion that have arisen, not one has charged me with untruth before this, and if they judge of me in this light, fired with a zeal that certainly is from beneath, they have thought and said worse things of Brethren Jones and Waggoner. Is this the course that we are to pursue in standing by the "old landmarks"? Is this the zeal for the Lord of hosts and for the spiritual interest of our brethren?
12MR	28	1	Where is the spirit that Moses had when he cried earnestly to God day and night that He would exalt His own name among the nations? Where is that disinterested self-devotion which prompted the prayer of Moses, "Yet, if now Thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me I pray Thee, out of Thy book"? Where [was] there anything of this shown in the zeal of these brethren? God forbid [that] anything should ever take place again like that which transpired at Minneapolis. All this undue excitement of natural feelings of chagrin and vexation was not the zeal heaven-born to stand in defense of the truth.
12MR	28	2	Would God that those who acted a part in this work would have repented before God, after reflection, that they had seen that they were mistaken in Sister White and in their brethren ministers, [that] they had been as humble as Willie White and made as clean a confession as he did, broad enough to cover the wound he feared he had made. His course put to blush and shame those who have displeased God and injured their brethren in a most unchristian manner, which has involved them in darkness and perplexity, in which their own spirit and natural hearts have involved them.
12MR	28	3	You may be annoyed because I keep this matter before you, but happy will you be if you see this matter as it is, if your eyes are opened to see the spiritual darkness and corruption of your own hearts, and repent.
12MR	28	4	May 13. This morning there was a precious meeting of confession. Brethren Porter, Washburn, and Wakeham, all have yielded their opposition and surrendered to God. Brother Wakeham's testimony was that he had enjoyed more of the Spirit of God in the last 24 hours than he had done in all his life before. He was getting free and rejoicing in the Lord.
12MR	29	1	Brother Porter bore a clear, free testimony. Brother Washburn also rejoiced in God. Oh, how grateful is my soul to see these, who have been enshrouded in an atmosphere of unbelief, now talking faith, now grasping the righteousness of Christ; and these who, ignorantly and in their unbelief, have let unholy thoughts and feelings into their hearts, and then grieved the Spirit of God, seek God while He may be found, call upon Him while He is nigh.
12MR	29	2	Your feelings, your words that have been spoken against your brethren, have been registered against you in the books of heaven as done to Jesus Christ in the person of His saints. "Inasmuch as ye have done this to one of the least of these, My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."
12MR	29	3	Repent before the Lord. If you do not repent, "I will come unto you and remove the candlestick out of its place." Then the result will be moral darkness. I attended the afternoon meeting, and after Brother Jones had spoken upon faith, there were many free testimonies borne. As many as six and eight were on their feet at a time, and they seemed like starved sheep who were feeding upon meat in due season.
12MR	29	4	I pray that this good work may go on and that Zion may arise, because her light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon her. Let the individual members of the church humble themselves before God, and accept the message which will bring healing to her bruises and wounds.
------------------------MR No. 926--Manuscript Release No.926
			The Fannie Bolton Story: A Collection Of Source Documents
MR926	1	1	Fannie bolton was 28 years old when Ellen White first met her in 1887. Miss Bolton's newspaper reports of the Illinois camp meeting had impressed Mrs. White, who soon hired the younger woman as a literary assistant.
MR926	1	2	For most of the next decade, Miss Bolton worked for Mrs. White. As these documents make clear, from the very beginning Mrs. White sensed a certain instability and spiritual immaturity in Miss Bolton. Several times in the years to come fannie voiced criticisms of Ellen White and dissatisfaction with the fact that the literary assistants did not get more public recognition for their work.
MR926	1	3	To know of Miss Bolton's complaints is one thing; to read them in the context of her total experience with Ellen White is quite another. Thus it has been felt that serious researchers would appreciate, and profit from, reading a complete collection of documents pertaining to Fannie Bolton's experience.
MR926	1	4	This collection of source documents sets forth every detail of the Fannie Bolton story. No primary source document relevant to the Bolton case has been omitted. Even scurrilous and unsupported allegations have been included. Thus readers can judge Miss Bolton's charges in the light of the total evidence. Deletions in the documents have been kept to a minimum and nothing has been omitted unless it was completely irrelevant. If we discover we have omitted any relevant source, we will include it in later printings.
MR926	1	5	Letter 23a, 1887. (To Mary White, December 11, 1887)--Fannie Bolton will be at the Retreat soon. W.C.W. thought best for her to come and prepare manuscript and you make some suggestions to her. I hope this can be done, for she needs your solid, even work to balance her.
MR926	1	6	Letter 25, 1888, p. 4. (To Bro. Haskell and Bro. and Sr. Ings, February 13, 1888)--Fannie Bolton is a treasure to me. We are all harmonious, all working unitedly and in love.
MR926	1	7	Letter 2, 1888, p.3. (To Mr. Walling, April 13, 1888)--I have brought from Norway a musician and translator, and I have also brought from Chicago a young lady who has written for magazines like Mary Clough, and they are now engaged with me in my work.
MR926	1	8	Letter 76, 1888, p. 4. (To Bro. and Sr. Lockwood, Marian Davis, Fannie Bolton and May Walling, May 24, 1888)--Especially do I feel concerned for Fannie. I want her to recover from this nervousness and wakefulness, and in order to do this she must take time to rest the brain that the nerves may not be completely out of tune like our old organ. When Fannie takes herself in hand, then she will see ways that she can improve her health. I feel so sorry for Fannie. She has a good frame, large bones, and should have good, sound nerves and muscles; and the reason she has not is because she has abused her brain and nerve power by overtaxation, keeping herself upon a strain, keyed up, when reason should take the reins and hold her in obedience to the laws of God which control the human system. I wish Fannie could hear the lectures given now upon health at the Retreat. She needs her mind and conscience stirred up on these things, and needs to use every power God has bestowed upon her to get well, that she may use these powers as God's entrusted gifts, that she may have healthful powers to exercise in all her work.
MR926	1	9	Fannie, you need some physical exercise indoors and out each day. If you get tired it will relieve the brain. What this exercise shall be I leave you to determine. You can plan it yourself. Use your tact and powers of brain to devise what you will do daily in the line of physical exercise. And I want you to get waked up to this matter. Do not be a creature of impulse, but just bring yourself to regular rules and order. Take yourself in hand, bring yourself to time, and when the Lord sees you are doing what you can for yourself to keep in health, He will do on His part that which you cannot do.
MR926	2	1	Letter 59, 1888, p. 4. (To Bro. and Sr. Butler, August 1, 1888)--I ought to have out another testimony for the church, but I cannot obtain brain workers like Eliza [Burnham] and Marian [Davis]. She is now on Volume One [Old Testament History], [and] Eliza [is] in Australia. Fannie Bolton is fitted well for the work she is doing, but she cannot take these matters that require attention and arrange them, for she has not experience.
MR926	2	2	Manuscript 17, 1889, p. 2. (Diary entry for January 4, 1889)--Fannie Bolton, who has worked for me the past year, came from Chicago. We were glad to meet her again.
MR926	2	3	Letter 14a, 1889, p. 2. (To Edson White, circa April 7, 1889)--I scarcely see Fannie; only in meeting and a few moments in evening. I do not know what she is doing except to attend the meetings, which I am confident means to her very much. I shall not have her travel with me.
MR926	2	4	Letter 66, 1889, p. 2. (To J. E. White, April 9, 1889)--One thing I am settled upon, that Fannie is not the one to go with me [on trips]. It is too great a tax for her to take the discourses and to write them out. As soon as I came here they fastened upon her to get out articles for the paper, but after a little I could not consent to it and again she feels so intensely that she becomes, by attending the meetings, much exhausted.
MR926	5	1	Manuscript 34, 1892, p. 2. (Diary entry for July 9, 1892)--Last night I was not able to sleep after twelve o'clock. It was my thoughts more than pain of body that troubled me. There are some trials that it is not best to dwell upon, because there seems no clear way out of them. I try to cast my burden upon the Lord, but I do not always leave it there. I take it up again when I should leave it with the Saviour.
MR926	5	2	I feel deeply grieved that all connected with me in my work are not in a favorable state of mind to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. I cannot keep in my employ some of those now connected with me unless the Lord converts them, leading them to see that their hearts must be brought into harmony with His will. When self is not sanctified, it becomes a ruling power for evil.
MR926	8	1	Letter 74, 1892, p. 7. (To W. C. White, October 10, 1892)--Willie, I did not expect to write so long a letter, but I traced out this matter as I have now. If you will put this into Fannie's hands, and let her put it into shape, cutting out the stove business and anything you deem best, I will make this letter serve so that it will save me writing to Elder Haskell and some other long letters. Please consider this, and if Fannie arranges it in shape, send it back to me.
MR926	8	2	Letter 77, 1892. (To. W. C. White, October 21, 1892)--I send an article to Fannie to prepare a copy to be sent to Professor Prescott and I wish it could be put in shape to send where there are schools. I have had this matter written, much of it, for a long time and have just put a little addition to it, and I know it is essential. I have quite a number of letters to go, but shall not try to have them fitted up, for several have written me that when they could have the matter direct from my hand, it was far more forcible than after it had been prepared. It sounded like another thing, and as the matter is not designed for publication, I shall not send it to Fannie. I think Fanny feels that many of my expressions can be bettered, and she takes the life and point out of them.
MR926	10	1	Letter 16i, 1892, pp. 1, 2. (To S. N. Haskell, November 23, 1892)--You told me that you sent a letter copied which I requested, but I was surprised to see no letter at all. About one hour since, a letter was brought me from Fannie and Marian.
MR926	10	2	Well, I have said nothing to any one, but I have had rather a trying time this winter. Both are having a new conversion. They have been attending the Bible readings given by Bro. Starr, and light, precious and beautiful, more precious than gold, has shone upon them and they are blessed. There has been, especially with Fannie, but little harmony with me in my work since coming to Australia. Any letters of reproof I gave her to copy, she seemed to have no sympathy with, and I can understand your feelings when you say that letters coming directly from my pen seem to have more spirit and life than after they were prepared for the paper. Some of these letters I have read seemed to me, as you said, to lose the vital energy. I hardly knew how to express it.
MR926	10	3	Letter 21b, 1892, p. 3. (To Bro. and Sr. J. H. Kellogg, December 23, 1892)--Fannie Bolton is in very poor health. What shall I do? We think of having her go to Tasmania to rest two months; if she fails to recover there, she must go to St. Helena for treatment. Unless she does regain her health, she shall have to give up work altogether. Who shall we get to fill her place? Do you know of any one you can recommend? There is not a soul in all this country I can find. I could keep two supplied with work, but I shall be satisfied with one good brain worker who can prepare matter for the papers. Unless Fannie recovers, I must give up my articles in the papers or secure another helper. I speak of this, not to place an extra burden upon you, but to ask [that] if you know of any one who can do this work, you will let me know. I may have to call Mary Steward to come to my help, or let the papers rest awhile. Mary could get out Testimony No. 34, which is much needed.
MR926	14	1	Letter 130, 1893, p. 4. (To W. C. White, June 7, 1893)--I have a stove at Sister Tenney's. Please see that it is secured and placed with my things. I give my full consent to place Marian where she will have the very best advantages. If she has not a sunny room and Fannie cannot get a sunny room, see if it is not possible to secure the same in some home where the students are hiring, that they can have rooms that have the sun. This is my great anxiety, that both should keep well.
MR926	18	1	Letter 136, 1894, pp. 1-3. (To W. C. White, January 8, 1894)--I have just received and read a letter from Fannie and it has the right ring in it and I am so thankful that she is trying to surrender herself to God as she has never done before. I will hope and pray that this trial may work our good and the glory of God.... After you shall consider the whole matter, and think it all over, and pray about it, let me know what is the impression on your mind in regard to my taking Fannie back. I want to do exactly as the Master would have me to do. If the warnings given have called Fanny to repentance and she appears to be truly converted, then will it be best to trust her with this matter? Let me know what I should do. I could not ask a more full confession. I have dealt very plainly with her and I do now greatly desire to move in the way of the Lord. I want His counsel and it seems to me we have come to a crisis in our work. I have, after talking plainly with Fannie, refused to see her again.
MR926	18	2	I have not had my usual amount of sleep since the camp meeting. Several mornings, could not sleep past two a.m. I have been weighed down with perplexity and with great distress of mind. The future looks so uncertain to me, so full of perplexities. If Fannie is dropped out, who will do the work? After reading the enclosed letter from her, then you can better tell what decisions to make.
MR926	18	3	The weather is changeable. I have ridden out quite a number of times with Brother and Sister Starr. We have consulted together over the case of Fannie, for Fannie has sought his counsel and she feels almost in despair at the prospect of being sent back to Battle Creek. But since this letter came, I have had a glimmering hope that the change in her may call for a change of decision in me. This is my desire, to know what position I should take at this time. If you have any counsel, please give it. Oh, if you had only written to me when you would come back, then I could have something to work to....
MR926	19	1	I will not urge that you come back before you get your business done unless you think it best by all means for Fannie to go back to America.
MR926	19	2	Letter 137, 1894, p.1. (To W. C. White, Early 1894)--I have concluded to give Fannie another trial. I think this must be the will of God, for our Lord knoweth how hard it is for her to humble her pride and acknowledge her mistakes. We must help her all we can, and I believe she will yet be able to walk humbly with God.... I have felt on the eve of saying I will go to Sydney this very day and talk matters over with you and Elder Olsen, but this may not be the best plan and I think we can adjust the matter of Fannie, perhaps, this time. But it is no use to encourage taking up other lines of work to any extent for this variety of business suits her exactly and disqualifies her to give due consideration to the writings. She comes to them wearied in body and in mind and dashes through them without due forethought and earnest prayer. I will now leave this matter.
MR926	19	3	Letter 59, 1894, entire letter. (To Bro. Olsen, February 5, 1894)--Dear Brother Olsen, I am carrying a heavy burden, and I can bear this no longer alone. I wish you to make calculations to return to this place. Some matters, in reference to my writings, must come before you and Willie. I shall have nothing more done upon them until I lay the matter before you, and you must give time to read some of these chapters, if not all of them.
MR926	19	4	Brother Starr came to me and talked with me in reference to things Fannie had said to him. He said he was reading from the testimonies, and making remarks in regard to the clear light presented before them for us in these last day, and spoke of the beautiful language used in a certain testimony. Fannie took him after meeting and asked him if he thought it was right to give all the credit to Sister White, and make no mention of the workers, Marian and herself. She said the ideas and preparations of the articles were almost entirely changed from the writings of Sister White, that her writings came in such a shape that they had to be made all over and that she got all the credit, and those who were engaged in fitting up these articles received no recognition. Elder Starr said he met her squarely, and said, "What do you mean by saying these things to me?" He said it went like a dagger to his heart. She has talked these things to Marian and Marian has been led into much of the same views, but not to the extent of Fannie.
MR926	19	5	Well, I felt like a wounded stricken deer, ready to die. I had been warned of this before, twice in Preston and three times in New Zealand. A similar warning was given me as in the case of Mary Clough, but this did not fully arouse me to the danger, and to the real situation. I will not take time to explain these warnings. Not long before I left New Zealand, while in camp meeting, it was represented to me. We were gathered in a room of quite a company, and Fannie was saying some things in regard to the great amount of work coming from her hands. She said, "I cannot work in this way. I am putting my mind and life into this work, and yet the ones who make it what it is, are sunk out of sight and Sister White gets the credit for the work." I said some very pointed things. I said, "Your ambition to be first and do some great thing is doing you harm; you will certainly lose your soul if you are not thoroughly transformed in character, and after hearing your words which you did not mean I should hear, I understand your spirit. It is not Christ you are following, but another leader, and I dare no longer place my writings in your hands."
MR926	20	1	Again I was listening to earnest talk between herself and Marian, and it was of that character that gave me great pain of heart. A voice spoke to me, "Beware and not place your dependence upon Fannie to prepare articles or to make books. She cuts out words that should appear, and places her own ideas and words in their stead, and because she has done this she has become deceived, deluded, and is deceiving and deluding others. She is your Adversary. Additions and subtractions are made that do not represent your simplicity. She is not true to her duty, yet flatters herself that she is doing a very important work."
MR926	20	2	I am now brought where I lay down my pen. I cannot write even on the Life of Christ, until I understand whether my writings are to come forth with Fannie's ideas and language, or with Marian's ideas and fixing up and the productions are claimed to be Marian's and Fannie's. Let this impression be made on the minds of our ministers, and of what value or force will the testimonies be to them. I have called a halt and here I stand until some things are decided. I request Elder Daniells, Elder Rousseau and Willie C. White come to help me just as soon as you can adjust your business and let us counsel together, and see some way to adjust these matters. I have plainly but kindly told Fannie, I have no confidence in her as far as her reformation within the last three or four weeks is concerned. Her ardent love for praise and ambition was very similar to that presented to me in regard to the workings of Satan in the heavenly courts to bring disaffection among the angels, and she would repeat the same course she had pursued, and I could not trust her and depend on her. I beg you will come to my help just as soon as possible, but I am not willing Elder Olsen should return to America before these matters have a most thorough, careful investigation. I do not think I can in the future have any copy placed in the hands of Fannie. I would come at once to you but do not think that that would be wisdom.
MR926	20	3	We have for the first time taken our meal together in our dining room. I spoke in Brighton last Sunday. 100 were present. It was a most oppressive day. I have not been well. The reasons are evident in that which I have placed before you. Fannie seems broken and humbled, but a counter current will set in another direction any time. I am writing by lamp light. I commenced about 2:30 A.M. I feel distressed to send this to you, but the time has fully come for something to be done.
MR926	20	4	Letter 7, 1894, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, February 6, 1894)--Sister Fannie, I declined seeing you this morning, for I am not well enough to bear anything more, either good or bad, that will have a tendency to affect my heart. I slept very little last night. I must be relieved from all responsibility in your case. The experience of the years past wherein you have handled the most sacred things, has not increased your love for or confidence in them. In your mind they are too often placed on a level with common things; but the ideas, words, and expressions, which seem to you rather inferior, and which you regard as non-essential, may be the very things that should appear as they are, in their simplicity. You replace these according to that which you suppose is your superior judgment, when the words were better, far better, than the ones supplied by you. The writings given you, you have handled as an indifferent matter, and have often spoken of them in a manner to depreciate them in the estimation of others. In this you have been disloyal to me.
MR926	21	1	In the same manner, if you had the task given you of handling Old and New Testament writings, you would see large improvements to be made, great additions and subtractions and changes of expression; you would put in words and ideas to suit your standard of how it should appear. We should then have Fannie Bolton's life and expressions, which would be considered by you a wonderful improvement; but disapproved of God. Your discernment of sacred things is not clear, but confused. You approve that which is defective, the things bearing the divine stamp you would mold over, and not appreciate. In changing, you would not improve, but would weaken and dilute with your supposed sparkling ideas.
MR926	21	2	Now, my sister, I do not want you to be any longer connected with me in my work. I mean now, for your good, that you should never have another opportunity of being tempted to do as you have done in the past. From the light given me of the Lord, you are not appreciating the opportunities which you have had abundantly, to be instructed and to bring the solid timbers into your character building. The work in which you have been engaged has been regarded as a sort of drudgery, and it is hard for you to take hold of it with the right spirit, and to weave your prayers into your work, feeling that it is a matter of importance to preserve a spirit wholly in harmony with the Spirit of God. Because of this lack you are not a safe and a capable worker. Your mind is subject to changes; first it is elated, then depressed. The impression made by this frequent change is startling. Self-control is not brought into your life. You choose a life of change, crowded with different interests and occupations, therefore you cannot possibly put your life, as you suppose you have done, into this work; you are most wonderfully deceived in thinking you do this. God sees the whole mold given to the work in every department. Self is not hid in God, and self is mingled with everything. All you engage in tastes so strongly of the dish that it is not acceptable to God.
MR926	21	3	I had hoped that the lessons constantly brought before you in the writings you were handling would have a marked influence to mold and fashion your life and character after the divine image, the meekness and lowliness of Christ. But instead of being molded by the Holy Spirit, you seek to work the Holy Spirit to your mold, which is decidedly a defective pattern. Therefore I say, all that is good in your labor has a dead fly in it, like a bottle of excellent ointment, the fragrance of which is spoiled because of the dead fly. The spirit which you bring to the preparation of the articles placed in your hands prevents the Spirit of God from working to impress your mind as it should.
MR926	21	4	If Marian had not exerted her influence very strongly to have you retained in my service after we left Preston, I should have had another to take your place. But the representation of the difficulty in educating a novice in the work has prevented me from doing that which I am now thoroughly convinced I should have done as far back as when in Battle Creek before coming to this country. You have worked hard enough; I make no complaint of your not doing enough, but that to which I object is the spirit with which you come to the work. In a large office, where you would have a variety of matters to handle, your ability would have a more appropriate field. You could dash off the matter in your own style, as a mechanical work, molding and fashioning it to suit yourself. Every time I can distinguish a word of yours, my pen crosses it out.
MR926	22	1	I have so often told you that your words and ideas must not take the place of the words and ideas given me of God, that the repetition of that is utterly useless. You have chosen your own way, and mingled self with your work, and have become less and less sensible of the danger to your own self and to the work. You have come to think that you were the one to whom credit should be given for the value of the matter that comes from your hands. I have had warnings concerning this, but could not see how I could come to the very point to say, "Go, Fannie," for then you plead, "Where shall I go?" and [I] try you again.
MR926	22	2	One thing I know, that you have placed a much higher estimate upon your capabilities and attainments than would be truly realized by yourself or others, for your work is deficient in the very essentials that would make it complete. We are engaged in a work that is weighty with eternal results. To have oil in our vessels with our lamps is the great daily necessity for every soul, and this cannot safely be neglected.
MR926	22	3	Truth, eternal, testing, must be not only professed, but acted. The vials of wrath are to be poured upon the inhabitants of the world who would not be drawn to Christ, and would not be molded into His likeness. Self exaltation was so strongly impregnating the whole character that God would not use them, and His curse is to come upon all such, who have not been beholding Christ, being changed into His image. God has "loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." All are chosen who through obedience to all the commandments of God will become loyal subjects of His kingdom.
MR926	22	4	What are we about? We are keepers of a light that must illumine all nations. It is the taper kindled at the divine altar that must illuminate the world, else men would perish in their sins. O, if those who have an intelligent knowledge of the truth would submit themselves to God, if His holy law regulated your life, if its principles were developed in your character, there would not be so many false moves, so much selfish surface work; but every one would catch the spirit of the Author of the saving message, the message that is to test all nations. If the law of God were brought into character, every soul would feel the burden and solemnity of the work of sending the message of mercy to all to whom we can gain access to make ready a people to stand in the day of the Lord. Now is the day of God's preparation.
MR926	22	5	I have a word to say upon another point. Our sisters who have come from America have an account to render before God of their example in dress; in this matter they have not been approved of God as His missionaries. We need to be converted, soul, body, and spirit. Shall we by our example lead to pride, to selfish indulgence and selfish expenditure of means in dress that testifies that we are not the doers of the word? The principles were presented before me, which are not as God would have them. I am not called upon to specify, but to warn you to take heed.
MR926	22	6	The spirit that characterizes your work, Fannie, is not discerned by many, yourself or others. They cannot see the true inwardness of these matters, but it manifests itself on certain occasions. Although you are full of activity and zeal and stir and push, there is so much of one-sided, impulsive, ill-developed movements, that the results are of the same order as the working. God's chosen vessels will work under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You have worked largely under the sustaining influence of the self-satisfaction you have cherished, feeling that you were doing a large work. But winnow the wheat from the chaff and there will be very few kernels of pure grain. But the many judge from outward appearance, not from the spirit and real results.
MR926	23	1	We are living in an age represented as being like that before the flood. All who now plead for souls should in their dress and deportment carry the modesty and marks of the Lord Jesus. They must wait, watch, and pray for the Holy Spirit to be abundantly bestowed. We must take in the idea of Christianity; in conversation and in dress we must represent the truth. A decided guard must be placed upon the human agents in regard to the impressions they are making upon others in deportment and in dress. The Bible is our guide; study its teachings with a purpose to obey, and you need make no mistakes.
MR926	23	2	Our dress should be in strict accordance with the character of our holy faith. [1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:3-5 quoted.] There is need of putting more of the Bible precept into the dress, as well as the inward adorning into the character.
MR926	23	3	Fannie, wherever you go, wherever you may be, you need to study that the colors and material and style of your dress should be adapted to, and correspond with, your age and to the faith you profess. You remember I made the remark to Elder Olsen that when at Preston you were destitute of suitable clothing and felt too poor to supply yourself with what you should have. The remarks you made showed that you did not understand me. I want to be understood now. You need comfortable underclothing, which you must have in order to have health. But I certainly do not, in all respects, approve of your style of dress. I felt rather sad and ashamed when you stood upon the platform before the large crowd under the tent, with that light, large-figured dress. It was not appropriate for the occasion. Your judgment in the matter of dress may be much improved, and I hope you will not consult your dress-maker but those who are of sensible minds and who will not flatter you or have any guile in their mouths as to suitable clothing that will make a proper impression upon the minds of both believers and unbelievers. We who claim to be in the light, and who take prominent positions to instruct others in children's meetings, need to be severely plain, yet tidy and tasteful, in dress; we should not give a semblance of excuse to any for patterning after the worldly, changing fashions of this corrupt age. Those who dress after the order given in the Bible can, with appropriate words, help others to reach a proper standard. Do not come to me to ask how you shall dress. If our sisters have the Spirit of God abiding as a living principle in the heart, they will not in a single instance give occasion for any to turn aside the counsels of God by quoting the ministers' wives or those engaged in giving Bible-readings. Ever have your dress of good, durable material, and modest colors; let it be made plainly, without adornment. You certainly need to improve in your style of dress.
MR926	23	4	Fannie, you have proposed the query, Was it right for credit to be given to Sister White for the books she published, when those who worked up the matter were not recognized? Your ideas were put into the books and papers, and yet sunk out of sight.
MR926	23	5	Your position has been represented to me by the history of Aaron and Miriam as given in the Scriptures. Aaron and Miriam became displeased with Moses because of his marriage. They cherished these feelings, which had their origin wholly in self. They thought Moses regarded himself as superior to them, and they must ever stand as second. This state of feeling was just what Satan desired to bring about. It was in his lines to carry forward the work he began in heaven. He framed his temptations, adapting them to the circumstances; for in his methods of working he can transform himself into an angel of light. Satan could not touch the head, the reasoning faculties, the eyes of the mind; but he could make things which the outward eye looked upon appear in accordance with his subtle working.
MR926	24	1	The very same effect would be produced upon the mind as if the eyes were blinded. Satan insinuates himself, professing to have a very great interest in the prosperity of the children of Israel. Aaron and Miriam became one in mind. They communicated with one another, and they said, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us?" Mark that which follows: "And the Lord heard it."
MR926	24	2	The Lord hears many things which human beings say, and He understands the current of evil started into intense activity by words spoken in secret, and by the principles cherished, which have a controlling power upon the character. If persons could always consider that there is a Witness present to hear every word they speak, even in the secret chamber, there would be fewer private communications from human lips to leaven the minds of others by their exalted ideas and evil suggestions, which are voicing the temptations of the great deceiver. So great is his power of dissimulation, his skill in acting, that the Lord alone could fathom his work in corrupting human minds. Let every human being in their secret conferences with others to obtain sympathy remember these words: "And the Lord heard it."
MR926	24	3	There was One who could vindicate Moses. Hear His testimony; the words come sounding down along the lines to our time, evidencing that the mind of God is not in agreement with the thoughts of men: [Numbers 12:3-10 quoted.] These things are written "for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." The Lord had chosen Moses to do a certain work, and had bidden him go with the message to Pharaoh, but Moses begged to be excused. [Exodus 4:10-13.] Unbelief in his own ability led to distrust of God. Moses had been absent from Egypt for forty years. For this long period the discipline of the humble shepherd's life was necessary to prepare him for his great work. He was naturally of an impetuous spirit, full of ambition and zeal to carry out his ideas and plans, working after his own imaginings to bring about the deliverance of Israel. He must be pruned and cut back, like the branches of the spreading, trailing vine. In the solitude of the mountains he passed his time for forty years, being disciplined in the school of Christ for the manifestation of God.
MR926	24	4	In his youthful experience in Egypt, Moses had been praised and petted, and he had attracted the people to himself. His praises had been sung as the chief captain of armies, and he was pleased and elated with flattery. But the Lord saw beneath the surface of outward appearance; He saw that Moses must have an altogether different kind of experience. Among the mountain solitudes he learned from nature far more in regard to the character of God than he had learned in all his previous life as the king's grandson, the protective ruler of the kingdom of Egypt. He was a mighty general of armies, he was a man quick to devise and execute, ready in speech, and eloquent in language; but during his long absence from Egypt he had to a great extent lost his command of the language, and thought himself unable to speak. But God promised to be with him, and asked, "Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and will teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou shouldst send." (margin).
MR926	25	1	The confidence of Moses in his own abilities had greatly lessened while he was in the employment of a shepherd. He came into that meek, humble position where he did not trust in his education, though it was of the highest order that could be gained in Egypt. In his experience he had learned that he could make none but God his trust. This lesson is what each human being must know if he gains the future, immortal life. The lessons that Moses learned in the solitudes of the mountains, while he pastured the flock, gave him the right kind of experience, so that he could be taken by the God of Israel, the great I AM, and be placed in the cleft of the rock and covered with the hand of God, that his life should not be extinguished by a view of the face of God, and the Lord revealed to him His glory, and he was enabled to endure "as seeing Him who is invisible."
MR926	25	2	This revelation of the character of God is plainly delineated that man may learn the lesson as to what God is, and learning this, may ever see his own human weakness and inefficiency, and may realize that his strength is gone, for there is nothing given it to feed upon. The case of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is written for the admonition of those who live in these last days. These histories are to be studied. Aaron was made mouth-piece for Moses, and because Aaron and Miriam were honored with a part in the work, they thought they were equal to Moses, and were indeed a very essential part of the great whole. They felt that credit should be given to them, and that Moses should not have all the honor.
MR926	25	3	Let the human agent consider that in any position where God has placed him, he must put entire confidence in God. The righteousness of the unfallen beings of the eternal world, and of the inhabitants of this world fallen because of sin, is conditional upon their faithful obedience to the law of God, which is holy, just, and good. All created beings must derive their life from God. Not one can be, or do good, only as he lives in daily dependence upon God. And not a soul is righteous any longer than he is in vital relation to God, the source of all virtue, of life, of love, of power. A plant can retain its vital properties only as it is in vital relation with the soil, the air, the light, the dew, the showers. Even so must we be in relation with Christ. But too many give undue prominence and glory to mere human and earthly elements, and lose sight of the divine power; as the result they are held fast in the slavery of wrong habits and practices. The moral attributes are weak because they are not strengthened by constant exercise to meet every emergency that shall appear in the life experience.
MR926	25	4	The judgment of God has, with you, been questioned because it did not act in harmony with the perverse and degenerate will of yours. God is misinterpreted by human agents who feel sure they understand and know themselves better than God knows them. They ask, as you have done, "Why does God do this?" And, "Why does God not do that?" Their own finite ideas would prescribe for God, and mark out His way, seeking to bring Him to their own human standard.
MR926	26	1	An illustration was given me of a tree full of beautiful fruit. I was shown Fannie gathering the fruit, some ripe, the best, some unripe. She put it in her apron, and said, "This is mine. It is mine." I said, "Fannie, you are certainly claiming that which is not yours. That fruit belongs to that tree. Any one may pluck and enjoy it, but it belongs to that tree."
MR926	26	2	The power of discerning good and evil is an attribute from God, and unless the human agents are in vital connection with God, they cannot discern spiritual things. They will call good evil, they will call evil good. The prayer of Solomon was, "Give thy servant an understanding heart, that I may judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad." The attempt to gain supremacy is a terrible snare to the soul. There is an influence of self exaltation and glorification that is as poisonous malaria, even among those who think they are engaged in missionary work. Self is interwoven in all they do; they feast upon sympathy, and hunger to receive praise; they gather their power from human beings, who are erring, wanting in discernment, panting for approbation. When those of a like character associate together, it is not to partake of angels' food, but to eat of the fruit which is as the apples of Sodom. All who link themselves with those who will praise and flatter them, are binding their souls in unholy bonds; and unless they break these bonds, and fasten their affections upon God, they will too late find themselves naked, destitute of the robe of Christ's righteousness.
MR926	26	3	I am now in great trial. I see that Fannie has not understood spiritual things. She knew not that she was entertaining Satan's flatteries in vain thoughts, flattering thoughts of herself, her capabilities, and her efficiency. The precious ore has become so thoroughly mixed with the dross that on every favorable occasion the dross appears. There is exaggeration with her of her own supposed superior ideas and sentiments, there is a surface work, a wonderful activity, but O, so little soundness of the genuine meekness and lowliness of Christ.
MR926	26	4	When I take the position which I am sorry, very sorry, to take, that I cannot consistently continue the connection with Fannie by entrusting her with my writings as I have done, some will misjudge me because they think she has sincerely repented; but the fact that she has not had respect for the writings, will endanger the work I am called of the Lord to do. The fact that her mind could be tampered with so often again and again by the enemy, that she could be led to regard the writings as she has regarded them, will be a temptation to place them at a disadvantage. This past experience has given a mold to the thoughts, and has fashioned the mind and judgment. I can see no safety in trusting the matter the Lord shall give me in the hands of one of such unstable, unreliable developments of character that a balance wheel is needed constantly, else she will be running off on a side track where Satan may choose to lead the way. Fannie is so wrapped up in her own exalted estimation of herself that any contrary influence that has been brought to bear upon her mind meets with a resistance that is according to the attributes of the enemy. The surroundings, the impulses, give tone and character to the whole life. There are too large and important interests at stake in this matter to be lightly imperiled. Should I consent that Fannie remain in connection with the work, there would be a constant burden of foreboding upon me, for these elements of character are not easily changed. The work which she has handled, she does not always appreciate as necessary or essential, and if she dared, would mold them all over.
MR926	27	1	The Lord God is a discerner of the thoughts, as well as a hearer of every word that falls from human lips. He can make crooked things straight by disconnecting certain elements from His work. But should I attempt to vindicate my course to those who do not appreciate the spiritual character of the work which is laid upon me; it would only expose myself and the work to misconception and misrepresentation. To present the matter before other minds would be useless, for there are but few who are really so connected with God [who] see beneath the surface appearance as to understand it. This work is one that I cannot explain.
MR926	27	2	To take the step which I am now convicted must be taken causes me much suffering of mind. When I state that Fannie never has loved the character of the work, I state the truth. She has never yet discerned its nature, and her nature and temperament are such that I am convinced that unless there is an entire transformation of character, she will never know more of it that she does at present. It is as a rock of offense for her and others to stumble over because they do not know and, unless they are converted, they can never know the inwardness of its sacred bearings; it is all outside of them, having never experienced the nature of it for themselves. The mortification of failure and the anguish of mind that Fannie is now passing through, I cannot mistake for repentance, or conversion, or transformation of character.
MR926	27	3	Just before coming to this country, in order to help Fannie I consented to make another trial after she had given me the assurance which she now repeats, that her feelings in regard to the work had wholly changed. I followed my best judgment, against all my friends who knew Fannie's course of action, hoping she had gained wisdom from God, and would really love the work. I knew that she was naturally unbalanced in mind, but thought that through the light given of God, the appeals constantly made presenting definite reproofs to some and general reproofs to others, she would learn the lessons that it was her privilege to learn, and become strengthened in character. Thus she would obtain wisdom to prepare the precious matter placed in her hands, so that it might work for the saving of her soul as well as the souls of others. But she has been so occupied with other things which opened for her different avenues to engross the mind, that she does not give proper time and due consideration to the work.
MR926	27	4	She dashes through the matter with scarcely an idea that it is anything important coming from God, and that it must be duly cared for. She supplies her words, that in her human judgment she supposes are better than the words in the manuscript, which I have to critically guard. She accomplishes a large amount of work in a way that is not the best. Sacred things are made common, and are treated in a very careless and indifferent, irreverent manner.
MR926	27	5	Now those who have but little experimental knowledge of my work do not see why Fannie cannot do this work better than any one else. Certainly she is capable, they say. But she has accustomed herself to work with a rush; she has not felt that she was handling anything sacred, and she has put her spirit and her feelings into the work. My prayer is that God will convert the poor child, that she may understand the leadings of His Holy Spirit.
MR926	28	1	The character of Saul is a marked one. There was strength and weakness combined. Gifts of talent were bestowed upon him, and had he consecrated these gifts wholly to God, he would not have dishonored himself by his own transgression. Contradictory elements were bound up in his character, and he worked at cross purposes with God. At times he revealed marked simplicity, and then was guilty of manifesting a jealous and overbearing spirit. He would be very tender and full of sympathy toward some who pleased him, as the notion came upon him, and then would be unjust and cruel toward his best friends. When brought under the influence of sacred and vocal music, he would catch the spirit of devotion, and pour forth the most impassioned expressions of lofty eloquence, in ecstasies of praise and prayer. While under this excitement, he would give himself no rest day nor night until the reaction came. Then his strength failed, and he was exhausted. When the paroxysm of wild excitement and inordinate zeal had spent itself, he would reveal his old disposition. When his will was crossed, he was in a fury, and his words and deeds were of a character entirely dishonoring to himself, and more dishonoring to God. Good and evil were ever in collision, evil ever striving for the supremacy.
MR926	28	2	Fannie, unless you are born again, and take yourself in hand, unless you seek the grace of God every day and every hour, making God your shield, you will meet with the loss of your soul. The great strife of your soul has been for recognition. You have deceived yourself and deceived others in regard to your true standing religiously. Human beings, deceived by your apparent zeal, give you credit for advanced spirituality, and mind acts and re-acts upon mind. You enjoy human praise, and think that persons give you due appreciation, when they are not perfect in wisdom; links are formed with human agents that bind the soul away from God. Are these delusions to last until it is too late to seek that help which cometh alone from God? Will precious souls, in their supposed trials, perplexities and disappointments, seek counsel alone from God, not from erring, finite human beings?
MR926	28	3	The path of obedience to God is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. We are to climb the rounds of the ladder. God is above it. His light is shining on every round of this ladder. It is by the difficult steps of faith and self-denial that the top of the ladder is reached. To all who choose to be guided by their own judgment and impulses, life will be a failure; for they discard God's ways, and follow the human, perverse, passionate will. They are bent upon having their own way. God has a special work for every one to do, and those who do this work trustingly, in the meekness and lowliness of Christ, will do it well.
MR926	28	4	Take heed lest these warnings be lightly regarded, and you go far into the paths of worldliness in dress, worldliness of practices, and at last find that the door is shut, and you are outside, a foolish virgin.
MR926	28	5	Letter 88, 1894, entire letter. (To W. C. White, February 6, 1894)--The mail received a letter written by me yesterday. Emily copied a part of it, and two pages I said she need not copy and so I did not send them. You may not obtain any thing but a confused idea of the matter which has been the cause of great suffering of mind to me. In Battle Creek, Fannie pleaded hard and with tears to come with me to engage with me in the work of preparing articles for the papers. She declared she had met with a great change, and was not at all the person she was when she told me she desired to write herself and could not consent that her talent would be buried up in the work of preparing my articles for the papers and books. She felt she was full of the matter and had talent she must put to use in writing which she could not do connected with me. I said, "I release you now, Fannie," but she persisted that she must hold on to the preparation of some articles when she went to Ann Arbor, and not entirely let go. Marion persuaded me this I had better do, for it would be a great discouragement to Fannie if I refused her request. Fannie stated afterwards that these articles were the means of saving her from ruin. You know I was so unwise as it appears to me now, to grant her request to come with me to this country and throw in her interest heart and soul as she persisted with many tears she would do, and she was very positive she would never cause me sorrow and perplexity again because of her pride and self-ambition and self-will. How this had been fulfilled you know something, but very little of the real facts in the case are known. But all that occurred in Preston was one series of sufferings and distress and agony of mind to me on her account. The Lord gave me in Preston the most blessed experience of my life. He made me to have peace and rest in the love of His presence, and His grace kept me cheerful, happy and joyful. While God was working with me in a most wonderful manner, the enemy was working just as decidedly with Fannie. And that working has continued from that time till the present. Warnings were given me, but I did not act upon them, thinking I would be at Melbourne much sooner than I was. The delay in consequence of the camp-meeting we decided to have in Wellington, kept us in New Zealand for a much longer period than we anticipated.
MR926	29	1	I was greatly pained during the camp meeting in Brighton at the positions of trust given to Fannie in placing upon her so fully the responsibility of the children. I knew that others ought to know it was not a proper thing to do, in consideration of her make-up in character. Others should have been connected with her to make up for deficiencies she could not discern existed in herself, but others ought to be intelligent to discern these defects, and guard on every point against them, in placing her in so responsible a place. But I was not able to change the order of things, and I positively could not unite with her in that work for reason of the warnings I had received while in Preston and New Zealand. After you had left Melbourne I felt very much distressed. I had a burden, a great burden for the future of my work, and I could not discern how to change the order of things. Again the warning came, "Fannie is your adversary, and is misleading minds by entertaining the suggestions of Satan as did Eve in Eden." Her love of ambition, her love of praise, and her idea of her own ability and talents was the open door Satan had entered to not only ruin her soul, but to imperil the work given me of God.
MR926	29	2	While I was depressed in mind and distressed almost beyond measure, as to what was the matter now, and how I should meet it, Elder Starr was burdened and I thought I should not be left in darkness in reference to the workings of the mind of Fannie. She had made statements to Elder Starr which I think I mentioned in my former letter, asking him if he thought it was right to give all the credit to Sr. White for the published writings when others had so much to do in their preparation, and she made strange statements to him which shows a mind influenced by the power of Satan.
MR926	30	1	In the conversation I had with Fannie, I asked her to tell me what she would have done. Should it be published Mrs. E. G. White, Fannie Bolton, and Marion Davis are a company concern in these productions? "Oh," she says, "I do not know, I do not know. I have been tempted. I am full of pride." Well, considerable was said which I cannot take time to write. I have told her plainly, I dare not employ her longer, for the door of her heart was open to any and every temptation. In the place of her voicing the suggestions of Satan as the voice of God, why did she not, like a faithful worker, open the matter to the one concerned? Why did she not utter a word to me but go to Emily [Campbell] and May [Walling] and talk with them?
MR926	30	2	I find she has talked with Colcord and his wife, Sister Salisbury and how many others remain to be developed. Is not this the work of a traitor? What harm could not such an one do me in sowing doubts and questionings in the minds of those who have not an experimental knowledge in the work given me of God?
MR926	30	3	She says to Elder Starr, "I have some precious thoughts the Lord gives me, and I have expressed these to Marion, and the next thing she puts them in Sr. White's articles on the Life of Christ, and they are supposed to be her thoughts." And to have her talent buried up and unrecognized beneath the writings that pass for Sister White she does not think is right. Who has supposed she was putting her words and her ideas in the place of the words and ideas given to her in the writings of Sister White? "Oh," she said to me, "I have put my life into those articles published." Now, it is not a correct statement. I want not her life, or words, or ideas into these articles. And the sooner this bubble is burst, the better for all concerned, the necessity for this wonderful talent be understood, and Fannie come to her senses. I have now no knowledge of how we shall come out, and what I shall do. I am afraid that Fannie cannot be trusted. I told her she had been sowing the seeds of evil, like thistle's seed, that she can never gather up. A person with so little judgment and caution that cannot discern from cause to effect, but goes on in her own perverse imaginings, and pours out the suggestions of Satan into other minds is not to be trusted. It is the work of a traitor. If she has done the work, as she has represented to other minds she has done, so that she thinks credit should be given her for her talent brought into my writings, then it is time that this firm is dissolved. If she has done this work, which she has represented to others has been as much her talent, her production of ideas and construction of sentences as mine, and in "beautiful language," then she has done a work I have urged should not be done, again and again; and she is unworthy of any connection with this work.
MR926	30	4	Now it remains that the articles be examined critically and decisions be made accordingly, for this must not go with only a passing notice. The leaven has been placed in other minds and not one suggestion expressed to me, the only one to whom these thoughts should be expressed. What did she think these persons could do to relieve the situation to whom she has opened her mind so freely? She was in the house with me in Preston, and she talked with May Walling, and Emily Campbell who was newly connected with me and my work. I was in the house. She could speak to me any time, but not one word or hint of this matter came to me. For two full years this leaven has been affecting her mind, and how many other minds the judgment alone can reveal, of putting the whole matter under a cloud and doubt. Is it human or divine? The work God has given me has been placed in her estimation on a level with her own productions, and this is the impression she has given.
MR926	31	1	As near as I can represent it to you is, that she has in a most exaggerated way represented as though the productions from my pen were more the mold of her talent than anything from me, that she made it all over, thus she has represented to me. I told her that I have placed the writings in her hands and repeated to you over and over again that I wanted my words and my ideas to appear in every case. She must not substitute her words or her ideas. I want not my words to be changed for her words.
MR926	31	2	She stated that W.C.W. had read articles she had done just according to my directions in preparing, and he told her she must do more to it, etc. Now I am in trouble and this matter must be settled. I think Fannie's influence is not good, and while she appears to be a zealous worker, she is awful busy, yet the influence is not of the right quality. I told her I could not see how I could feel the least safety in keeping her connected with me. I had had no harmony of spirit with her. And if she could be so thoroughly deceived when she claimed to be imbued with so great a missionary spirit, and to be so zealous a worker in the cause, what could I expect in the future?
MR926	31	3	The light given was, "She is your adversary." The light given me on one occasion was that of Aaron and Miriam. They both occupied a prominent position. Both stood in estimation of the people, only second to Moses. The same spirit that first brought discord in heaven, sprung up in the heart of Miriam, and she repeated to Aaron her thoughts, that due credit was not given to them. She had ability to place this matter in a light to gain sympathy, as though she had been kept out of sight, and her talent not recognized, neither was Aaron's. Please read the history and that written in Patriarchs and Prophets, 368-371. Aaron had been mouth-piece for Moses, and Miriam was a teacher of the women. But now come whisperings between the brother and the sister in murmurings and jealousies against Moses, and they were guilty of disloyalty, not only to their leader appointed of God but God Himself. This burden of jealousy for their own honor and glory were not left to be planted in the minds of the camp of Israel, but the Lord who reads the secrets of all hearts takes this matter in hand; for the matter left to go uncorrected would create a rebellion in the camp of Israel: [Numbers 12:5-8 quoted.]
MR926	31	4	What words have been spoken by Fannie? Hath not God seen the spirit of jealousy, the spirit of ambition and pride struggling for human honor and recognition? This history is designed as a warning to all who will pursue a similar course as Aaron and Miriam. He who reads the heart will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart. Those who give place to Satan's suggestions in their desperate efforts in panting for recognition of talents they flatter themselves that they possess, will be so blinded by the enemy that they will not discern sacred things in distinction from the common. They will bring accusations against those whom God has called to act in certain positions in His cause.
MR926	31	5	I have written to you quite fully, and I leave it with you to act as you shall judge best. Marion has not discerned the inward working of this matter, and has been deceived and affected in a degree by Fannie's statements of the case. We are now compelled to look deeper than the surface. But I leave this matter for you to do as you think best. I am in a very grave perplexity and when I see how Satan works to take the very ones who ought to be intelligent and sharp as steel to understand their position before God, and their privileges and honor to have a part in the work, become disloyal, surmising, and whispering evil and putting the same into other minds, it is time decisive measures are taken that will correct the disaffection before it shall spread farther.
MR926	32	1	I will now say, we are all generally well. I of course am not but troubled and perplexed. Send me word after you read my letters by telegram when I may expect you. Letters are expected today from American mail.
MR926	32	2	Please make close inquiry in regard to the horse and phaeton and household goods. We can drive the horse through. Stephen has been with his trap more than half way to Sydney, and says he will drive through if we want him to. You can inquire whether it is best to go by boat, and the expense of duties and freightage, and write as soon as you ascertain. Much love to all in the faith.
MR926	34	1	Letter 6, 1894, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, February 10, 1894)--I received and read your letter, and assure you that my heart is deeply touched by its contents. I accept your confession. As far as yourself and your connection with me personally is concerned, I have and do freely forgive you. I have declined to see you for the reason that I am not clear in reference to the future. I want to keep this question constantly before God, and view the future of our relationship to each other in the work in His light, and move in His counsel. He sees the end from the beginning. He knows all things. Past, present and future are all clear to Him. If it is for our good and His glory that we cooperate in the work, understanding more fully its sacred character, seeking to meet the highest requirements, through the grace of Jesus Christ, freely given to His workers if they ask Him, I shall be relieved. I would accept the situation, and seek in every way to do this His work which He has given me to do in all meekness and lowliness of mind, in order that the glory shall not come to the human agents, but flow back in rich streams to Him who hath given wisdom and ability to do this work.
MR926	35	1	The Lord is acquainted with us individually. Everyone born into the world is given his or her work to do, for the purpose of making the world better, and in doing our God-appointed work, we make ourselves better; for in doing the work given us of God, we individually live out the law and the gospel. Each one has his sphere, and if the human agent makes God his counsellor, then there will be no working at cross purposes with God. He allots to everyone a place and a work, and if we individually submit ourselves to be worked by the Lord, however confused and tangled life may seem to our eyes, God has a purpose in it all, and the human machinery, obedient under the hand of divine wisdom, will accomplish the purposes of God. As in a well-disciplined army, every soldier has his allotted work in the great work of God.
MR926	35	2	Life as it now appears is not what God designed it should be, and this is why there is so much that is perplexing; for there is much wear and friction. The man or woman that leaves the place God has given him or her, in order to please inclination, and act on his own devised plan, meets with disappointment, because he has chosen his way instead of God's way. There are those who accept positions of responsibility, but fail to sense the responsibility, and thus do haphazard work. Others accept a work for which they have no fitness, and they have no appreciation of the fact that they are under rule to God, and are ever striving to guide themselves, and to control their own being. Other individuals study to have their own way, and work out their plans, and God erects His barriers, and does not allow them to do as they would. They are the Lord's by creation and by redemption, and He will not allow them to have their own way, and be ever trying to set aside the will of God for some plan of their own. They are to fill the place God allotted to them, and do the work the Lord has given into their hands. Willfulness and inclination cannot be the masters of the situation.
MR926	35	3	Our heavenly Father is our Ruler, and we must submit to His discipline. We are members of His family. He has a right to our service, and if one of the members of His family would persist in having his own way, persist in doing just that which he pleased, that spirit would bring about a disordered and perplexed state of things. We must not study to have our own way, but God's way and God's will.
MR926	35	4	I feel now, my sister, that let God speak, and we will say, "Not my will, but Thy will, O God be done." I know that human beings suffer much because they step out of the path that God has chosen for them to follow. They walk in the sparks of the fire they have kindled themselves, and the sure result is affliction, unrest and sorrow, which they might have avoided if they had submitted their will to God, and have permitted Him to control their ways. God sees that it is necessary to oppose our will and our way, and bring our human will into subjection. Whatever path God chooses for us, whatever way He ordains for our feet, that is the only path of safety. We are daily to cherish a spirit of childlike submission, and pray that our eyes may be anointed with the heavenly eyesalve in order that we may discern the indications of the divine will, lest we become confused in our ideas, because our will seems to be all controlling. With the eye of faith, with childlike submission as obedient children, we must look to God, to follow His guidance, and difficulties will clear away. The promise is, "I will instruct thee, and teach thee; I will guide thee with Mine eye."
MR926	36	1	The Lord has promised to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. Shall we take God at His word? If we come to God in a humble and teachable spirit, not with our plans all formed before we ask Him, and shaped according to our own will, but in submission, in willingness to be taught in faith, it is our privilege to claim the promise every hour of the day. We may distrust ourselves, and we need to guard against our inclinations and strong tendencies, lest we shall follow our mind and plans, and think it is the way of the Lord; but let us never disbelieve the word of the promise.
MR926	36	2	True and abiding happiness can never be derived from any human being. We may have special, select friends that, all unperceived and unacknowledged by us, we place in the heart where God should be, and we can never perfect a round, full Christian experience until every earthly support is removed, and the soul centers its entire affections about God. "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: Except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain."
MR926	36	3	There is need of watching unceasingly the natural affections and tendencies of our own hearts, lest we become estranged from God, and place our affections on human beings to the dishonor of God; for our happiness will be imperiled unless we watch, and pray, and cherish the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. We must make God our trust.
MR926	36	4	Now Fannie, I am desirous for your best good, and wish that you may not have the least bit of vanity of mind in any direction. I am burdened for you. I want you should make a success of overcoming every temptation to be vain, or worldly, or self-sufficient; for it is death to spirituality. It places our souls open to the suggestions of Satan. O, I am sure our sisters from America in many respects have done great harm in influence to the work of God among the people of this country, and the converting power of God must be daily realized in their hearts and upon their characters, else Satan will use them as decoys to souls, although they may be zealously engaged in missionary work as far as appearances go, and yet God has been dishonored, God has not been glorified in all things, and heaven is disappointed.
MR926	36	5	I send these lines to you to give relief, if possible with the assurance that I will seek to know the will of God in reference to our future work.
MR926	36	6	Letter 146, 1894, p. 4. (To W. C. White, March 29, 1894)--We shall be glad to see you whenever you feel free to come. We are pleased with our household. Fannie has a room, the best in Brother McCullagh's hired house. It is on a hillside and surroundings healthful. I must stop now.
MR926	36	7	Letter 3, 1894, pp. 1-3. ("To Whom It May Concern," July 19, 1894)--While we were living at Preston, Victoria, a request was made by letter from F. E. Belden that I furnish articles for the Youth's Instructor, the publishers to pay me for so doing. I told Sr. Bolton of the request, saying that it would not be just or merciful to her [for me] to accept the proposition. She replied, "I cannot do more than I am now doing; but I have a great interest that you should write for that paper. I will do my part of the work in preparing the articles, if you will write them, and then furnish me help to copy them on the typewriter, and also to copy the numerous letters that you have to write....
MR926	37	1	During the two months about the beginning of 1893, while Sr. Bolton was in Tasmania for her health, Sr. Davis spent nearly all her time in preparing matter for the Australian Conference, which was then in session, for the General Conference, and for individuals. For this I made no charge to the Conference. While I was in New Zealand, I wrote to Sr. Bolton at Melbourne to employ help whenever she required it, and I would pay the bill. This she did, and again I made no account to the Conference.... At the time of the camp meeting in Victoria, I employed Bro. Caldwell as typewriter [typist]. Sr. Bolton continued to prepare the articles, but she had other labor placed on her during the camp meeting, and could do no copying....
MR926	37	2	The preparation of Instructor articles has been no extra tax upon Sr. Bolton, for I have supplied her with help to copy my letters as well as the Instructor articles. For some time I have employed Sr. Mattie Lawrence, boarding her and paying her wages. It is a part of her work to do this extra copying for Sr. Bolton, which does not come into Sr. B's account or my own.
MR926	37	3	Letter 149, 1894, p. 1. (To W. C. White, July 30, 1894)--Friday I called on Fannie. She is now in her room at Brother McKenzie's very nearly settled.... I thought we could spare one quart of milk to Brother McKenzie each morning and one pint to Fannie. She is much pleased with her room.
MR926	37	4	Letter 152, 1894, p. 2. (To W. C. White, September 20, 1894)--Sunday afternoon we rode to Prospect and Brother McCullagh said the church all wanted me to give the discourse, so I complied with their request. I send it with this letter. Fannie took it in longhand and got nearly the whole of it. She rode up with Brother and Sister Belden and your mother.
MR926	38	1	Letter 118, 1895, p. 3. (To "Children," January 23, 1895)--We found Fannie was, in our absence, making her home with our friends. She was sweating over the stove, cooking us a nice dinner. She has thought if she could do some housework, it would be good for her, and Emily has had her class in teaching shorthand to Julia McKenzie, while we were away.
MR926	38	2	Letter 39, 1895, pp. 1, 10. (To Dr. Kellogg, February 3, 1895)--I have received your letter in which you asked a question in reference to the publication of a new edition of Christian Temperance. It is my mind as well as yours that another edition is needed, and as Fannie has the papers supplied far ahead, I shall set her to work at once selecting matter and arranging for this new edition.... You proposed to send me a "paste up" of matter to indicate what you would consider appropriate for the book you mentioned. This would please me very much, and I hope you will do it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, after supplying the papers, Fannie will do something in this line.
MR926	38	3	Letter 89, 1895, p. 1. (To W. C. White, March 11, 1895.)--May [Lacey] is anxious to go to Tasmania the first or second week in April, and is determined that I shall go; but I do not feel very anxious for the water trip, and I am now in important work trying to complete the Life of Christ. To break up now seems severe, and Fannie being away makes it still worse and more forbidding. The matter that I would have her prepare will not be done, as she will probably remain at least two weeks in Cooranbong, and that will cover nearly the whole period before we leave for Tasmania, going via Melbourne.
MR926	39	1	Letter 92b, 1895, p. 1. (To "Children," April 11, 1895)--I have considered your suggestions in regard to simplifying the language of the tract, "Sufferings of Christ." I read your letter to Fannie Bolton, and she will take hold of the work to simplify the language....
MR926	39	2	I leave for Tasmania today by way of Melbourne. I hope that during my absence of four weeks Fannie will engage in the work of simplifying the "Sufferings of Christ."
MR926	39	3	Letter 44, 1895, p. 1. (To J. H. Kellogg, August 29, 1895)--Sister Bolton corrects manuscripts when she is able, but she is troubled so much with headache that often she cannot use her brain. This has become more and more marked, and is a very great hindrance to me in my work. I cannot do the things I would do. It is sufficiently taxing to do the writing, but when I have done that there is the burden of having the matter prepared. If I had one to edit the matter, I should feel so grateful.
MR926	40	1	Letter 17, 1895, pp. 1, 3-6. (To Bro. Caldwell, September 6, 1895)--This morning, as I came from the school ground, I saw your horse fastened to a tree before the tent occupied by Fannie Bolton. After a while I went to the tent. A lady from New Castle and Jessie Israel were visiting Fannie. You were sitting down, writing on the typewriter. Why did you not take the typewriter at once into the dining tent? What impression can such a course make upon the mind of the young girl visiting at the school? It made an impression that was anything but favorable.
MR926	40	2	Your freedom with young women is improper, but it is so natural and common to you that you think nothing of it. The word of God has told you that you are to abstain from the very appearance of evil; but do you? You are a married man, with a wife and two boys, whom you have left in America, and this fact should be sufficient, without further prompting, to lead you to cultivate sobriety and carefulness in your association with others.... I write these things to you because you are deceiving Fannie, and she is apparently totally blind and infatuated....
MR926	40	3	Placing yourself in the society of Fannie as much as you did while at Melbourne had not only the appearance of evil, but was evil. You enjoyed it, but you should have had discernment to understand that by your course of action you were encouraging others in the same path.
MR926	40	4	I am now going to Tasmania, and you and Fannie will remain at Avondale. After my absence, you will feel inclined to associate together more freely, because I am not present to hold the fort. I fear you will dishonor the truth by your familiarity. I decidedly protest against this. Keep yourself out of Fannie's tent, or else a scandal will be created....
MR926	40	5	When you expressed your desire for Fannie to move her things into my tent and become a member of my family, I knew that you did not know what you were talking about. The idea was inconsistent; but I felt that I must keep quiet, or I would speak very strongly. Then you stated plainly that you wanted Fannie to help in the cooking, "for your stomach's sake," because you liked her cooking, and enjoyed the food she prepared. I said to myself, "Poor, foolish, selfish man." You demonstrated what had been laid before me in clear lines,---that you were selfish, and would work in any way to accomplish your ends.
MR926	40	6	Letter 19, 1896, pp. 1, 4, 5. (To W. F Caldwell, c. September, 1895, sent June 11, 1896.)--I have had very little help from Fannie for many months, not because she cannot work, but her association with you has caused her to have an experience which has unfitted her to do anything in my work....
MR926	40	7	I feel deeply over another matter, and that is your visiting Fannie in her tent. I have already decided that you two cannot work together. You are a married man, father of two children. If your wife has obtained a divorce from you that does not leave you free to marry again, as I read my Bible....
MR926	41	1	Before leaving I must lay down some rules. There is no call for Caldwell to visit Fannie's tent. Fannie has not been in working order for some time. Her association with you is largely the cause of this. I know this to be so, and therefore I say, keep away from her tent. When I am away you will feel that you have a fine opportunity to get into her society whenever you can; and I cannot go without warning you and charging you to keep yourself to yourself. I want no reproach brought upon me nor upon this community, by imprudent, careless habits or practices.
MR926	41	2	Letter 41, 1895, pp. 4, 6. (To Bro. Kellogg, October 25, 1895)--I am sorry that I have not more literary help. I need this kind of help very much. Fannie could help me a great deal on the book work if she had not so many articles to prepare for the papers, and so many letters and testimonies to edit to meet the demands of my correspondence, and the needs of the people.... Earnest letters were written me requesting me to write for the Youth's Instructor; but I could not see how I could take this additional burden. I had numerous letters and testimonies that had to be prepared for various individuals, and it was necessary that the papers should be supplied with articles, and there was more work to be done than could be carried through by one person when all the burden of both editing and copying the matter was laid upon one worker. I concluded that it would be necessary to hire somebody to run the typewriter for Fannie Bolton, and so distribute the work. I hired Mattie Lawrence for this work, and she put in about half of her time in working with Sister Bolton.
MR926	41	3	Letter 102, 1895, entire letter. (To Marian Davis, October 29, 1895)--I write you a short letter to tell you some things that I must open before you. While in Cooranbong, I had a presentation of Fannie talking to different ones, exactly in the same strain as that we had to deal with two years ago. At three different times I was brought into a room where all seemed dark as a cellar. I could not see the faces of those present, but heard her voice. She was in a most excited manner saying the very same things she said in Melbourne, stating that her talent was not acknowledged, that she brought her very being and life into the work, and yet she was set aside as a nonentity, while Sister White got all the credit of the matter published. She was so very earnest and enthused that her statements would be taken as truth by any one who did not know what my writings were before she had any connection with me and my work.
MR926	42	1	Again the matter was presented to me as I have told you and her in the matter that came up at Melbourne. She claimed to put her words in my manuscript, and these were called "beautiful words," but, said Fannie Bolton, they were her own words. Then she talked fluently, saying that she had left everything and had given her life to be engaged in my work. Many statements after this order were presented in most earnest fluency and all seemed to receive her words as truth.
MR926	42	2	Again, after I returned to Granville from Cooranbong, matters were presented before me, and warnings were given that a trial was before me. I was instructed that among those connected with me, there was working an undercurrent of deceptive influences and that unless there was a cleansing away of all such influences, great harm would result to the cause of truth. I told you, Marian, that I was deeply burdened. I knew that Fannie's interest was not in the work. I had no harmony with her. I have felt, when I put writings in her hand to be copied, that there was some power between her and me, and the impression was "Withhold, withhold." I could not interpret my impressions nor the figures presented to me to teach me.
MR926	42	3	It was her own proposition to come to Armadale, Melbourne, and she made the conditions herself. I asked her if it was safe for her to attend the camp meeting, for if she should be urged to take the children's meetings, she would be inclined to do this, and then she would be of no use to me, for she would have to give her whole time to that work. She said, "I could not take the children's meetings. It is too hard for me. It just takes every bit of power in me. I shall want to attend some meetings in the evenings, occasionally in the day time, but I will be ready to help you in your work."
MR926	42	4	But as soon as we were on the ground, it was not easy to get persons to take the children's division, and now comes in the great urging for Fannie to engage in this work. I said, "No, it must not be. I have work for Fannie." But she greatly desired to attend children's meetings, and to instruct them. I had two articles to be prepared for the mail, and Fannie read Wednesday and Thursday. Fourteen pages were prepared for the mail, and nothing more has been done by her during this meeting.
MR926	42	5	After I had received the warnings I have mentioned, I asked Sara if Fannie had said anything to her in regard to me and my work and her work in connection with me. She evaded the question and said that Fannie wanted to take the children's meetings, if I would give my consent. I said, "Is this all, Sara?" She answered, "No, and I do not want to tell you what she said." I replied, "I believe it is my duty to know, for I am warned that Fannie is my adversary, and that she will misrepresent facts regarding her service in the work which will place me in a wrong light before the people."
MR926	42	6	She then told me the tenor of the conversation that she had with her. She referred to the notice in the paper, the Echo that Professor Prescott had compiled a book on Christian Education, and here his name appears, and, she said, "Myself and poor little Marian are unnoticed, set down out of sight." She talked very strongly, making statements of the magnitude of the work she had done, and mourned because, although her talent was depended upon to prepare copy for the printer, her help was not acknowledged. She said, "You read the notice, Sara." She then raised her hand, pounded it on the paper on the table, and said with vehemence, "It is a lie! a lie! a lie!"
MR926	43	1	I sent for Brother Prescott, and told him I was sure that Fannie was working most decidedly in the same lines that she had worked in America, pouring into other minds her version of things regarding her talents brought into the work there, because of which I had released her then from my services. I told him of the painful experience I had passed through in Melbourne at the Brighton camp meeting two years ago, similar to what I passed through in California at one time, that had nearly cost me my life. "Now," I said, "She is taking the work up just where she left it two years ago."
MR926	43	2	I said, "What is your opinion of this spirit, and this talk that is leavening the camp?" "O," said he, "I knew all this just as you have told it, in America. She came to my wife and me and laid it all open before us again in Cooranbong." Then he told how he met the matter.
MR926	43	3	Afterward I sent for Sister Prescott and talked with her. She had told Fannie that all this was the work of Satan to control her mind, that he, through her, could cut the heart of Sister White. After this I called both Brother and Sister Prescott together and consulted as to what should be done.
MR926	43	4	Monday, I spoke with Fannie after meeting and she was very desirous that I would consent for her to take the children's meeting.
MR926	43	5	I said, "Fannie, do not engage in any kind of work for others on this ground but yourself, until your heart is changed and you have a new heart, a new mind. If anyone on this ground needs to search as with a lighted candle his own heart, it is you. I do not ask you to do another stroke of work for me on this ground or ever hereafter. I remove all objections as far as my work in connection with you is concerned." She went to bed sick, and was sick all last night.
MR926	43	6	I have endeavored to find out other parties with whom she had talked. From one of our ministering brethren, I learned that while at the school she opened her grievances to Brother and Sister Malcolm, who were then new in the truth. She presented the matter to them in such a way that they thought injustice had been done to Fannie and Marian. They knew nothing of me and my work, and Fannie represented that she and Marian had brought all the talent and sharpness into my books, yet you were both ignored and set aside, and all the credit came to me.
MR926	43	7	She had underscored some words in a book, "Christian Education," "beautiful words," she called them, and said that she had put in those words, they were hers. If this were the truth, I ask, Who told her to put in her words in my writings? She has, if her own statement is correct, been unfaithful to me.
MR926	43	8	Sister Prescott however says that, in the providence of God that very article came to them (Brother and Sister Prescott) uncopied and in my own handwriting, and that these very words were in that letter. So Fannie's statement regarding these words is proved to be untrue.
MR926	43	9	Monday, Fannie asked if I could pray with her. I told her, "Yes." But when I came home, I was too feeble. I could not talk with her or pray with her. I shall not talk with her again if I can help it. She can talk fluently, has no lack of words, can talk six words to my one. She must no longer have the slightest connection with me. If I had only carried out my convictions two years ago, I should have done my duty.
MR926	44	1	I write you this, that you may know that I will not take so much as a shoe string from her wonderful talent. She may now exercise that talent as she chooses, and swell into the large place she thinks she could occupy. I have not a particle of confidence in her present position as a Christian. She has proved herself a traitor. If you had not tried so hard to keep her with me, through your sympathy, I should have severed all connection with her before this. How much harm she has done me and may do me in the future God alone knows.
MR926	44	2	If after this meeting Fannie shall come to Granville, you must not put one line of anything I have written into her hands, or read a line to her of the Life of Christ. I would not have any [advice] from her. I am disconnected from Fannie because God requires it, and my own heart requires it. I am sorry for Fannie, but nevertheless it is truth. If God will help me then, I will praise His holy name.
MR926	44	3	I want no further deceptions. I am sure that the Lord is holding me up and strengthening me. I felt this morning that the Lord had taken this matter out of my hands, and others must now handle it. Fannie now feels, as the matter has come out, about as she felt at Melbourne two years ago, but her repentance then was short-lived.
MR926	44	4	She now tells others she feels very badly and wants me to forgive. This I can do, but can never connect her with me again.
MR926	44	5	She becomes at times as verily possessed by demons as were human beings in the days of Christ. And when these paroxysms are upon her, many think she is inspired of God. She is fluent, her words come thick and fast, and she is under the control of demons. Then she claims that she has done the very things in my service I have told her in no case to do, that she has substituted her words for my words. This is bad enough. But when she takes the position that she has made my books, my articles and is responsible for the beautiful language, it is evident that Satan can through her do me any amount of harm. She can do more to implant doubts and sow seeds of evil than any person I know. She is a dangerous helper to me. She shall never have a chance again of mingling Fannie Bolton's wonderful talent with my work.
MR926	44	6	She had nothing to do with my work until after the meeting at Minneapolis, yet the Lord had kept and helped me up to that time. After she went to Ann Arbor she did a little for me. She asked for some articles of mine to take with her to Ann Arbor, saying she loved the work. But I now think that she wished to use the pretext that she was employed by me in order to gain the confidence of others because I trusted her as my agent to prepare copy for my books.
MR926	44	7	I see my folly now. I have not, since she came with me to Australia, had real peace and happiness with her. I have felt no peace, comfort and companionship with her, and yet I have tried to hold on to her.
MR926	46	1	Letter 9, 1895, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, November 7, 1895)--The past night my sleep has troubled me. I am communicating to you in my sleeping hours. I have been waiting, hoping that some word would be given me that would mark out the way of the Lord more distinctly, that I might know what to do. But I have had no additional light; therefore I must take heed to the light I have already had from time to time in the past. I shall not trace with pen the many things that have occurred in the history of the past. It would only make me live them over afresh. I merely state that what has occurred on this camp ground is not a sudden temptation, new and strange to the human agent. It is a line of thought that has been cherished, and that will continue to be cherished. It may be smothered, but I cannot flatter myself that it is dead, without a possibility of a resurrection.
MR926	47	1	At the very time when you knew me to be suffering most severely with physical infirmities; at the very time when it was essential that I should have all my powers under full control, and that I should have the most favorable surroundings, to keep my mind in peace, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, on this important occasion I am brought into perplexity and distress which is scarcely endurable. Impediments of a very trying character are thrown in my way to weaken my hands, to take all courage out of my heart, and leave me to wrestle with uncertainties, to meet a harvest of unbelief and suspicion, which you have created. If true, as you have represented, God would set me aside, and take Fannie Bolton in my stead. These manifestations have been bewildering to me, and still are. I do not recover from the shock. Those who are supposed to help me should see me in my physical weakness, carrying the heaviest burdens one can bear, yet compelled to be distressed beyond measure by their attitude. But the Lord says they have no power to resist the devil, or from his snare to go.
MR926	47	2	I will not attempt to say all that might be said, for I have not physical strength. I can but go lightly over the ground in memory of the last six or seven years, step by step, from point to point, and inquire, What am I? and what will God have of me? I am still in a maze of perplexity. But I see only one course open before me. If my life is worth saving, I must disconnect from Fannie. And this is, I think, her only hope. Satan has supposed he could work upon your fruitful imagination to claim you have done a work God would not let you do--blend yourself with my writings. It is a great trial for me to do this, for I have no one selected to prepare my articles. This may be in the providence of God. Perhaps He designs me to lay down my pen, and say, I have written enough, while I had thought I had many things I must write. Being dependent upon an editor to prepare my articles for the press makes my work difficult, and I am still in great trial. To get a stranger who is unacquainted with me, would be to go through the same experience that I have had with Fannie, God forbid. But I give Fannie up on this camp-ground. If she will consecrate her abilities to God, and hide herself in Christ, she can find work. I will not hinder her.
MR926	47	3	Notwithstanding all the repeated difficulties that Fannie has placed upon me in this line, not a trace of my pen has been communicated in regard to the state of affairs to any one in America, with exception of Edson--I made a brief mention of it. But something will have to be said now. A plain statement of facts will be necessary. This is due the conference, who have hitherto paid her for the work she was supposed to do when she came with me. I shall try to avoid making any reference to particulars.
MR926	47	4	The warnings given to Fannie by the Lord have not been pleasant for her to consider, and she has not taken any heed to them. The precious matter placed in her hands she has not regarded as precious and sacred; she has not treated them as such and cherished the light given. She has not obtained knowledge by them, nor practiced the principles kept constantly before her. Familiarity with the most solemn messages that I have felt I must write, have bred contempt. They have become common to her mind. Therefore, for her soul's sake, and in order to preserve my life, I must sever all connection with Fannie Bolton.
MR926	47	5	I understand that she says she has plenty of work piled up before her which she can do. If sanctified, if holy, if cleansed in mind and purified in soul, if meek and lowly in heart, God will forgive the past, and work with her efforts. But if she works to obtain praise and glory for herself, she will work alone. I dare not trust her to handle my manuscript. I should ever be in uncertainty as to how it is treated if I take her testimony as truth. But this temptation will always be a dangerous one to her. If she uses her ability, given her of God, to exhibit what Fannie Bolton can do, she works in herself, and out of Christ. I now reluctantly and with grief in my heart say to Fannie Bolton: You are no longer in the employment of the General Conference in my behalf.
MR926	48	1	Fannie, I forgive you for the pain and suffering you have caused me, and which has been so many times repeated. I forgive as I hope to be forgiven. Yet notwithstanding I forgive, I must do according to the light and warnings given me in the past in reference to the work God has given me, and in reference to your work in connection with me. You cannot discern the character of the work the Lord has given me to do, else you would not regard it as a common thing. Your soul is precious in the sight of God. By being converted daily from your own way, by accepting God's way as a little child, you will find your only hope of heaven. You have been praised and exalted; you have been given credit for possessing great piety and disinterested devotion. This is a mistake. The emotional part of your nature has been called to exercise altogether too much for your own good and for the good of those with whom you associate. It has been keyed up to a high tension in your intensity of feelings. In your meetings held for the youth, the Lord God has not blessed your efforts. You do many things for which there is not found solid, earnest, abiding results. Self was mingled with everything, tainting and corrupting your service. It is always safe to use the holy fire of God's own kindling, and no other. I ask you to read the 16th chapter of Numbers. If I have worked in self, my work will not stand; if I have worked in God, the work will endure.
MR926	48	2	[Note:] Fannie must excuse me from having a private interview with her. I cannot bear it. Let this be read before Bro. and Sr. Prescott, Bro. and Sr. Corliss, Bro. and Sr. Colcord, and Bro. and Sr. Rousseau. Fannie should be present when it is read.
MR926	48	3	Letter 9a, 1895, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, November 11, 1895)--I have considered the matter carefully in regard to your connecting with me again in the work. I cannot consent to it. The matter has been shaping itself in reference to yourself, that it is simply impossible for you to continue to do the work for me that you have done. Separation must come, for the reasons I have told you. I must use every means in my power, cut off every chance for you to make your statements which you have made in reference to me and my work--your claims to putting your talent in my work.
MR926	48	4	You are not happy in doing the work; impressions are left upon the minds of others by your statements that you are much burdened over my very bad writing. I shall not attempt to deny or admit it. You were employed by the conference to help me, and of course that means your doing work that requires wages. But the work over which you have felt so great sorrow shall no longer be a source of temptation to you. I am sincerely sorry that I could not place in your hands articles fully prepared for the press. I have furnished you one to work the typewriter and you were to prepare these articles for the press. Unfortunately I could not do this part of the work. If I could have done it, your services would not have been required. But now you are free to take up work not so monotonous. You are at liberty to return to America, find work in Melbourne, do anything that pleases you. But the bare thought of connecting with you again after this camp-meeting is most painful to me. For a time at least I positively must be free from you. I must have an opportunity to have my writings prepared by some other hand than yours, that not one jot or tittle of your valuable talent shall be mingled with the things I feel it my duty to write. I must arrange matters so that your talent shall not be counted with my articles and book-making as to be considered as largely your work. This matter must be taken off my soul, and you not be tempted to suppose injustice is done you, and you will betray me, and turn traitor to me, and vex my soul and weaken my influence by your falsehoods.
MR926	49	1	I forgive all that you have caused me to suffer in the past and at this meeting, where I desire to be free and to do whole service to the Master. I am sorry, truly sorry, that I have not done better work, but your course of action has been such a mystery to me and so uncalled for, and so cruel, that it has been a great discouragement to me. The Lord alone can give me victory and freedom.
MR926	49	2	Letter 103, 1895, pp. 1, 2. (To Marian Davis, November 12, 1895)--I have given nothing into Fannie's hands, and never expect to give her another chance to seek to betray me and turn traitor. I have had enough of "talent" and "ability" to last me a life time. I told you her heart was not in the work. She does not blend with the work. She is superficial, given to excitement and to exhibiting Fannie Bolton. But she will do this no longer at the expense of my health and my life. I have held on to her two years too long. She has to a large degree inspired you with ideas of her great talent, and you have received it, but it has been no strength to you....
MR926	49	3	Fannie, poor soul, does not know herself. I have talked with her, and told her that I must know of what she complains in the work she has had to do. She must tell me the real cause for all this disaffection, but all she could say was that sometimes I left sentences incomplete. I reminded her, that I was often interrupted in my writing, and sometimes in the middle of a sentence, and that when I resumed the work I would go right on, not noticing the incomplete sentence. But I had told her that when this occurred she might either hand the matter to me or else strike it out and go on. Doing as much writing as I do, it is not surprising if there are many sentences left unfinished.
MR926	49	4	I said to Fannie, "Your exhibitions of weeping 'bitter tears' over my imperfect writings are not inspired of God. When Sister Prescott urged you to tell her what caused you to weep so, you communicated to her your grievances, saying that my penmanship was terrible and that you had to write the matter all over that I presented to you, and that you were discouraged; for you really made the books and the articles that came forth in my name."
MR926	49	5	She felt very much ashamed, but she begged of me to try her again. I said decidedly, "No." I send you a copy of a short letter I have written to her, and a letter I wrote to you, but which was not sent.
MR926	50	1	Letter 14, 1895, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, November 23, 1895)--I have been considering your case in connection with Caldwell, and I have no other counsel to give than I have given. I consider that you have no moral right to marry Caldwell: he has no moral right to marry you. He left his wife after giving her great provocation. He left her whom he had vowed before God to love and cherish while both should live. Before ever she obtained her divorce, when she was his lawful wife, he left her for three years, and then left her in heart, and expressed his love to you. The matter has been negotiated largely between you and a married man, while he was legally bound to the wife he married, who has had two children by him.
MR926	50	2	I see not a particle of leniency in the Scriptures given either of you to contract marriage, although his wife is divorced. From the provocation he has given her, it was largely his own course of action that has brought this result, and I cannot see in any more favorable light his having a legal right to link his interest with yours or you to link your interest with his. One thing is settled. I could not connect with either of you if this step is taken; for I see this matter in a light that the Scripture would condemn your connection; therefore I wish you both to understand that from the light God has given me regarding the past and the present, I could not think of employing either of you if you take this step.
MR926	50	3	I am astonished that you should for a moment give thought to such a thing, and place your affections on a married man who had left his wife and children under such circumstances. I advise you to lay your thoughts and plans regarding this matter just as they are before our responsible brethren, that you may receive their counsel, and let them show you from the law of God the error into which you have fallen. You have both broken the law even in thinking that you might unite in marriage. You should have repelled the thought at its first suggestion.
MR926	51	1	Letter 115, 1895, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, November 26, 1895)--I cannot leave without saying a few words to you. You have let impulse and feeling be your master, else you could not have done as you have done while you have been connected with me. There is a very objectionable feature in your character, which is leading you, controlling you. It is the attainment of desired objects. Your estimate of yourself, if kept within proper bounds, is right. We as human beings are to estimate our abilities, our faculties, as the gift of God, to be kept, cherished, and appreciated because they are the gift of God, and to be kept pure and holy to be devoted to God. 2 Timothy 2:20, 22.
MR926	51	2	I have had an interview with Willie. He says you told him that I had not stated things as they were told to me by you. Fannie, shall I come to the conclusion that no dependence can be placed in what you say? I have stated matters just as you stated them to me. I did not exaggerate, because that is not one of my faults. But you have been deceived by the enemy; you are deceived and are deceiving others. You made the statement to me that you prayed that if it was right for you to have Caldwell that his wife might obtain a divorce. When you heard that she had obtained a divorce you said, "I feel the Lord has heard my prayer, do not you think so, Sister White?"
MR926	51	3	After you left I looked upon this matter with such feelings as are not easily described. The matter as it stands is a shock to me. You yourself have told your love story to Maggie Hare and to Sister Rousseau and to Sister Prescott. These I have talked with because it was my duty to do so. Your case is peculiar. I have had so many warnings--you making your statements that were not true that there was no attachment between you and Caldwell. He admitted he had thought a good deal of Fannie, but gave me to understand there was not anything of attachment between you. This has been going on since you and he worked in Willie's office.
MR926	51	4	Fannie, what do you say? You have now made the matter plain and asked my advice. You could but understand what that advice would be. You thought that he and you would be married and both take hold of my work. I told you this could never be.
MR926	52	1	When I put the case of Walter Harper in your hand to copy, but felt as if an arm was stretched between you and me, I did not understand what it meant, but I do now. I could not harmonize your statements of nothing existing between you and Caldwell, and the light which the Lord was giving me. I must take the word of God, and I had no harmony with you.
MR926	52	2	Harper's case is not a parallel. Both cases have been presented to me at different times. Harper felt love, deep love, for his wife, and he has done everything a mortal man could do to save a divorce, for said he, "She will lose her soul." He spent any amount of money on her. He tried to persuade her, but to no account. And she finally sent for him to visit her, and he was warned to be on guard. She locked the door on him and commenced to solicit a sum of money, and he knew she had an accomplice waiting by. He felt now was his time to need the Lord. He watched his opportunity and suddenly escaped--just how I do not remember--but she told him there was no escape for him. I think this was his last effort made in her behalf. He may have tried once more. I advised him, when she tried to get a divorce because of desertion, not to appear, for in no way could God be glorified by the statements coming into court. There was nothing like lust in the case, for he had not physical ability, so it was not in any way a comparison with your case, or with Caldwell's.
MR926	52	3	I have told you and him that he could not be released from his accountability until he should seek to do all in his power to be reconciled with his wife. He has left a stain on the cause of God in leaving her and his children. It was not she who left him, but he who left her. How strong must have been the temptation to a woman whom he married under promise he would give up the Sabbath if she would marry him and he did this until he was so thoroughly unhappy he commenced to keep the Sabbath again. But his power of endurance was small, and because his wife resisted the influences of the truth, he could not bear this. He can be quite unkind if those connected with him do not conform to his wishes. Although her course was trying and at times provoking, she might have been won to the truth if he had always been circumspect, keeping himself reserved as a married man, and had given her evidences that he did truly love her as his wife, for whom he at one point sold the truth to obtain her hand. All these things did not work favorably in her mind. When she opposed his going from home when he came to this country he heeded not, but left his two children and his wife. Had he been patient, had he stopped his criticisms and talked with her as a man should who respects his wife, she would have been won to the truth. She was convinced again and again, and was on the point of yielding, when some circumstances in his life, some words spoken, some disposition to be arbitrary and commanding, would surge over her and she would resist the striving of the Spirit of God. This domineering made her hard and cold and unlovely.
MR926	52	4	I have spoken to Caldwell in regard to his freedom of deportment in company with young women and girls. If the wife does not remark and speak of these things it is because she is too proud to do it. Whatever were his trials, his grievances, if he understood the true inwardness of the matter, he would see how many times he has been the aggressor; but he does not charge these things to his own account which heaven charges to his account. The Lord has a controversy with Brother Caldwell. His love of self, his love of self-gratification, and his determination to have his own way, have made him unreasonable, overbearing, dictatorial. His practice of over-eating has taxed his digestive organs, distended his stomach, and taxed nature to endure a burden that has reacted upon the brain, and his memory is weakened. He has the qualities of mind that if under the influence of the Holy Spirit would place him in altogether a different light than that in which he now stands.
MR926	53	1	Passion makes him forget himself, and he will punish dumb animals that do not do just as he wished them to do, when it was the man who needed to be punished. Until he can see his past in a different light, he will be imperfect in character.
MR926	53	2	He and you have evidenced your opinion of your own judgment--that it was more reliable than Sister White's. Did you consider that Sister White has been dealing with just such cases during her life of service for the Master, that cases similar to your own and many varieties of cases have passed before her that should make her know what is right and what is wrong in these things? Is a judgment that has been under the training of God for more than fifty years of no preference to those who have not had this discipline and education? Please consider these things.
MR926	53	3	Letter 22a, 1895, pp. 1-3. (To Marian Davis, November 29, 1895)--You will see by letters that I have written you that Fannie has no possibility of connecting with me. She is altogether too much like a flashing meteor, to flash up and go out in darkness. If Fannie had less self-confidence in her brilliant flashes, she would be more reliable. But her feelings is her religion. All the light, all the opportunities she has had to know the truth, handling the most precious banquet, she appropriates nothing to herself, unless it will administer to her self esteem and vanity. Certainly I could never harmonize with her in spirit. She seemed to live and breathe and work in another atmosphere.
MR926	53	4	I am now relieved from this fitful, sky-rocket experience. She seems to swell up into such large measurements of herself, full of self-sufficiency, full of her own capabilities, and from the light God has been pleased to give me, she is my adversary, and has been thus throughout her connection with me.
MR926	53	5	I have told you she had no love for the work that she was paid to do. Her mind is so full of variety, a cheap surface religion that she knows not what the genuine article is. She wants her life filled with variety, and what she will do remains to be seen. Poor, shallow soul. She does not have correct religious principles whenever herself is concerned....
MR926	53	6	December 3. I thought I would be able to write and close this letter ere this, but since coming here I have been very weak. My heart has had such repeated shocks it is weak. I cannot feel any interest in touching a pen. The scenes I have been passing through with Fannie have been of so oft recurrence and has caused me such great distress of mind that I now have not power to rally....
MR926	53	7	The Lord knows all about the future. Two years ago He revealed to me that Fannie was my adversary, and would vex my soul and weaken my hands, but I was so anxious to get out things that I thought the people needed. Then came other trials in N.S.W. one after another that I was not able to bear it. Oh if I had only heeded the instruction given of God and let no other voice or influence come in to leave me in uncertainty I might have been saved this last terrible heart-sickening trial. But I hope the Lord will forgive me and have mercy upon me; but to try this matter again is out of the question. I am willing her talent shall be exercised for all it is worth but it will never be in connection with me. I have served my time with Fannie Bolton.
MR926	54	1	Letter 105, 1895, pp. 1, 2. (To Emily Campbell, December 9, 1895)--Fannie has been a terrible burden to me. She has had scarcely any interest in my work. She has caused me great suffering of mind by her moods and attitude. She has gone over the same ground again that she went over two years ago in Brighton, making her complaints to Professor Prescott and wife and as many others as she could, that she made over all my writings, and that these writings were hers as much as mine, (you know how much of that is truth), and yet she and poor little Marian were set down out of sight. She was grieved because Sister White got the credit of all, when their talent was put into the work. I asked her to write out on paper just what kind of recognition would please her, but this she has not done.
MR926	54	2	Notwithstanding it was thought next to an impossibility to attend the Melbourne meeting, I went in great feebleness. Satan saw that Fannie was in a right frame for him to use, and he did use her. She worked out his attributes right in the midst of that important camp-meeting. She seemed to have no power to resist the workings of the enemy, and I was weighed down as a cart beneath sheaves. I was so weak, my heart was so feeble, I feared I should die....
MR926	54	3	I have disconnected entirely from Fannie. Who will fill her place I cannot tell. She begs and pleads to be taken back, but I will never, never connect her with me again.
MR926	54	4	Caldwell and she have formed an attachment, and that while his wife was living. She has not obtained a divorce from him, but you can see that neither of them have any right to have the least love for one another in that line. They thought they could get married, and both engage in doing my work. They would marry at once if I would sanction it. Where is their spiritual discernment? O what a brain Satan will use if we will let him control us. What a scandal this would be upon me and my work!
MR926	54	5	Well, I will write no more on this point. You know how I have warned them, and how hard I have worked to prevent a course of action that would lead to such results.
MR926	54	6	Letter 123a, 1895, entire letter. (To J. E. White, December 9, 1895)--I have been sorely tried for the past year with my workers. Fannie Bolton is disconnected with me entirely. I would not think of employing her any longer. She has misrepresented me and hurt me terribly. Only in connection with my work has she hurt me. She has reported to others that she has the same as made over my articles, that she has put her whole soul into them, and I had the credit of the ability she had given to these writings. Well, this is the fifth time this breaking out has come. It is something similar to the outbreak of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, only she has not those to unite with her because they know me and my work. She goes not only to those who believe and know me to tell her story but she goes to those newly come to the faith and tells her imaginative story. The same sentiment is expressed as in Numbers 16:3.
MR926	54	7	The very mischief of Satan comes now and then into her, controlling her imagination. She appears in great distress and grief, weeping. Sister Prescott, while in Cooranbong, asked her what was the matter. She held back apparently reluctant to speak, and finally she did just exactly that which she calculated to do--make her statement and complained of the little attention "poor little Marian" and she received "for all the talent they gave to Sister White's work." These my workers were set down in a corner and hid. Well, Sister Prescott met her decidedly, also Brother Prescott. They told her this was all the work of the devil. They knew Sister White's work and writings before she touched it, and they received letters from her just as they came from her pen and that the very words she claimed to put into the writings were her own imagination. All the ideas, all the material, was furnished her to prepare into articles, etc., etc.
MR926	55	1	When I called back all the writings placed in her hands, then she began to think I was in earnest. I told her decidedly she must have no connection with me and my work. She could represent me and my work as her originating, that this "beautiful expression" was hers, and that was hers, and make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. Well, I cannot write all the suffering of mind I endured. I could not possibly relate the suffering of mind while attending the camp meeting at Melbourne. I told Fannie I could not connect her with the work. No one could determine when the demon would take possession of her and cost me my life. I told her she never loved to work, and her moods, her fickle temperament, had been to me the greatest grief of my life. I was as a cart pressed beneath sheaves, and no longer would I venture this.
MR926	55	2	But oh, the heartache, for other things were developing and being made manifest which had been a fearful strain on me. It was the intimacy between Caldwell and her. I had presented before them all the dangers, but they denied it. But at the meeting at Melbourne Fannie acknowledge she loved Caldwell and he loved her. I tried to present the matter before them in its true bearing. Caldwell had a wife living. Recently she obtained a divorce. He had left her and been gone three years. But Fannie told me she had been praying that if it was right she should marry Caldwell that his wife might obtain a divorce. What blindness will come to those who begin to depart from a straightforward course! These two had thought they could unite in marriage and they could both unite in carrying on my work. The management of all my business would be supposed to be in his hands. Not much, I told them. Such a step would cut them off from me forever, both of them, because Caldwell had no moral right to [marry].
MR926	55	3	Letter 127, 1895, pp. 1, 4-6. (To "Children," December 11, 1895)--I commenced to write you some things in regard to Fannie, but I think it not best. The poor girl will have hard time enough in getting along. I will not make it any harder for her. I put this over the matter I commenced to write [several lines marked out], and re-page, for I take out two pages. It is enough to state Fannie has no longer any connection with me in the work. I pity her most sincerely. I fear for her soul, but I wish her no harm. She has caused me great sorrow, but may the Lord forgive her is my prayer. It is the same desire for her superior talents to be recognized. This time she has been sufficiently punished....
MR926	55	4	The one who is supposed to help me has been a great burden to me since she came to Australia. I have borne and done everything that I could do to help Fannie, but when she gets into these tantrums she seems inspired by Satan. She afterwards confesses, but not quite as fully heretofore as this time, but she cannot be trusted. She tried to get Sara to put into her hands a letter written to Dr. Kellogg, so that she could see if there was anything written about her. Sara told her she would never do that. She asked her, "What do you take me to be, Fannie? Is this the principle you would teach me, after being so long connected with Sister White in her work? Would you teach me to betray my trust, to steal a writing, a private letter to go to America, and put it in your hands to read its contents?" This matter she urged and Sara would not comply and she was greatly stirred up over it. So you see what dependence I can put in such helpers....
MR926	56	1	I will now ask you if you can see anyone who will work for me to edit my articles and prepare manuscript for books.... I do not want any person who will feel it her prerogative to change the matter I shall give them into their own supposed beautiful, learned language. I want my own style to appear in my own words.
MR926	56	2	Letter 104, 1895, entire letter. (To Addie and May Walling, December 11, 1895)--I have not been able to do much writing of late. At the last camp meeting the course taken by Fannie was of a character that May will understand. It was similar to that which I had to meet in Melbourne two years ago. Since that period I have had but very little harmony with Fannie. I have tried to have her receive and appropriate the precious truths that were spread before her as a rich banquet, but while she handled these truths she did not feast upon them. She regarded it all as a common thing.
MR926	56	3	The warnings, the appeals, the precious light given, the jewels of truth were apparently of no value to Fannie. She was feeling so rich in her supposed treasure of talents, that she wanted nothing. Sacred things were of no more value to her than the common fire, and she worked and walked in its light. [Isaiah 50:11; John 9:39-41 quoted.]
MR926	56	4	This is the true situation of Fannie Bolton's spiritual condition. O what sadness, what grief have I suffered because of her course of action, her changeable moods, her fitful course! But I was compelled to separate from her, for my life and the cause of God were imperiled.
MR926	56	5	I might expect any freak in her character to be manifested at any time. This came out at the meeting at Armadale, and I cut loose from her then and there. Never will I put another manuscript in her hands for she claims that she should be credited with the making of my books and the articles I write, and lays the whole matter out before whomsoever she thinks will give her credence. She was met by Brother and Sister Prescott with decided words that this could not be, for some have so many letters in my own handwriting that they know better.
MR926	56	6	When she saw that she prevailed nothing, she went into great distress. When I told her that she could no longer work in connection with me, she confessed, but all the confessions she might make cannot replace her.
MR926	56	7	You see now I have no helper. I do not feel that Mary Stewart is the one to fill the bill. Sister Burnham is wedded to the Echo Office, and I cannot get her to connect with me. I have had my mind on Sister Hall at the School at South Lancaster and I hope that she can be what I want.
MR926	57	1	If you think of anyone who can work in connection with me, please let me know. I have many books which I wish to write and can write if I can have workers, but I need workers.
MR926	59	1	Letter 106, 1895, pp. 1-6. (To J. H. Kellogg, December 20, 1895)--I send you copies of letters written to Fannie Bolton. I have withheld them because I do not desire to make her case public. But I have had the most serious difficulty with her at last camp meeting. I am now left without anyone to prepare articles for papers or prepare books. I have felt I had little enough help, but when I was compelled to cut loose from Fannie, it was a sore trial to me. I feel somewhat discouraged about getting proper help.
MR926	59	2	I was troubled about Fannie for a long time. I could not see that she had any real interest in the work. She had the most precious matter of practical godliness presented before her. She was handling subjects every day that if she fed upon them would give her spiritual food and Christian experience. But I received not the evidence that she caught the precious ideas, but rushed through them mechanically, passively, without taking them in and appropriating them to herself. The precious things became common. Poor soul, she feeds upon fiction more than upon the truth.
MR926	59	3	She has a temperament that is high as the skies at one moment, and the next is deep down in proportion as she was up.
MR926	59	4	But she has represented my writings as being in need of taking all to pieces and doing up in another style. If this is the case the sooner I lay down my pen the better. The power of imagination is good, but when it leads to a highflown strain that only creates emotions, I do not care for it to be mingled with my work.
MR926	59	5	Well, the heart-sickening detail I cannot enter into, but enough to say that warnings were given me from the Lord of what she was doing, but I was in a position where I knew not what to do. I told Marian Davis that Fannie had no interest in the work. I had no union with her. But Marian excused her, saying, "O, Fannie is tired. When she gets rested she will do differently."
MR926	59	6	I have stood alone in my own house. I cannot expect to receive sympathy when there are those who do not and can not take in the situation. They can not discern my position and duty and mission.
MR926	60	1	I have had opened before me the whole matter in figures and symbols, that Fannie Bolton was my adversary. I did not ever flatter her for her supposed zeal in different lines, or for her wonderful talent, and I could not feel in harmony with her.
MR926	60	2	Soon after we arrived in Sydney from America, she sprained her ankle. I told her just what to do, to keep quiet and not to walk on it. But some with me said, "Poor Fannie, I don'tthink it will hurt her," and my advice was ignored. She was a cripple from the first of December until the next October.
MR926	60	3	Then I learned through Fannie that she was in love with a young man from California whom she had met at Ann Arbor. I think it was Blakley. She acted at times as if possessed of an evil spirit, and she set in to make us all miserable. This course she repented of, I think.
MR926	60	4	I received little sympathy from Fannie during my great suffering of eleven months in Preston. I then told her that I could never consent to have her a member of my family. I did not doubt she was a woman of talent, for she could talk me down any time. She was sometimes impudent and accusing. She would have made my life in my home bitterness, but for the rich blessing of the Lord. I had His presence with me day and night. I was refreshed by the waters of life.
MR926	60	5	Two years ago at Brighton camp meeting she began her work again as my adversary, reporting to others all of which I cannot repeat. But she created such a state of things in her representation that you would have supposed her to be the author of the articles she prepared, and maintained that it should be acknowledged that Marian and Fannie were in copartnership with me in the publications bearing my signature.
MR926	60	6	I told her again and again that I wanted not her words, but my words, and when I discovered words she had inserted of her own, in the place of the words in which I had expressed my ideas, I put my pen across it.
MR926	60	7	Two years ago I discharged her after a long, painful experience. I asked her to put into writing the form of recognition she craved. But she would not do this. She claimed to be converted, changed entirely and made such humble confessions that I thought I would try her again. But she is the same, and now Satan begins to use her as he has done at the Armadale camp meeting, Melbourne.
MR926	60	8	With it all there has been a lovesick sentimentalism for Caldwell. The affair had been carried on as they thought, in secrecy, but it was not thus. Those whose perceptive faculties were not dimmed know all they wished to know. Caldwell is a married man, with two children, the eldest about ten years old. He has been absent from his wife three years, and from the light the Lord has been pleased to give me, he has been anything but a patient, kind, thoughtful husband. His wife has not written him a line for the three years he has been absent. I think she hated him. She has obtained a divorce from him, but before this was done the attachment and love had been pledged to one another Fannie to Caldwell, and Caldwell to Fannie. They supposed that if they were married, they could be united in taking the supervision of my place and my writings. After the wife had obtained a divorce, then he said she was not true to him, and he was free to marry whom he would.
MR926	60	9	I told Fannie Bolton that it had nearly cost me my life to connect with her, and if I had another one united with her and the two to handle, I should soon be buried. No, I am entirely separated from Fannie. Never while time lasts will another article of mine pass into her hands. She has sought to betray me, to turn traitor, to say things that leave untrue impressions upon minds. She has educated herself in theatrical methods, and can act out to life in apparent sincerity a thing that is false.
MR926	61	1	Brother and Sister Prescott have done me a good service, although her pretentious acting was so deceiving. They and many others thought the woman was honest, and was really all she pretended to be.
MR926	61	2	Fannie herself, notwithstanding the deception she was practicing, though she had, as she thought, deceived me for nearly one year, had the presumption to tell me that in her work of giving Bible readings, her words were inspired. She would tell how the ones she was talking with were wonderfully affected, and would turn pale. The strange part of the matter is that our own people are so ready to accept theatrical demonstrations as the inspiration of the Spirit of God. And I am more surprised, under the circumstances that they should encourage her to connect with sacred things.
MR926	61	3	She has urged, and begged, and cried, for me to take her back again into my service. But I said, "No, for you make false statements in regard to your preparing the articles for papers and books, which I deny. With all apparent sincerity and honesty you state to others and to me, that you think the Lord has inspired you to changed the words I have traced, and substitute your own for them. I call this a strange fire of your own kindling."
MR926	61	4	We soon heard that Fannie was in broken health, sick in bed, and had decided to return to America. Next, one week ago last Friday, she sent a telegram, that she would come to Morisset station about nine o'clock at night.
MR926	61	5	My horses and carriage went for her four miles and a half. The school building took her in that night, and she has been near me here only to see to her things in the tent. She appears, I hear, almost as a nervous wreck. She consulted physicians in Melbourne, who prescribed for her to eat largely of eggs. She says she must have meat and oysters and such things in order to build up. She is now at Brother and Sister Shannon's who have taken a small home of four rooms, which is built upon a hill where it is very difficult for a carriage to approach, but is a retired, healthful location. She is in no condition to go on the long sea voyage to America, but will remain until she has better health.
MR926	61	6	Sister Shannon will have a burden on her hands. Poor soul, I pity her, but she has now a knowledge of Fannie, and has chosen to do this. I do not wish to see Fannie. I can do her no good. She will misconstrue my words, and will misstate me. She will hear with ears that will hear only what she wants to hear....
MR926	61	7	Now in regard to Edson, I presented the matter to Brother Olsen. I tried to lay before him my situation in connection with Fannie, but Fannie, I think, had considerable talk with him, as she does to every one, in representing the great difficulty in preparing the articles from my pen. He recommended that I take Fannie with me to Africa. I think for some reason Brother Olsen does not comprehend how we were situated here in this country. I am sure he was very dull of comprehension in regard to my relation to the work and in regard to Fannie's connection with me. The way she represents matters is so misleading. She will say with such pathos, "Sister White does not understand me. My motives are misapprehended."
MR926	62	1	Jesus has told us that the fruit testifies of the character of the tree, and yet persons who do not have an intimate connection with Fannie for some time are certainly deceived, and I am misjudged. I cannot tell what I shall do. I am getting older, and my work given me of God should now be done rapidly, but where are my helpers?
MR926	62	2	Letter 116, 1896, pp. 2, 10, 11. (To Bro. and Sr. Wilson, January 1, 1896)--Fannie Bolton came up here [Cooranbong] last week, broken down with nervous prostration. Sara McEnterfer will give her treatment. She expected to take the boat this month for America, but I fear she will be unable to do this. Poor soul; she is having a most serious time in having her own way and following her own impulses.... [January 9:] Some days ago Fannie Bolton came here to prepare her things, and then go to America; but she is in a condition of nervous prostration, and will board with Sr. Shannon for a time.
MR926	62	3	Letter 21, 1896, pp. 2, 3. (To W. A. Colcord, January 7, 1896)--In regard to Fannie, she has done very little of the work for one year. Since the Ashfield camp meeting her mind has been diverted to other things, preoccupied with things that were of no service to the cause of God, and Satan has worked upon her imagination. It is not the work connected with me that has prostrated her nervous system. It is practicing a course of secrecy and deception and wrong-doing. It is not the requirements made upon her, but it is kindling a fire and walking in the sparks of her own kindling in connection with her wonderful desire for another woman's husband; lovesick sentimentalism. It was not my work when at Preston that had that effect on her that caused her to be nervously prostrated. It was her lovesick sentimentalism for a man in America, who has given up the truth. She expected he would write her, renewing his attentions to her, but no letter was received, and she almost blasphemed God because of His providence. She would ask, "Why does God permit these things to be?" in such a spirit of vehemence and rebellion that I was frightened. Now the appearance is that poor Fannie has broken down in her work for Sr. White, as though I had worked her to death. This is not the truth, but such it will be regarded. Fannie has had her own way, and must suffer the result of her own course of action, but I must have the stigma, and the impression will go forth that poor Fannie is worked to death. I feel very sorry for the girl. I feel very sorry that she is suffering, but wrong impressions will be made in regard to my work.
MR926	63	1	Manuscript 62, 1896, p. 1. (Diary entry for February 9, 1896)--I have had feelings of exhaustion today, and not a little perplexity of mind over the case of Fannie. She wished to come back to work for me, but I have felt it impossible. I know not of any special change wrought in her that I dare trust her. And yet my mind is troubled exceedingly. Shall I feel altogether clear that I have divorced her from the work? Shall I be prepared to meet the result of this course of action on my part in that great day when the judgment shall sit and the books be opened?
MR926	63	2	Manuscript 12d, 1896, entire ms. (March 19[20?], 1896)--I awakened this morning at half past three. I dressed and as usual asked that the blessing of the Lord would rest upon me, committing my soul to God as unto a faithful creator. I asked that the Holy Spirit would be with me through the day, to mold and fashion my character after the divine similitude. I placed myself in the hands of God as the only thing I can do. Then I commenced writing in my diary some things in regard to John 15, the true vine and the branches.
MR926	64	1	While writing I had not only a wonderful experience, but was led to decide that the only course I can take conscientiously and be a co-worker with Jesus Christ, is to take Fannie back again to connect with my work, and do all on my part that I can to save her soul. This will be practicing the lessons that Christ has given us. I have a great fear of offending Jesus Christ by not obeying His words.
MR926	64	2	Warnings have been given me. I separated from Fannie because the Lord revealed that she was my adversary, and the enemy was working through her to injure me. She has not been driven off, but she stands like a sheep bleating about the fold. I know not my future, nor her future, but I will [accept] her confessions. I will not longer disregard her pleadings for another trial. I shall not in this go to anyone for advice. I believe the Holy Spirit has told me that this is what I should do. I have a work to do for the Master.
MR926	64	3	What would Christ do were He in my place? He would open the door and welcome her to the fold. I firmly believe my mind has been worked this morning by the Holy Spirit, and it seems the very thing I must do. Not that I have any evidence to think that there is any marked change in Fannie's character, but notwithstanding this, in view of her confessions to me, and her pleadings, I will act as I believe Christ would act under the circumstances. He, the precious Saviour, is very precious to me, full of grace and truth. What right have I to close the door of hope to her?
MR926	64	4	Fannie has treated me badly; she has hurt my soul. But if she should fall into Satan's snare, what bitter reflections might come to me if she had lifted her hand to me, and I would not take it. I shall now without delay say, "Fannie, I am, in Christ's stead to heed your requests, and connect you again with His work. I do not ask for promises. All I ask is that you die to self, and live unto Jesus Christ. I have no further exhortation to give. He alone is your efficiency. Behold not me or any human being. Fix your eye upon Jesus. Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world."
MR926	64	5	If Fannie will walk with God, putting herself out of the question, but accepting and lifting up Jesus, yoking up with Him, she can be an overcomer. I shall take the whole responsibility, for I dare not do otherwise. I shall see that she attends the meeting to be held in Cooranbong, and make some way for her. I cannot tell just what or how, but the Lord will teach.
MR926	64	6	Manuscript 63, 1896, pp. 3, 5. (Diary entries for March 19 and March 22, 1896)--[March 19, 1896:] I have received a letter from Fannie Bolton, very much after the same that she has previously written. While I feel pity and sadness for her, I do not feel that I can again connect with her. Yesterday I wrote some things in reference to the past, in the experience I have had with Caldwell and -----. Then I was writing upon the fifteenth chapter of John: "I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman."
MR926	64	7	As I was writing a heavenly atmosphere pervaded the room. I have had the same experience many times in my life. I lost all sense of everything around me. I saw no symbol, no person, but a communication was made to me as if words were spoken:
MR926	64	8	"Fannie Bolton is not under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Although she has proved herself unworthy to be connected with the work in which you are engaged, yet take her to your home and treat the poor deceived child as one who needs help. She cannot ever be connected with the work that is to go forth in all the meekness and lowliness of Christ. She needs your help in more ways than one. Testify to her that you pardon her, and let her return to her home as she desires. Be careful whom you connect with you in your work, for you must not carry such burdens, but bear testimony that you will help her to come to Jesus and repent. Open the door for her to come to Me, for it is I whom she has wounded and has misrepresented. But I will forgive her past falsifying if she will see it is I whom she has wounded and falsified in misrepresenting the work I have chosen you to do."
MR926	65	1	I decided to take Fannie Bolton home with us and take care of her, although she has done me great injury, misstated me, cast reflection upon my work, and left the impression upon minds that she was the one who made my books. She has confessed to me and yet she repeats the same false statements. I shall do all I can to help the poor soul.
MR926	65	2	[March 22, 1896:] Had talk with Fannie Bolton and proposed to take her to my home and see if a change will not do her good.
MR926	65	3	Manuscript 12c, 1896, entire ms. (April 1, 1896, [March 20 dateline])--Friday, March 20, I arose early, about half past three o'clock in the morning. While writing upon the fifteenth chapter of John, suddenly a wonderful peace came upon me. The whole room seemed to be filled with the atmosphere of heaven. A holy, sacred presence seemed to be in my room. I laid down my pen and was in a waiting attitude to see what the Spirit would say unto me. I saw no person. I heard no audible voice, but a heavenly watcher seemed close beside me. I felt that I was in the presence of Jesus. The sweet peace and light which seemed to be in my room it is impossible for me to explain or describe. A sacred, holy atmosphere surrounded me, and there were presented to my mind and understanding matters of intense interest and importance. A line of action was laid out before me as if the unseen presence was speaking with me. The matter I had been writing upon seemed to be lost to my mind and another matter distinctly opened before me. A great awe seemed to be upon me as matters were imprinted upon my mind.
MR926	65	4	The question was, What have you done with the request of Fannie Bolton? You have not erred in disconnecting with her, this was the right thing for you to do, and this would bring to her mind conviction and remorse which she must have. She has been tempted, deceived, and almost destroyed. Notwithstanding her perversity of spirit, I have thoughts of mercy and compassion for her. If she will heed my counsel she shall have deliverance from the snare of Satan. He has desired her soul that he might sift her as wheat. Your own soul has been wounded and bruised, but your Saviour has bought her with a great price. He has been wounded; He has been pierced afresh, and put to open shame by this deceived, deluded child.
MR926	65	5	She has been enamored and listened to the voice of one [Caldwell] who is himself far from me. He is not walking in the light, but in a false show following another leader. He is a man that speaketh proud things of himself. The safe bond of all acquaintance for those who desire to grow up in Christ's perfection of character is in confiding love and faith in Christ above all others. This is the strong and safe bond of friendship and union and will never become a snare. The relationship of fleshly acquaintances will need to be strictly guarded. The one whom she has thought would bring to her rest, peace, happiness, would bring unrest, sorrow, anguish. The influence of the man whom she thought she loved would cause her to lose interest in the work, and has separated her from God. She has not adorned the doctrine of Christ our Saviour by her actions and experience. He will not accept as His representative the character of influence of him who has led her into a train of experiences that should be avoided by everyone. My Spirit does not rest upon him. He is not an acceptable man to handle sacred things. He does not know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. He has had opportunities and privileges to understand the truth. Had he appropriated it to his individual case he would have possessed that faith that works by love and it would have purified his soul. He is working under a deception. He has a work to do in connection with his wife and with his children for which he is accountable and God holds him responsible. No woman has a right to connect her life with him as a child of God for in thus doing she will be guilty of the sin of adultery.
MR926	66	1	Take heed lest Satan should take possession of mind and will and character. "Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him." I have a warning for all such, "Enter not into the path of the wicked." Nets are laid by Satan for the feet of all who turn aside from the straight and narrow way. A blessing is upon the way of the man who has not stood in the way of sinners. "Be ye not envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them. The path of the just is as a shining light." The Lord hates all manner of pretense and deception and fraud. Men may appear outwardly moral while the fear of God is not before their eyes. Those who leave the path of uprightness to walk in the deceived imagination of their own human unsanctified judgment are under the control of satanic agencies. If the weak and erring ones would only receive counsel they would be helped.
MR926	66	2	The feelings which lead men, women or youth to reject advice is directly opposed to the instruction of God. If the advice had been heeded by these deceived souls, the condition of spiritual deception that has blinded the senses of both would have been avoided. There has been an entering into temptation. There has not been a consideration in harmony with the advice and warnings which God has given. Pride and willing ignorance has led you on and on away from the word, a thus saith the Lord, away from the principles of God's holy law to selfish, earthly, sensual desires, walking contrary to the commandments of God. Self has risen up provoked against words wise and safe to follow. The Spirit of God has been grieved from their hearts and understanding. Headstrong obstinacy was convicted but unyielding, because the human agent is unsanctified and unwilling to walk in the way of the Lord.
MR926	66	3	Her life has been spoiled for the work for nearly a year by her strong imaginations. Take this poor deluded soul by the hand, surround her with a favorable influence if possible. If she separates now from you, Satan's net is prepared for her feet. She is not in a condition to be left to herself now to be consumed of herself. She feels regret and remorse. I am her Redeemer, I will restore her if she will not exalt and honor and glorify herself. If she goes from you now there is a chain of circumstances which will bring her into difficulties which will be for her ruin.
MR926	66	4	There are those who have not the love of God abiding in their hearts. They are craving ever for a sentimental earthly love which cannot possibly flourish in a heart consecrated to God's service. This class will ever give sympathy where it is not called for, where it will mislead, and pervert the experience of others in temptation. Their sentimental, unsanctified ideas of love are not refined, elevated or satisfying. It is a production of self and wholly human. You are not to wait for evidence of transformation of character. The Holy Spirit alone can do this work, and mould and fashion this child's experience after the divine similitude. She has not power, if left to herself, to control a temperament that is always a snare to her unless that she keeps in the love of God, unless that she humble herself under the hand of God, and learns daily the meekness and lowliness of Christ.
MR926	67	1	Leave her not to the dangerous sympathies of those who are not wise in Christian experience, who do not understand and estimate the value of the human soul under test and trial, that need to be purified from the dross and tried as in a furnace that they may come forth free from dross as fine gold. It is not the glitter and the tinsel that is estimated of God, but it is a refined and holy life possessing a sanctified life that will make men and women of true moral worth. Her only hope is to lose her self-consciousness in the contemplation of the character of Jesus Christ. The true discerning heart led by the Spirit of God will die to self and will live its life in Christ Jesus. It will keep the way of the Lord. It will not stubbornly refuse to give up its way and its will when God shall send it counsels and warnings. The Lord can bless only the obedient. Take heed; all who reach up their hands to you turn not away. You are to help those who need help the most. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Satan is trying to overcome these souls but they cost My life blood.
MR926	67	2	The mind has become infatuated by a sentiment thought to be love, but it is altogether too base a sentiment to bear the name of love. It flourishes in the atmosphere of deception and falsehood. These are the sins that have been committed against Me. I will give her another trial.
MR926	67	3	This light has come to me after earnestly praying that the Holy Spirit would instruct, reprove, and comfort me. I place myself in the hands of God, and while writing, these matters have been opened before me. I shall at once act upon this light given. It is just like our tender, loving, compassionate Saviour to hold out encouragement.
MR926	67	4	I obeyed the warning to separate from Fannie. She was my adversary, she was a hindrance to me. And now the word comes to me to cooperate with Jesus Christ in the effort of the saving of a soul. I have had nothing to do in asking the advice of any one. I can no longer delay the writing of this, for last night, March 31, matters were opened before me more impressively which I write. I understand the matter better and shall work accordingly. I have taken Fannie to my home here at Sunnyside, Avondale, Cooranbong. I shall do all I can to help her heavenward.
MR926	67	5	Letter 164, 1896, p. 1. (To Bro. and Sr. Corliss, April 6, 1896)--The very first time I spoke, on Friday morning, I had a very great burden to address Caldwell and set his position before him; then after meeting I read to him some things concerning himself and Fannie. She is now in my home in a very feeble nervous condition. I am astonished how Satan can work upon human minds and warp the character if any human being will give him a chance. How this case will terminate I know not.
MR926	68	1	Letter 18, 1896, pp. 1-5, 7. (To Bro. Caldwell, April 9, 1896)--I am greatly distressed as I review the past, and as matters are brought to my notice by the Spirit of God. I have a decided message to bear to you, Brother Caldwell. Special light in regard to you and your family was not given me until about two years ago. I was then shown that the attitude you manifested in your home life was unChristian. You began your married life by accepting a false sabbath, and by sailing under false colors. But a wife that was obtained by selling principles of truth, could not bring peace or happiness to the purchaser. God was dishonored by your action in this matter, and his truth was trampled in the dust.
MR926	68	2	When you gave up the Sabbath for your wife, she rejoiced that she had gained a victory, and Satan also rejoiced. But when she accepted a man who was willing to sell his Lord for her, she could not look up to him and honor him as a wife should honor her husband. When she married you under these circumstances, she did not distinguish between a heaven-born love, and an earthly love, not of divine origin. A man who will sacrifice his love for his heavenly Father for a wife, will also sell his wife for another woman. This quality of love is base; it is of this earth, and will never bear the test of trial.
MR926	68	3	The Lord does not revise the laws of His government, the laws which control His subjects both in this world and in the heavenly universe. Natural laws must be obeyed. But you were so determined to obtain your wife, that you broke down every barrier, and broke God's law by yielding up the Sabbath; and you have been reaping only that which you have sown.
MR926	68	4	After marrying your wife, you again accepted the Sabbath. This was the right move to make, if you made it in sincerity and in the fear of God. Said Christ, [John 14:21, 23 quoted.].
MR926	68	5	But you secured your wife under a promise which you afterwards broke. You paid a dear price for her, and by breaking your word, you have given her every reason to be tempted. Thus Satan has had every opportunity to deceive her, and he has presented this matter to her in his own light. You sacrificed the truth and sold your allegiance to God to obtain a wife, and after you again commenced keeping the Sabbath, your course toward your wife should have been entirely different from what it has been. You should have shown her all the tenderness, forbearance, and love which you manifested toward her before your marriage. But this was not done. You did not pursue a course which would keep her love. I myself cannot put confidence in you as a Christian, and under present developments, I could not give my consent for you to become a member of any church.
MR926	68	6	You thought that when you were once married, you could do as you pleased. This has embittered your married life; and your wife has had every reason for refusing to leave her home, and come to you to this country. Your acceptance of fanatical views was nothing in your favor, and gave your wife an opportunity to strengthen herself against the principles of truth.
MR926	68	7	For years you have been away from your home. Leaving as you did was a wrong against your family. You have told me that you would never humiliate yourself by going back, never; but the Lord has presented this matter before me. I know that you cannot be clear in the sight of God until you do all in your power to be reconciled to your wife. You have a work to do in your family which cannot be left undone. This I stated to you last September. Whatever position your wife has taken, whatever course of recklessness and levity she has pursued, this does not excuse you from acting a father's part to your children. You ought to go back to your home, and do all in your power to heal the breach, which you, a professed believer in the truth, have done more than your wife to make.
MR926	69	1	When you placed your love upon another woman [Fannie Bolton], even though your wife had obtained a divorce, you transgressed the seventh commandment; but you have done worse than this. You loved another women before your wife obtained a divorce, and you have said to one, "How hard it is to be bound to a woman I do not love, when there is one I love, yes, the very ground she walks on."
MR926	69	2	Your course while in my family was not open and frank. The transactions between you and the one upon whom you placed your affections were carried on under falsehood and deception. In the guise of false pretension, secret plans were carried out. The Lord opened these matters before me, and I tried to change the order of things; but the burden of soul was to you and others accounted a thing of naught. At this time you were giving Bible readings, and taking a prominent part in church work. My advice and counsel was not asked in regard to this important decision. Had I been, I should have been spared much pain that followed.
MR926	69	3	When I talked with you in regard to your freedom in the company of young ladies, and told you that I could not have you in my family while I went to Tasmania, your answer was that you had always been sociable with young women, and had never thought that there was any harm in it. I told you that I knew there was harm in this freedom, and that I could not feel justified in leaving you in my family while I was absent.
MR926	69	4	When I told you that you could not remain in my family, you said that after settling your accounts, which would take about a week, you could go. But this matter dragged along, or was neglected, till about two weeks before our return from Tasmania, and then in July we went to Cooranbong.
MR926	69	5	This matter cannot rest here. I cannot be looked upon as keeping you from your home and family. It was a mistake, I think, to bring you into my family at all. I did this to help you; but I cannot let it be represented to others that we consider you a man worthy to engage in the sacred work which the Lord has given me. I cannot have this matter appear thus; for it places me in a wrong light.
MR926	69	6	I cannot appear to justify your course of action in your married life. Leaving your wife and family was an offense to God, and I must present this matter as it is, before the president of your Conference, Mr. Williams. I had hoped that when you saw your delusion you would feel that repentance for your course of action that needeth not to be repented of. But my experience at Armadale, and the burden brought upon me there, made me a great sufferer; and matters in regard to your past life have been more fully opened before me....
MR926	69	7	You have thought that you would receive the credential of a minister of the gospel, but had these been given you, reproach would have been brought upon the cause of God. You have represented yourself as being a wronged man, but it is your wife who has been most wronged. She should never have been treated as you have treated her. You pursued such a course toward your little ones that your wife could not but be estranged from you. Her heart was wounded, bruised, and she was almost distracted by your overbearing, masterly government in discipline of your children.
MR926	69	8	After giving up Fannie, you placed your affections upon another. This shows just what you would do if opportunities presented themselves. You show young girls attention, and thus win their love; for if you choose, your manner can be very gracious and attractive. As these things have passed before me, I have felt indignant. I cannot, will not, keep silent on these matters. I determined that you should be unveiled as an unprincipled man. Your ideas of what a Christian should be are so much unlike the principles laid down in the word of God, that no responsibility in connection with the cause of God should be given you.
MR926	70	1	Letter 104, 1896, entire letter. (To Eld. I. N. Williams, President of the Pennsylvania Conference [Caldwell's home conference], April 12, 1896)--We have had great trouble of mind in regard to Bro. W. F. Caldwell, who expects to return to America by this month's boat. He has shown a fondness for the society of young girls, and has been full of gaiety, conducting himself like a boy. About a year ago, at the suggestion of my son, W. C. White, I employed him to run the typewriter for [Fannie Bolton], as she read the manuscript to him. But soon I became burdened; warnings were given to me again and again. I talked with him by himself in regard to his freedom and enjoyment in the society of young women and his frivolous conduct, but he said he had always been sociable with young ladies, and thought it no harm. We wanted to help him; for he had no money, and but very poor clothing. He has good ability, and might have developed into a competent helper for W. C. or a worker for me; but I dared not have him remain a member of my family.
MR926	70	2	He became attached to [Fannie], and the matter was carried on under a deception before he learned that his wife had obtained a divorce. When he heard this, he seemed greatly relieved; for his heart was fully weaned from her; but the Lord gave me light in regard to the matter. I consider that he is far more to blame than his wife in view of the fact that he claims to believe sacred truth, and she makes no such profession. He has not been a kind, tender husband; he has not been patient and forbearing, but very critical and overbearing if his wife displeased him in any way. I cannot see how his wife, in contact with his temperament and disposition, could feel drawn toward the truth. She has opposed him, and has made it hard for him, but not a whit harder than he has made it for her by his course of action. He has not taken opposition patiently, or as a Christian should. He did wrong when he left his home and his wife and children. A few months ago I learned that he had done nothing for their support.
MR926	70	3	As matters were unfolded to me, it was a most serious matter for him to allow his affections to center upon another woman when he had a wife living, whom he had promised to love and cherish as long as they both should live. Why he should leave his home so long has been a mystery to us all, until recently I have had divine enlightenment.
MR926	70	4	He can appear very attractive, and win the confidence and favor of the girls, but when crossed, he has such a temper and disposition, that, unless he is changed, no woman, believer or unbeliever, could live peaceably with him. He would pursue a course that would make any woman miserable. He is an intemperate eater, and this is why he has so little patience. I felt that the time had come when I should no longer employ him to transact my business; for warnings kept coming to me from the Lord concerning his course of action. I will write further in regard to this if necessary. Please write to me, stating facts concerning the family there, as far as you know. Help Caldwell, if you can, to set things right, and remove this reproach from the cause of God. Even if his wife is already married, it may be there is something he can do for his children.
MR926	71	1	Letter 36, 1896, p. 2. (To S. N. Haskell, April 26, 1896)--I arose early Thursday morning, about two o'clock, and was writing busily upon the True Vine, when I felt a presence in my room, as I have many times before, and I lost all recollection of what I was about. I seemed to be in the presence of Jesus. He was communicating to me that in which I was to be instructed. Everything was so plain that I could not misunderstand. I was to help one [Fannie Bolton?] whom I thought I should never be called upon to be troubled with again. I could not understand what it meant, but at once decided not to try to reason about this, but follow the directions. Not an audible word was spoken to my ear, but to my mind. I said, "Lord, I will do as Thou hast commanded."
MR926	71	2	Letter 52b, 1896, p. 4. (To Sister Ings, May 7, 1896)--Fannie's health has failed, and she leaves us today for America.
MR926	72	1	Letter 87a, 1896, p. 2. (To Elder Olsen, May 25, 1896)--Fannie Bolton has now left us. Sister Burnham and Marian are with me, also Sister Maggie Hare, whom we are entrusting with articles to prepare for the paper, and who gives promise of becoming a good worker. I have just engaged Minnie Hawkins, who has been long in the Echo Office, who understands the typewriter, has some knowledge of short-hand, and we hope may be able to assist in preparing copy. Like Maggie Hare she is young and healthy. They have not a nervous temperament like Fannie Bolton, but will bring a healthful current into the work. If sanctified to God, they will do a good work.
MR926	72	2	Letter 153, 1896, p. 1. (To "Children," July 9, 1896)--Maggie Hare is an excellent girl and is taking the place Fannie occupied in furnishing the paper with articles. Maggie is the very opposite of Fannie, who would nearly make those who worked with her wild with her nervous movements. But I am now free and shall hope to keep eight thousand miles of water between her and me. She was always in a fidget and made others nervous.
MR926	72	3	Letter 154, 1896, pp. 1, 2. (To "Children," August 2, 1896)--Fannie failed me and she has been a great tax to me since she came to Australia. She left me for America in April, and she told me she wished to come back again. I told her I had no light to say one word of encouragement in this line. She urged me to say she might come back if she would pay her own fare. I could not do this. And, Edson, I never want her connected with me again. She would talk to my workers, especially Marian and get her stirred up so that I could hardly get along with Marian. She was like another person, infused with a spirit that was excitable and unexplainable. Now Fannie is gone, she is herself, just as peaceable as she used to be. The workers now are wholesome, healthy, and kind, and of value to me.
MR926	73	1	Manuscript 29, 1897, p. 5. ("Counsel and Warning," April 6, 1897)--I was very desirous that Bro. McCullagh should have all the benefit possible from these meetings [in Cooranbong]; for matters had been presented before me so clearly that I knew that he was in danger. I knew that his mind was under strong temptation. He talked these things to his wife, and together they were causing in the churches in the suburbs of Sydney, a state of things which would produce a harvest that would not be pleasant to garner. Sr. McCullagh's missionary visits and Bro. McCullagh's influence tended to counteract the work for the accomplishment of which so much money and labor has been expended. And Fannie Bolton's statements, which were cruelly untrue, were as seed sown in their minds, to produce fruit.
MR926	73	2	Letter 25, 1897, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, April 11, 1897)--The work which you have done here in Australia has yielded a harvest which is widespread. You denied having said to Sr. Malcolm that which they told me, and insisted upon, you had said. You afterward visited Sister Malcolm, and denied having said that Sr. White was a very ignorant woman, who could not write, and whose writings you had to make all over, and that it was your talent in connection with the work that made the articles in the papers and books what they were. My only course has been to dismiss you from my employment several times. I did this while you were at my home at Preston; but because of your apparent repentance, I foolishly consented to let you work with me again.
MR926	73	3	Then after the Brighton camp meeting we had that long, soul-disheartening revelation made to us that you thought that Marian and yourself should be recognized as the ones [who] were putting talent into my works. I had a talk with Srs. Colcord and Salisbury, when I related to them the trouble I had experienced with your perversion of facts in regard to your work on my writings. These sisters told me that you had told them the same story. You also told it to Sr. Miller. The same words which Sr. Malcolm told me you had said to her, you repeated to Sr. Colcord. At first Sr. Miller said you had said nothing to her; but Sr. Salisbury said, "I heard Fannie say these words to you," (repeating what you had told Sister Malcolm). Sr. Miller then said that she had forgotten, but now remembered what you had said. Now these words were positively untrue, and as the result of your report, Sister Miller has repeated them to the Andersons. You have also, I learn, repeated the same to others. You claimed that it was your superior talent that made the articles what they were. I know this to be a falsehood; for I know my own writings. You yourself have adopted much of them, and interwoven them with your own articles, which I recognize.
MR926	74	1	I have met this again in the work you have done in your misrepresentations to Bro. McCullagh. I ever treated Bro. McCullagh and his wife as tenderly as I would my own children. But the leaven has been at work, and the talk of him and his wife has done great harm in the church in Sydney.
MR926	74	2	After the instruction given me of the Lord at North Shore, I did just what He told me to do. I took you from Bro. McCullagh's and did all in my power for you, although I could not tell what such a movement meant. But in your influence in Australia, in bearing false statements against me, I have been repeatedly shown that you were my adversary working against me. Why I was directed to take you to my home, I do not know. But the Lord understands all about that, and that which I do not know now, I shall know hereafter.
MR926	74	3	The work in Adelaide was left for Brn. McCullagh and Hawkins to finish, and I think it was a finish. Bro. McCullagh has given up the truth largely, and taken Bro. Hawkins with him. The whole church had gone with them, but had not fully taken sides when these brethren sent in their resignation, saying that they did not believe in Mrs. White's visions or mission.
MR926	74	4	This called Brn. Daniells and Colcord to Adelaide. On arriving there, they found that McCullagh and Hawkins had appointed a meeting, where they made their tirade upon me. Bro. McCullagh has reported your words of information given him from house to house, saying that I have very little to do in getting out the books purported to come from my pen, that I had picked out all I had written from other books, and that those who prepared my articles, yourself in particular, made that matter that was published. This is the way you became my adversary.
MR926	74	5	When Brn. Colcord and Daniells visited from house to house, they met these very same statements. In the meeting appointed by Bro. McCullagh, he said he would have nothing to say against Adventists; but Brn. Daniells and Colcord were present, and heard him make similar statements in public, before believers and unbelievers. Bro. Daniells asked if he could make a few remarks, but they positively refused to let him speak. Then he handed McCullagh a notice to the effect that he would review these statements the following Monday evening, and asked them to read it. Bro. McCullagh handed it to Bro. Hawkins, but as the people were leaving the house, Bro. Daniells arose and read the notice himself, remarking that he had asked these ministers to read it, and they had refused to do so. Bro. Hawkins said, "I was going to read it, but you did not give me time." But already the people were passing out, and some had gone.
MR926	74	6	Now, this is the state of things. You can see by this what a harvest your leaven of falsehood and misrepresentation have produced. You opened your mind to Bro. and Sister McCullagh, which has changed their feeling toward me. The leaven worked, until it carried with it one whole church. But thank God they are recovered. And now my way is clear to make statements just as they have been coming from you, and I will cut off the influence of your tongue in every way that I can.
MR926	75	1	I will say that much of the time that you were in Australia, you surely did not know what manner of spirit you were of. Satanic agencies have been working through Fannie Bolton. Again and again I told Marian for years as I have been placing some article in your hands, there seemed to be a hand stretched out between you and me. I can understand all about matters now as others have come to me with confessions. I know now that proof can be given that every article coming in the paper cannot be claimed as Fannie Bolton's ideas, Fannie Bolton's sentiments.
MR926	75	2	You asked if you could come back again and connect with me in my work, if you should regain your health. The light I have from the Lord is: "She is not converted. She has no power to prevent Satan from working with her mind to exalt self, and make statements that are false in order to receive praise. You have done all that you could do. The seed that she has sown will bear its harvest."
MR926	75	3	I was shown that by your coming to my home, the Lord would give you an opportunity to clear your soul of its guiltiness in connection with me and my work. Your words had created, in others, ideas that would be communicated to still others. But the opportunity was granted you to make straight and thorough work, to clear your soul, and place me in a clear and proper light before the people to whom you had spoken. You had acted as my adversary, and the light given me of God is that it was not the will of the Lord henceforth that you should have the least connection at any time with me and the work which God had given me to do. Shall I be compelled to publish this matter, in order to uproot this influence? My mind is forever settled, Fannie, in regard to having one page of my written articles go into your hands. I do not regret taking you into my home when I did, because it was the Lord's plan. I can see the reasons more clearly now. May the Lord pity and save you. I am sorry for you, indeed I am, and would do anything to save your soul.
MR926	75	4	I thank the Lord that I have two good editors in Maggie Hare and Minnie Hawkins. They are doing good work. The writings come from their hands with my own ideas, and I know it. Who makes the articles now? All can see that they are just as full of Bible truth as they have ever been. Your "inspiration" has not touched them, and never will again as long as I shall live. In the place of my articles bearing your ideas, your articles have the ideas that the Lord has given me. You have grafted them into Fannie Bolton's stock. I wish you no harm; but I will not keep quiet. Your misrepresentation shall not mislead other minds, if I can possibly prevent them.
MR926	75	5	Letter 1, 1897, p. 2. (To "The Church in Adelaide," April 22, 1897)--I can write but little to you now at this time. I have very much writing to do to complete the "Life of Christ," and I have been called away so much that I have but little time to write. But my soul is made very sad to see how quickly those who have had light and truth will accept the deceptions of Satan, and be charmed with a spurious holiness, like Fannie Bolton, who in the midst of her deceiving, claimed that she was inspired of God. When men turn away from the waymarks the Lord has established, that we may understand our position as marked out in prophecy, they are going they know not whither.
MR926	76	1	Letter 24, 1897, entire letter. (To Fannie Bolton, June 25, 1897)--Yesterday my attention was called to your articles now going through the Review. [See The Review and Herald, April 13--May 11, 1897.] I have not read any articles in the papers for some time; for I have been so thoroughly employed. But as I read these articles, I thought it a very wrong thing for you to put in the Review the history of the McKenzie family. Did you think that such productions from your pen concerning a family with whom you had been connected, were right? If that family reads our church paper, think you will it be the means of converting or destroying?
MR926	76	2	Your representations can be easily recognized. You place in the worst light the McKenzie family. Is this to be the tone of all the articles you put into the paper? All can easily see that Miss Ashbury, who is placed on the pinnacle of perfection, is a revelation of the way in which Miss Fannie Bolton regards herself. As I read these articles I was more distressed for you and ashamed of you than I can express. Should you caricature so vividly your own history while you were in Battle Creek and Australia, putting things in as vivid a light as you have regarding the McKenzie family, we would have some most striking articles. But such productions should not be immortalized by being put in print. You are certainly doing as you would not be pleased to have anyone do by you.
MR926	76	3	That history will certainly be placed in the hands of the McKenzie family. What kind of an influence will it have upon them to see that you have represented family secrets in the very worst light? [Revelation 3:1-3, 15-18 quoted.]
MR926	77	1	All who are acquainted with your history in Australia will be nauseated by your representation of yourself. And this is the one that expressed herself as having an unwillingness to handle private testimonies of reproof. Yet without any appointment of God, you take hold of a family, and lay bare the things you have seen and heard in that family, in a most exaggerated light. How could you ever do such a thing? I am very much astonished that you should dare to do it. You have been very much afraid to have anything go to America, even to my son Edson, in regard to yourself.
MR926	77	2	It is a great pity that this very wonderful Christian woman, so mild, of such excellent judgment, could not have revealed her character in such beautiful lines when in my family, connected with me. How mild and Christlike were your words to Emily Campbell, when you supposed her to be making a mistake, but when you yourself were doubly at fault? If these things were represented in a story and given to the world, it would be quite sensational. What do you mean? Are you unbalanced in mind? If so, for Christ's sake do not make striking proof of the fact by letting everyone know that it is so.
MR926	77	3	What could have beclouded Bro. Tenney's perceptive faculties, to lead him to accept such articles from your hand, I cannot conceive. If you want to write sensational novels, put your articles in papers that will appreciate such matter. Do stop and think what you are about.
MR926	77	4	I send you this matter, written from a sense of duty. Do not exhibit Fannie Bolton in such angel's garments, because it is not the Fannie Bolton we are acquainted with. I advise you to let your tired brain have entire rest, while you do some kind of work besides writing. You said that you loved to do housework. Why not do something of this kind, using the muscles of your body in proportion as you have used your mind. Cannot you be satisfied to use your talents in this way? I advise you to do this, and see if you cannot become a Christian in thought and in character.
MR926	77	5	I hope and pray that your transgressions may be pardoned. Do not, I beg of you, parade before the world the history of those who are not guilty of doing one hundredth part of the harm that you have done. If you ever truly feel this, you will have such a sense of your wicked course of action, that you will never, never seek to remove the mote from your brother's or sister's eye till the beam has been removed from your own eye.
MR926	77	6	Your words regarding me and my writings are false, and I must say that you know them to be false. Nevertheless, those unacquainted with you take your words as being the words of one who knows. Because you have been acquainted with me, and connected with me, you can state what you please, and you think that your tracks are so covered that they will never be discovered. But my writings have not stopped. They go out as I have written them. No words of my copyists are put in the place of my own words. This is a testimony that cannot be controverted. My articles speak for themselves.
MR926	77	7	When I heard that McCullagh had apostatized, I said, I am glad that all my connection with him has been of the tenderest character. I thought that there was nothing they could have to say against me. But both he and his wife bore the same report that Sister Malcolm bore to me. McCullagh stated in a large congregation that it was reported by one who knew that I picked up things written in books, and sent them out as something the Lord had shown me. At the Bible Institute in Cooranbong, McCullagh told me that you had made a statement to him and his wife similar to the statement made to Sr. Malcolm. Your sowing is producing its harvest. Many in Melbourne have been repeating the same things, things which you have told them, and which they thought must be true.
MR926	78	1	I will now only say further that I forgive you, and will continue to pray as I have done that you may be converted. The articles in the Review give me more discouragement over your case than I have ever had; for I see you clothed in garments of pretentious light, and this is a terrible deception. May the Lord anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see yourself as you are, and that you may have that repentance that needs not to be repented of.
MR926	78	2	Letter 114, 1897, entire letter. (To Bro. and Sr. Tenney, July 1, 1897)--I have been reading your letter. Thank-you for writing in response to my letter. I should have written to you at first, but I thought that if Fannie would show repentance, I would be pleased to have her soul saved if possible. I do not read her articles at all, but my attention was called to the articles in the Instructor and the Review by one who understood the articles in the Review perfectly. [See The Review and Herald, April 13--May 11, 1897.]
MR926	78	3	In them she has represented the family of McKenzie. The mild Miss Ashbury is Miss Fannie Bolton. Mr. and Mrs. Morehouse are Bro. McKenzie and his wife, who live in Parramatta. The representation that Fannie gives of Miss Ashbury is, I suppose, exactly her estimate of herself. In this romance she has represented herself as having a perfection of character that she has never revealed in connection with that family or any family where she has been an inmate.
MR926	78	4	False ideas are traced in this story. Fannie did have a room in the hired home of Bro. and Sr. McKenzie, and the rent from this helped them in a time of their great poverty; but everything in this story is exaggerated. She has had some threads to use in making out this story, but the main history was transacted at Ashfield, where the first camp-meeting was held in New South Wales. At that camp-meeting some of these things did take place, and those who are familiar with the facts will recognize the ones meant. Should McKenzie get hold of the paper, as I have no doubt he will, there would be one of the greatest commotions that could take place; for Bro. and Sister McKenzie are both sensitive and proud.
MR926	78	5	He did become tempted. We had Bro. Belden move his family and furniture from Parramatta to the Ashfield camp-ground. I helped them by giving them clothing, milk, fruit, and money. Bro. McKenzie became displeased with Bro. Caldwell, because Bro. Caldwell was put in as Elder of the church, while Bro. McKenzie was not put into office.
MR926	78	6	W. C. White and Emily Campbell found Bro. McKenzie in work. His daughter, Julia, is a fine, nice girl, but Julia is represented as being married. She is not. Emily Campbell and I paid Julia's carfare to and from the city, and she and Emily attended a school where shorthand was taught. At this time Caldwell was working the typewriter for Fannie, and I felt that matters were not going right. I was warned in a dream, and I talked with both of them, telling them that it was not right for them to be together.
MR926	78	7	I talked with McKenzie about this matter, and he said that Caldwell's coming to his home at all times of the day and in the evening was working up a scandal. Well, we met with much opposition from both Fannie and Caldwell. They said that McKenzie had no sense or reason for his evil surmisings. But the burden was laid heavily upon me, and I told them it could not be thus any longer. There was my parlor, Willie's office; they could write in that; for Willie was away, either in Melbourne or New Zealand.
MR926	79	1	Well, this familiarity continued. I told Caldwell that I could not have him connected with my work. He told me that there was nothing between him and Fannie, and yet the warning kept coming, "She is your adversary." My burden was very great; for I had not rest in spirit. The poor man, McKenzie, took to smoking and drinking, and I think they had a hard time of it. Fannie was then away at Cooranbong.
MR926	79	2	The work between Fannie and Bro. Caldwell was begun at the Melbourne camp-meeting. There she became enamored of a married man, with two children. She utterly denied that there was any affection between her and Bro. Caldwell. She stood before me in my tent, and declared that there was nothing to the reports. For one year after this, she was good for nothing to me, only a dead, heavy load.
MR926	79	3	The warning from God kept coming, and finally at the Armadale camp meeting matters came to a head. Fannie claimed to make most of my books. Both at the Ashfield and Armadale camp meetings she was inspired by Satan. While at the Brighton camp meeting her course of action was anything that what a Christian's should be. And after the camp meeting I cut loose from her. I discharged her. We had a very serious time, but she begged and wrote so humbly, that I forgave her, and foolishly tried her again. She was taken back, and given another trial.
MR926	79	4	When living at Preston, I told her that I could never have her in my home to live with me again. At the Brighton camp-meeting she told the Malcolm family, who had recently come to the faith, that she had to make my books herself. She said that Sr. White did not know how to write, or put two sentences together, that she was a very ignorant woman, and that her, Fanny Bolton's, talent supplied her lack.
MR926	79	5	Fannie begged to go to the Armadale camp meeting, saying that she would do my writing, and not take up the children's meetings; but she did not keep her word. One short article, I think, she prepared for me. There was at this time an advertisement in one of the papers regarding one of my books. When Fannie noticed this advertisement, which spoke of Prof. Prescott compiling the book, she vehemently declared with wild gesticulations, that it was a lie. She was all broken up, and declared to Sara [McEnterfer] that she had done the work herself, and now Prof. Prescott was taking the glory of it. But Sister Prescott had been told Fannie's story at Cooranbong, and she could see things in their true bearing. In talking with Sister Prescott, Fannie claimed to be the author of some sentence in this book which they thought was very beautiful. But when she made this assertion, Sr. Prescott told her that she knew better, because she had a letter from Sister White, in her own handwriting, which contained the same sentence. If Sister Prescott is in Battle Creek you may talk with her in regard to this, and she will be able to tell you just how it was.
MR926	79	6	I had a letter written to Dr. Kellogg, which Fannie saw lying on my table as she came into my room. In this letter she saw her own name. She called Sara into another room, and told her that she had seen a letter addressed to Dr. Kellogg on Sr. White's table, and that in this letter she saw her name. She then asked Sara to get this letter and give it to her, so that she might see what Sister White was writing about her to Dr. Kellogg. Sara faced her, and asked, "What do you take me for? Do you think I have come all the way from America to do that sort of work?" Fannie insisted that Sara should get the letter for her, but Sara declared that she would do no such thing. For this time Fannie seemed to have but little confidence in Sara.
MR926	80	1	I have told you these things that you may understand about the matter. We had the affair between Fannie and Caldwell all through the Armadale camp meeting. I talked with them both separately, and told them that the Lord had a controversy with them both. They denied that there was anything like particular attachment between them. I knew better; but the Lord helped me to work through the meeting. Just before the meeting closed, Fannie came to me, and said, "O Sr. White, I have come to you as to a mother. I do love Bro. Caldwell with all my heart, and my heart is just broken. Three times has this cup of bliss been presented to me, and then been snatched away." Then the girl said, "I prayed that if it was right for us to get married, his wife might get a divorce from him, and it was not many weeks before she did get a divorce. Now don't you think the Lord heard my prayer?" I dared not talk with her; for I had to speak that day before a large congregation. If Sr. Prescott is in Battle Creek, she will be able to tell you the particulars.
MR926	80	2	Well, from that time I cut loose from Fannie, never, as I thought, to connect with her again. But a little while after this, Fannie was in Sydney, and wrote me another confession. I thought that I could not take her back, but the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and said, "Give her another trial." So I decided that I would see Fannie, and tell her that I would take her back. This I did, and she remained with me several weeks, but was not able to do any work; and then she decided that she wanted to go home to her mother, and I told her that she might feel free to do so. And now after all the suffering and distress that I have passed through because of the actions of these two, and the downright lies they told, to have Fannie Bolton put these articles in the paper, exalting her poor, miserable, blind, poverty-stricken soul, Miss Ashbury is a little too large a mouthful for me to swallow. It tastes strong of the dish. If I can find them, I will send you copies of letters written to both Fannie and Caldwell.
MR926	80	3	Letter 115, 1897, entire letter. (To Bro. Tenney, July 5, 1897)--I received your letter. I am sending you a copy of a letter I have sent to Fannie Bolton. You can see from this letter that I regard Fannie as one who cannot retain a spirit of contrition for any length of time. She is so inflated with Fannie Bolton that she does not know herself a few moments after she has expressed deep humiliation because of her own course of action. She springs into life speedily, and blossoms out wonderfully, dwelling on the goodness, love, mercy, and forgiveness of God toward her, taking all the promises to herself.
MR926	80	4	In the past she has expressed wonderful sorrow for her wicked course of action, but she does not stay penitent. She does not continue to be contrite in heart. She flashes forth, thinking she is inspired by God. While she was praying the Lord that if it was right for her to marry Caldwell, his wife might get a divorce from her husband, she told me that as she talked and gave Bible readings, the people turned pale to hear her talk, and she thought she was inspired by God. Her imagination is very strong, and she makes such exaggerated statements that her words are not trustworthy.
MR926	81	1	I feel so sorry that these productions of hers ever entered our papers. [See The Review and Herald, April 13--May 11, 1897.] Bro. Schowe from Pennant Hills, who has long been a government school teacher, recently made me a visit. He accepted the Sabbath in 1894. He seems to be a man of good sense and excellent education. He is a regular subscriber for nearly all our papers, the Review and Herald, and Youth's Instructor, etc. He opened the subject himself, and said to me, "Sr. White, did you notice those strange articles in the Review and Herald? I thought it a little strange that such productions should be suffered to go through the papers." He had no knowledge whatever of the course Fannie had pursued toward me. I told him that I did not read the articles till my attention was called to them by others. Then I read one in the Review, and one in the Instructor. Bro. Schowe said, "Miss Bolton must have lost her balance of mind."
MR926	81	2	O, I am so sorry and ashamed to have the paper go to others with such articles as this in it. Piece after piece from Fannie's pen appears in the papers. What does it mean? When I can find them, I will send you copies of some letters written by me to her, and her answers. When she was in my family, it seemed that Satan used her as his agent to invent those things that would make the whole household miserable. She would have her times of confession, and would then say all that one could ask another to say. But she would go over the same ground again and again, each time worse than before, until I decided that Satan's temptations, working upon her desire for recognition, were so strong that she had no power to escape from the snare. She was one with the enemy, working in his service.
MR926	81	3	Now, my brother, if it had not been for these articles in the Review, I would have held my peace. I thought that if Fannie would only keep away from me, and trouble me no more, I would not expose her, but would let the poor, deluded, misshapen character alone. But when she figures so largely in our papers, I must speak. I dare not keep silent. Such productions do no one any good, and the blessing of the Lord cannot attend them.
MR926	88	1	Letter 6, 1898, p. 2. (To Emily Campbell, January 12, 1898)--The amount of writing that I have been compelled to do has been greater than at any former period of my life. Maggie Hare and Minnie Hawkins are doing good work. I feel so thankful that Fannie is not with me. She does not know what manner of spirit she is of, and I do not think she ever will; for she is deluded by the enemy in regard to her own talents. If she would be converted and remain transformed in character, no one would be more happy than I. But even then I would say to her, Remain in America. Never come across the waters again.
MR926	92	1	Letter 61a, 1900, entire letter. (To G. A. Irwin, April 23, 1900, not sent--see revised copy, Letter 61, 1900)--I cannot sleep after half past twelve. I have read what you say in regard to Fannie. I have many things written in reference to her engagement with Caldwell, but I do not wish to make her case a public matter. Therefore I shall not send the letters written in reference to her misbehavior in this country, which has uprooted the confidence of those who know her. I can send these letters if it is essential, but I do not want to do so.
MR926	92	2	The statement in regard to my telling Fannie to write to A. R. Henry is a fabrication which has not in it one thread of truth. Why she makes statements which are sheer falsehoods is a mystery to me. I have copies of all the letters I have written to A. R Henry. I never to my knowledge told Fannie to write a letter for me to any person whatever.
MR926	92	3	One night, after I had disconnected from Fannie Bolton, I had a singular experience. The angel of the Lord stood by my side, instructing me to give Fannie a chance to connect with me again and take up the work again. I was to give her another trial. To the astonishment of all, I did this. At the time, Fannie was sick, and was staying at Brother McCullagh's. I brought her to my home, and fitted up a room for her away from the other workers; for she could not endure the least noise.
MR926	92	4	I cared for her as I would for my own sister. Then after a time, I put copy in her hands, to evidence to her that I would do the work pointed out by the angel for me to do. She took the copy, and all she had to do was to read it to one of my copyists. But though she had all the time she wanted, she could not complete the article. She told me that she could not possibly do the work, and that she would never again have the privilege of having the precious matter in her hands.
MR926	92	5	"I fear," she said, "that I am wholly unfitted for the work. I cannot even do this article. I have pursued such a course (speaking in reference to Caldwell) that I am humiliated in the dust. I cannot remain in this place, where my course is so well known. I must go to America."
MR926	92	6	She then begged me to let her take some articles with her to prepare for me. I did this once when she was at Ann Arbor. I said, "No, Fannie; none of my writings shall be placed in your hands. I am decided on this point." Well, she said, "if you ever need me to prepare copy for you, I would be glad to do it after my health improves." She tried to get me to say that she could return to me if she desired to. I said, "No; when you leave me of your own will, I shall never re-unite you with my work." She said that if I would take her back, she would pay her own passage to Australia. But I told her that I could make no promise whatever. I said, "The Lord instructed me to forgive you and take you back for another trial. I have done this; but even while you are confessing your wrong course to me, you say that you are afraid, should you attempt to take up the work again, you would go over the same ground you have gone over in the past. You have already told me that you dare not take up the work again, that you think you had better go to America. When you said this, I was free."
MR926	93	1	I see now why it was that I was directed to give Fannie another trial. There are those who misunderstand me because of Fannie's misrepresentations. These were watching to see what course I would take in regard to her. If I had disconnected from her, they would have made the most they possibly could of the way in which I had abused poor Fannie Bolton. The course I pursued in following the directions given me took away any occasion of criticism from those who wanted to condemn me.
MR926	93	2	I have never wanted Fannie to connect with me again. I wrote to Edson not to employ her on any account; for her imagination was so under the control of the enemy that he could lead her to exaggerate to any extent.
MR926	93	3	I have not mentioned the disagreeable experience which has cost me so much sorrow, which was caused by her lovesick sentimentalism in her connection with Caldwell, her terrible deception and falsehoods, which both she and he confessed. While Fannie was acting out the temptations of Satan, because imbued with his spirit, she claimed that the Bible-readings she gave were inspired by God. She said that when she talked, her hearers would grow pale under the effect of her words. Many of our brethren and sisters claimed that she was inspired, but understanding the underhanded course she was taking and the positive falsehoods she was telling, I told them that they need not covet any such inspiration; for it was of the same order that Satan keeps in his stock in trade.
MR926	93	4	You may reason with others on this line: Wherein do my articles in the papers now differ from what they were when Fannie was with me? Who is it that now puts in words to supply the deficiencies of my language, my deplorable ignorance? How was this done before Fannie Bolton had anything to do with my writings?
MR926	93	5	Cannot people who have reason see this? If Fannie supplied my great deficiency, how is it that I can now send articles to the papers?
MR926	93	6	What Fannie says in regard to this is all a sham. Does she not know it? Or does Satan work on her imagination in such a way that she thinks what she says is true?
MR926	93	7	I tell you that there is not a semblance of truth in her statements. My copyists you have seen. They do not change my language. It stands as I write it. Marian's work is of a different order altogether. She is my book-maker. Fannie never was my book-maker. How are my books made? Marian does not put in her claim for recognition. She does her work in this way. She takes my articles which are published in the papers, and pastes them in blank books. She also has a copy of all the letters I write. In preparing a chapter for a book, Marian remembers that I have written something on that special point, which may make the matter more forcible. She begins to search for this, and if when she finds it, she sees that it will make the chapter more clear, she adds it.
MR926	93	8	The books are not Marian's productions, but my own, gathered from all my writings. Marian has a large field from which to draw, and her ability to arrange this matter is of great value to me. It saves my poring over a mass of matter, which I have no time to do.
MR926	93	9	So you understand that Marian is a most valuable help to me in bringing out my books. Fannie had none of this work to do. Marian has read chapters to her, and Fannie has sometimes made suggestions as to the arrangement of the matter.
MR926	94	1	This is the difference between the workers. As I have stated, Fannie has been strictly forbidden to change my words for her words. As spoken by the heavenly agencies, the words are severe in their simplicity; and I try to put the thoughts into such simple language that a child can understand every word uttered. The words of someone else would not rightly represent me.
MR926	94	2	I have written thus fully in order that you may understand the matter. Fannie Bolton may claim that she has made my books, but she has not done so. This has been Marian's field, and her work is far in advance of any work Fannie has done for me.
MR926	94	3	I have written this letter between half past twelve and four o'clock a.m. I must now leave it to write other letters. But I wish to ask, If Fannie is converted and is used by the Lord, why is not her vision clear in reference to her past representation of the work she has done for me? I think the first work the Holy Spirit would do for her would be to lead her to confess that by false statements she has misrepresented me to others. The Lord would clear away the mist and fog from her mind, leading her to see the great injury she has done me by saying that she made over all my writings.
MR926	94	4	When the Lord teaches her and reveals to her how she has unsettled and undermined the faith of many in the testimonies of the Spirit of God, as she has unsettled and undermined the faith of Brother Bartholf in the work the Lord has given me to do, by making the statement that she was directed to write a testimony to A. R. Henry, she will see where she is standing. The statement in regard to the testimony for A. R. Henry is an absolute falsehood.
MR926	94	5	Those who receive such statements are without excuse. "By their fruits ye shall know them." My work has been in the field since 1845. Ever since then I have labored with pen and voice. Increased light has come to me as I have imparted the light given me. I have very much more light on the Old and New Testament Scriptures, which I shall present to our people if my way is not blocked by such influences as the influence exerted by Fannie Bolton. Such a work as hers calls for my pen and voice to contradict her statements, in order to save poor souls from being entirely swamped by her assertion that she has received the Holy Ghost. This is another phase of her desire to exalt herself as ordained by the Lord to bear a message to His people. The Lord did not send her, yet she ran. She will not honor the cause of God, but will mislead others.
MR926	94	6	Those who have been unwilling to receive the true testimonies of God, notwithstanding that these testimonies have been in the field for so many years, who know not the voice of the Lord, may listen to the voice of a stranger, and receive from a poor, deceived, unbalanced human agent what is supposed to be truth. What is the chaff to the wheat? Know that you are on trial for spiritual life, and accept no delusive sentiments. God save His people from Satan's snare.
MR926	94	7	Letter 61, 1900, entire letter. (To G. A. Irwin, April 23, 1900, revised copy of Letter 61a, 1900)--I have read what you say in regard to Fannie Bolton. There is no truth in the statement that I told Fannie to write a letter or testimony to A. R. Henry. My testimonies to the churches, and to individuals have never been written that way.
MR926	95	1	The claim that she is inspired is not a new one with Fannie. Shortly after the Armadale campmeeting, she claimed that the Bible-readings that she gave were inspired of God. She said that when she talked, her hearers would grow pale under the effects of her words. Some of our people believed the assertion that she was inspired. But I knew that her course and her spirit were not pleasing to God. Her unwise, inconsistent course, showed that she was under a deception of the devil.
MR926	95	2	All through her experience, Fannie's light has been too much like that of a meteor. It flashes up, and then goes out in darkness. Her feelings are counted by her to be religion. What a pity that she has so much confidence in her brilliant flashes. Her mind is so full of an emotional religion, that she knows not what the genuine article is.
MR926	95	3	If she were converted, and used by the Lord, she would have a clear understanding of the influence of her past misrepresentations of the work she has done for me, and would confess some of her misstatements regarding it, which have been used by the enemy to unsettle and undermine the faith of many, in the testimonies of the Spirit of God.
MR926	95	4	Such claims as we hear that she is now putting forth, must be contradicted, that poor souls may be saved from deception. This claim that she has now received the Holy Spirit, is another manifestation of the desire to exalt herself as ordained by the Lord to bear a message to His people. The Lord did not send her, yet she ran.
MR926	95	5	Those who know not the voice of God, those who have been unwilling to receive the true testimonies from the Lord, may listen to the voice of a stranger, and receive from a human agent what is supposed to be truth. But, "What is the chaff to the wheat?" The people of God should know that they are on trial for eternal life, and that they must accept no delusive sentiments. May God save them from Satan's snares.
MR926	95	6	Some may ask, why was Sr. Bolton allowed to be so long connected with the work, if this desire for praise, this tendency to self-exaltation was manifested? At different times I labored with her faithfully, pointing out her danger, and endeavoring to help her to understand the character of the work, and the relations of the human agent to it. Many times she acknowledged the mistakes that her approbativeness had led her to make, and confessed her weakness, and love of praise. She would declare that the lesson had now been thoroughly learned, and that thereafter she would guard against self-exaltation. And she was always anxious to retain her connection with the work, sometimes begging with tears not to be disconnected from it.
MR926	95	7	Several times I was warned of the Lord that she was taking a course to undermine the confidence of the people in the testimonies, and after the Armadale campmeeting she was disconnected from my work. This was a great relief, for her injudicious course had become a great burden to me. But one night, after this, the angel of the Lord stood by my side, instructing me to give Fannie another chance to connect with me, and again take up the work. I was plainly instructed to give her another trial. To the astonishment of those who knew what the work had suffered, and what I had suffered, from her erratic and injudicious course, I did this. She was sick at the home of Brother McCullagh. I brought her to my home, and fitted up a room for her away from the other workers, for she could not endure any noise. I cared for her as I would for my own sister. And after a time I put copy in her hands, endeavoring to follow the course pointed out to me by the angel. She took the article, and began the work, but found that she was not able to proceed with it. She told me she could not possibly do the work, and she feared that she would never again have the privilege of having the precious matter in her hands.
MR926	96	1	She asked that she might take some articles with her to prepare for me when she was able, but to this I could not consent. She also spoke of returning to Australia when her health was restored, to again take up the work. But I told her that I could hold out no encouragement regarding this. I said, "The Lord instructed me to forgive you, and take you back for another trial. This I have done. But even while you are confessing your wrong course to me and the work, you admit that you are afraid, should you take up the work again, that you would go over the same ground that you have gone over in the past. You have said that you dare not take up the work again here, and that you think you would better go to America. When you say this, I am free."
MR926	96	2	I now see why I was directed to give Fannie another trial. There are those who misunderstood me because of Fannie's misrepresentations. These were watching to see what course I would take in regard to her. They would have represented that I had abused poor Fannie Bolton. In following the directions to take her back, I took away all occasion for criticism from those who were ready to condemn me.
MR926	96	3	Letter 166, 1900, pp. 1, 2. (To Bro. and Sr. Haskell, and Bro. G. A. Irwin, April 25, 1900)--Something is being sent to you in regard to Fannie Bolton. You need to say to all our people that she is not the Lord's messenger, and she should in no way be encouraged. She would mingle the theatrical with her spiritual actions, that would not elevate, but degrade the cause of God. She is a farce. I have several copies of letters in her own handwriting, confessions, which I cannot possibly get copied. They must not go out of my hands until they are copied. Caldwell took a testimony from her hands that related to them both, and burned it up, and then told her she need not worry any more about [it]; she nor Sister White would ever see it again. Then he was pressed by me for the Testimony. Caldwell said he would bring it to me, and then said he could not find it; and then when I told him I knew what he had done with it, he said he must have burned it with some of his letters he did not care to keep; and then afterward he confessed his falsehoods, and said he burnt it designedly. Well, I have quite a large amount of letters concerning this matter between Fannie and me. If it needs to be all exposed before the people will be undeceived, I will send these letters after they are copied. But tell our people I do not want to expose Fannie, unless I am obliged to do this to save the cause of God from being corrupted.
			Addendum
MR926	123	1	The following documents constitute additions to the first printing of this collection.
MR926	123	2	She is now humble and seems to see herself, but I leave it with the judgment of others to decide what is best to be done. If you see it is not possible for these persons that I have named to come back to Melbourne, adjust the matter as you deem best. I think now the evil is stayed, but it seems to me Fannie has not any just appreciation of the work. She places it on a level with common things and handles it as such. Now she is very anxious to remain in Australia, but I am fearful to have her influence in this country. Would it not be best for her to return to America now that she is in a state of submission? Should she be entrusted again with the work, would not this subdued feeling soon wear away and as she has not very fine points of character, will not the same spirit come on her and she bring the writings down to her level?
MR926	123	3	I speak to you now freely and you must do that which seems to be the best. When I am to get my workers I know not, but I will trust and have faith that God has someone for me. If not, the writings will have to stop for the papers. I do not want that your business should be all broken into, but understanding the case you must move intelligently as will best serve the cause of God.
MR926	123	4	Please consider what objection will come in if we drive our horse and phaeton to Sydney. Would it be wrong? Please inform me all you can in reference to this matter. Had I best sell? I dislike to leave the horse and carriage and have to buy anew in Sydney.
MR926	123	5	We are now pleasantly situated. Sister Tuxford is pleasant and May doing well. In much love, (signed) Ellen G. White. Elder Starr's American mail just came. His brother John writes he has given himself unreservedly to Jesus and he has peace, the peace of Christ. He writes good and I am so thankful for the poor soul. Our mail has not come, [it] is at the Echo Office--will come tonight, have telephoned for it.
MR926	123	6	Fannie is writing to all she has spoken to upon this matter of which I have written to you. She seems determined to make thorough work, poor soul. I am distressed, yet relieved and now I mean to trust in the Lord fully. O, I need more faith.
MR926	123	7	Manuscript 94, 1894, entire manuscript. ("Experience With Fannie Bolton," cir. 1894.)--[First part missing] Before a large family at the table questions were asked in reference to my work. She stated that was preparing all the manuscripts for Mrs. White and it went under her name but it was her production. Mrs. White was a very ignorant woman. She could not write and could not put two sentences together; but she made the articles and Mrs. White had the credit for doing them.
MR926	124	1	This was the most wicked falsehood that could be invented. I did not learn what she was about, undermining the confidence of the people in me, until our meeting in Cooranbong that lasted three or four weeks. I had all my manuscript of very precious matter that our brethren solicited me to read before the meetings assembled. I read every day long articles from my own pen that I could not get copied because I had refused to have any connection with Fannie Bolton. Not any correction had been made in them, by any person. But remarks were made concerning the precious matter, so rich in ideas and instruction.
MR926	124	2	Near the close of the meeting two ladies, sisters, came. [They said] they were glad I made the statement that I made in the meeting. Had I any objection to their seeing these articles? I told them no, but as they were unacquainted with my writing they might not be able to read them readily. They returned them to me with an apology.
MR926	124	3	They said, "I must see you and talk with you." I set a time and then they explained that Fannie Bolton had sat at their table when they first embraced the truth and there, before this large family, made the statement I have written. They said they asked her what she did to my writings. She answered that she made them all over. She said they were much of them her own writings, not mine, but I got the credit for them. "Now," said they, "we have seen; we have heard you read these manuscript articles. We have tested the matter by reading your writings quite readily. Her words were untrue." They had made so great an impression upon them and many others that she had conversed with that they had no confidence in me or my work and would not read my books.
MR926	124	4	I was bemoaning to Brother Starr that the matter that I was reading had never had anything done to it. With much firmness he said, "Sister White, if you knew all that I know you would understand that the Lord's hand has planned this whole matter. If ever I was thankful for anything I thank God for this providence." At the close of the meeting, Sisters Malcom came to me and said, "I am so glad to be here in this meeting. I knew comparatively nothing of your work until I came. And I wish to say I am glad you read those articles just as you had them without going through anyone's hands. I have something to say now, fearing I shall not see you again." [Unfinished.]
MR926	124	5	Letter 131, 1896, pp. 1-3. (To Edson and Emma White, March 21, 1896.)--I cannot sleep past two o'clock A.M. I think of you away across the broad waters of the Pacific, and must visit with you by the pen words. If it were the will of our heavenly Father I would much prefer to talk with you face to face.
MR926	124	6	Sarah McEnterfer and I left Cooranbong Station last Wednesday morning and came to Sydney. We called on Brother Israel and took dinner with them. Then we went to North Shore by cars and ferry boat; we took the cars again, and then we walked to the home occupied by Brother and Sister Starr. It is built up on the side of a high rise of land, as in Black Hawk and Centerville. I remained with them until Friday.
MR926	124	7	Friday morning I awoke at half past three. I had been sitting writing when a sweet peace beyond explanation or understanding came to me. I felt that I was in the presence of Jesus. A sacred, holy atmosphere surrounded me and there was presented to me a line of action that I should pursue. All the previous feelings and the matter that I was writing upon seemed to be removed from me and another matter was presented. I must take heed. I heard no voice, but the points presented were clearly laid out before me.
MR926	125	1	I seemed to be taken away from myself, and to be in the presence of God. The question was, "What have you done with the request of Fannie Bolton? You have been sorely tried, but your Saviour has been wounded and bruised and put to open shame by this deceived, deluded child. It is My will that you bear with her, forgive her, and help her. If she goes from you, Satan's net is spread for her feet. You alone can help her. She sympathizes with herself and will have those who do not walk in the light to view her case in a perverted light, to sympathize with her. And her own soul will be lost, and through her influence other souls will be deceived and lost. It is My will that you accede to her request. You are not to wait for an assurance of transformation of character. She does not have power to discern her own heart and the wily workings of the enemy. If she says she repents, if she reaches up her voice to you for help, My Spirit shall be with you."
MR926	125	2	Left to her own will and devising she will walk into the snares set by the enemy and will perish. True, discerning hearts would but feel the righteous and indignant anger, while another class, who are also deceived in their own impressions of what constitutes Christian character, will look at this matter in a perverted light and will give sympathy when it is the worst thing they could do to fasten this soul in the darkness of eternal night. This poor, erring, blood-bought soul has been deceived and has practised deception and falsehood. Satan has had the control, but I will give her another chance. It may be that she may form a righteous character and perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. These deceived souls, if left to their own thoughts and devisings will not obey God's law.
MR926	125	3	I know this will sound very strange to you, but it is not strange to me now. I have had no liberty to do this before, but now I dare not move otherwise. I would not in my course of action in this case give to others the appearance that I was unforgiving, that I was driving from me anyone who was repenting and soliciting for the position she has held. Christ is to me my example in all things, and I greatly desire to represent Christ. Jesus is to me like a great Rock in a weary land. I want to be like Christ.
MR926	125	4	Here is the Lord Jesus, looking with pity upon sinful, erring humanity in Fannie. Here is an opportunity to let her take hold of hope and faith and not become desperate. Here is a case I cannot reason out. In this case my wisdom becomes ignorance. Here my understanding is completely at fault, but I am sure what is my duty. And if Mary Clough Watson wants to unite with me and would solicit a place with me, shall I not give her one more chance? Yes, yes, yes. I will, and may the Lord help me that no soul shall say, "I called upon her saying, 'I repent and she would not hear."
------------------------MR No. 927--Country Living
12MR	30	1	The Benefits of Country Living--It was not God's purpose that people should be crowded into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the beginning He placed our first parents in a garden, amid the beautiful sights and sounds of nature, and these sights and sounds He desires men to rejoice in today. The more nearly we can come in harmony with God's original plan, the more favorable will be our position for the recovery and the preservation of health.
12MR	30	2	Our retired location will offer comparative freedom from any of the temptations of city life. Here [A new sanitarium was being developed at wahroonga, about 13 miles from sydney, australia.] are no liquor-selling hotels or dram-shops on every corner to tempt the unfortunate victim of intemperance. And the pure sights and sounds, the clear, invigorating air, and the sense of God's presence pervading all nature, tend to uplift the mind, to soften the heart, and to strengthen the will to resist temptation.
12MR	30	3	Contrasts Between City and Country Living--I look at these flowers, and every time I see them, I think of Eden. They are an expression of God's love for us. Thus He gives us in this world a little taste of Eden. He wants us to delight in the beautiful things of His creation, and to see in them an expression of what He will do for us. He wants us to live where we can have elbow room. His people are not to crowd into the cities. He wants them to take their families out of the cities, that they may better prepare for eternal life. In a little while they will have to leave the cities. These cities are filled with wickedness of every kind--with strikes and murders and suicides. Satan is in them, controlling men in their work of destruction. Under his influence they kill for the sake of killing, and this they will do more and more. Every mind is controlled either by the power of Satan or the power of God. If God controls our minds, what shall we be?--Christian gentlemen and Christian ladies. God can fill our lives with His peace and gladness and joy. He wants His joy to be in us, that our joy may be full.
12MR	31	1	If we place ourselves under objectionable influences, can we expect God to work a miracle to undo the results of our wrong course? No, indeed. Get out of the cities as soon as possible, and purchase a little piece of land where you can have a garden, where your children can watch the flowers growing, and learn from them lessons of simplicity and purity. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (Matthew 6:28, 29). Parents, point your children to the beautiful things of God's creation, and from these things teach them of His love for them. Point them to the lovely flowers--the roses and the lilies and the pinks--and then point them to the living God.
12MR	32	1	The Time of God's Judgments a Time of Opportunity for the Unwarned--The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.
------------------------MR No. 929--Words of Encouragement
			North Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia, May 19, 1895
12MR	33	1	Dear Sister Ekman, Your letter reached me on my return from Tasmania, two days since. I have not forgotten you, nor the visit I made your family, where we were so hospitably entertained. I would be pleased if I could sit down by your side and talk with you face to face, but since thousands of miles of the broad waters separate between us, I will talk to you with my pen.
12MR	33	2	I have a message from the Lord for you. Hear His voice speaking to you: [1 Peter 4:12-14, 19 quoted.]
12MR	33	3	You are in perplexity as to what is the best course for you to pursue. Please consider that the Lord is acquainted with you. He knows every event connected with your life. He knoweth our frame, that we are but dust. Knowing this, He desires to impress us with the conviction that our only hope is in and through the merits of Jesus Christ. Of our own selves we cannot bear the weight of our own sins, nor atone for our mistakes and errors, but the Lord has provided a way of escape, for it is because He saw us sinners, unable to save ourselves, that God's great heart was touched, and He "so loved the world [in their degradation and sin] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
12MR	34	1	This promise is to you, my beloved sister. Jesus loves you. You have been purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave His precious life to redeem you. Through faith, you are a child of promise. In giving Jesus, in that one precious Gift, our heavenly Father gave you all the treasures of heaven. And when you come to God in prayer, bear in mind that He is your Father, and that He regards you as His child. He looks upon you with the most tender pity. He will not forsake you, though you may be the weakest, the very feeblest of His creatures. If you put your trust in Him, He abideth faithful.
12MR	34	2	You are not to entertain the thought that because you have made mistakes and your life has been darkened with errors, your heavenly Father does not love you and therefore has forsaken you. No, dear sister. I tell you NO! Jesus loves you still. His eye is upon you, and He "will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).
12MR	34	3	You may say, I have sinned against God; but if you have, you are just the one who needs the Saviour, for Christ is our Sin-bearer. He says, "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13). When Satan tells you that the Lord has forgotten you and will not regard you with favor, tell him you know in whom you believe; say to him, "Get thee behind me, Satan. Jesus gave His own life for me. He suffered a most cruel death that He might save me from being overcome by your temptations. I believe in Jesus. I know my Saviour loves me, and I love my Jesus. I rest in His love, notwithstanding my imperfections. God has accepted His perfection in my behalf. He is my righteousness, and I trust in His merits. I am His repenting, believing child. He has taken away my sin-stained garments and covered me with the robe of His righteousness. Clothed in this garment I stand before the Father justified. I am of that number who are addressed as the 'Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit.'" And what constitutes them the "elect?"--"Obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." Therefore, He adds, "Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied" (1 Peter 1:12).
12MR	35	1	If we were perfect, we would not need a Saviour, a Redeemer to rescue us from the slavery of Satan. But if we have sinned, let us rejoice with Peter when he recovered himself from his fall. [1 Peter 1:3-5 quoted.] Therefore, our Saviour's voice echoes back from the clouds as He ascended to heaven, "Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself that where I am there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3).
12MR	35	2	When Christ rose from the dead, He proclaimed in triumph over Joseph's sepulcher, rent by the power of God, "I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus died to prove that He loves you, and He has risen again and ascended on high. And now He stands before His Father as your advocate. He pleads your case before the throne of God, and you may say, "I have slept over my task, but I will trust in Jesus Christ for pardon." As a little child believes in and trusts in its loving parents, even so do I hope in Thee, oh, my Saviour.
12MR	36	1	My dear sister, you are the Lord's purchased possession. We have a merciful and faithful High Priest. [Hebrews 2:17, quoted.]
12MR	36	2	My dear sister in Christ Jesus, you cannot keep yourself one moment. You are kept by the power of God through faith. Let your faith rest in His merits, rely upon His mercy, trust in the sufficiency of His grace to keep you every moment. Never allow the enemy to obtain an advantage over you because you do not think you are good enough to be called a child of God. By faith you are constantly to repose in the righteousness which God has provided you through His Substitute, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He forgiveth sins and pardoneth iniquities and transgressions. He takes away our sin, and in its place imputes His own righteousness. What a blessing this is for us! It is only as you take God at His word, and accept Jesus Christ as your Redeemer that you preserve the honor of God and show that you are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:5).
12MR	36	3	Why this revelation of the power of faith in the last time? Why is it to be revealed in the very close of this world's history? Because iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold through the deceptive workings of the satanic agencies, who especially oppose the commandment-keeping people of God at this time and bring trial and sorrow upon them. In these closing days of probation, days of great trial of faith, you cannot keep yourself. You are kept by the power of God alone, which is revealed in a special manner to offset the working of Satan through the children of disobedience. He would grieve and hurt the soul of everyone who would be loyal and true, who would keep the way of the Lord, and do His commandments. Manifold temptations will come to all who believe in Jesus. Satan will seek to discourage those who manifest their love for God by keeping His commandments.
12MR	37	1	The warfare against God's law commenced in heaven. Satan was determined to bring God to his ideas, his way, to force Him to change the law of His government. This was the cause of the war in heaven. Satan worked upon the sympathies of the angelic host by his deceptive attitude, but he was expelled from heaven, and now he is determined to carry out on this earth the plans [he] instituted in heaven. If he can persuade man to be disloyal to the law of God, he will feel that he is revenged upon God. He strives to instill into the minds of men his masterly deceptions, thus perverting judgment and justice, trampling down the law of God. This work--the conflict between truth and error--lies at the foundation of the trials and tribulations that the children of God will experience. This is the "trial of their faith."
12MR	37	2	By pressing upon the soul the idea that God is displeased with us, Satan tries to torture us into unbelief. But we are to "rejoice in the Lord alway" [1 Peter 1:6-9 quoted]. The Lord Jesus is our only hope. He is your hope, and I am commissioned in His name to ask you to put your entire trust in Him [Isaiah 57:15, quoted.]
12MR	37	3	Although God is so high and holy, and though His glory and majesty fills the heavens, yet He looks with pitying tenderness upon all that tremble at His word. These are the contrite ones. They may feel that they can scarcely hope in His mercy, yet they are the special objects of His care and love. [Isaiah 57:18; 54:3-5, quoted.]
12MR	38	1	My sister, this is the word of God to you. Look to your precious Saviour and live. Let your faith take hold of the hope He presents to you in His Word.
12MR	38	2	As you ask the Lord to help you, honor your Saviour by believing that you do receive His blessing. Mutual love between you and your Saviour will enable you to do His will against every opposing element. When you have a plain "Thus saith the Lord" for your course of action, He will sustain you. Cherish a spirit of kindness and affection for your children, but in your love for them do not lose sight of the requirements of God. Do not evade His claims.
12MR	38	3	The efficiency of the Lord's work upon the earth depends upon those whom He has made stewards of His means. We cannot afford to practice robbery toward God. If we are true to Him, we may be assured of His help. There must be harmonious action among those who are members of the body of Christ. My sister, God has entrusted to you the work of blessing and comforting those of like precious faith. Look up and believe in Jesus, and by your example, be a light to others. He has given His precious life to save you, and He wants you to respond to His love with cheerful service.
12MR	38	4	Christ has sent you His invitation: "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). Then if Christ has not placed upon you a galling yoke, do not take one that any human being has made. Cooperating with Jesus Christ makes His yoke easy for you, and your daily burdens will be lightened by communion with Him. Let no earthly ties, however dear, obstruct the course of duty which He has made plain, but let no human agents frame duties for you.
12MR	39	1	Do not let depression or discouragement mar your representation of Christ [1 Peter 2:9, quoted.] Then let your light be seen. Educate your heart and lips to speak the praises of God for His matchless love to you. If you will educate your soul to be hopeful and to see the light shining from the cross of Calvary, you will not walk in the shadow, but in the glorious rays of His righteousness. You will see His salvation brought near, and rejoice in the hope of a glorious immortality. As you contemplate the cross, you will realize that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that you should not perish, but have everlasting life. This theme will ever be as fresh manna from heaven. It is indeed sacred and yet is brought so near to us that we can by faith bring it into our practical life. When we have done this, we shall indeed realize that we are "laborers together with God," and in giving all diligence to make our calling and election sure, we are doing our Master's work, for the more consecrated we are, the better we can work to save the souls of those for whom He has given His life.
------------------------MR No. 930--Things That Impeded Ellen White's Work
12MR	40	1	Caution Not to Retard or Rush God's Work, But Wait for Him to Work--Be careful not to make any move that will retard this work. There is much to be done, but the Lord would not have you or me fret our lives away, and lose our faith and courage because this work does not move as fast as we think it ought to. The Lord will help us if we will keep the word of His patience. I sometimes ask myself whether it can be my duty to go on writing the same things over and over again, just because our people will not heed what is already written. I do not wish to overtax myself and unbalance my mind by trying to perform impossibilities.
12MR	40	2	Let us encourage our hearts in hope. Let us pray much and quietly wait for the Lord to do His work. Let us do what we can in simplicity and with the grace of Christ, not exercising our powers in things too high for us.
12MR	40	3	Failure to Apply Reproof to Oneself--Do not appeal to your own sympathies. Do not dwell upon what Brother J has done or has neglected to do. Humble your own heart before God. You are not to sit in judgment upon the case of others until you show greater wisdom in making straight paths for your own feet. You may say, "Does Sister White think me all bad?" No, I do not; but one blot upon the character, one sin unconfessed and unrepented of, will close for you the gates of the city of God. You had light; you had knowledge, but did not choose to appropriate it. It meant someone else, not you. I love your soul, and I beseech you not to be deceived, but to see that you must follow the Lord with undivided heart.
12MR	41	1	The Saviour chose Judas, not because he was perfect in character, but notwithstanding his defects. He would give him the advantage of His own lessons of godliness, His own perfect and righteous example, that he might choose the beauty of holiness. Judas was always thinking that he would reform, but then he thought that his good qualities would counterbalance his hereditary and cultivated traits which were evil.
12MR	41	2	I write these particulars to you because you have had so many temptations, so many jealous thoughts, and so great misunderstanding of me and my work. All the time I am forced to give to perplexing matters requiring reproof is so much taken from the very work the Lord would have me do. I am perplexed, distressed, and fearfully afraid for the souls of some who have had light and evidence, but do not appropriate the same. They are erecting barriers that prevent me from doing the work I should attend to.
------------------------MR No. 931--Events Related to Christ's Second Coming
12MR	42	1	Need for Aggressive Work to Be Done--A great work is to be done to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord. Missionaries should be at work in every large city, where our publications should be kept for distribution. Missionaries should be in all quarters of the earth to enlighten those who are in darkness, to make ready a people for the soon coming of Jesus. There is a great work to be done to combat all the prejudice, not only of the ignorant but of the learned. There are schools to be supported, that we may educate the youth and teach them the Bible and to love and reverence God.
12MR	42	2	All Are Laying Up Material for the Judgment--Consider, my brother, my sister, that day by day, hour by hour, we are laying up the material for that searching judgment. Our whole lifework is bound up very solemnly with the second coming of our Lord.
12MR	42	3	Those Who Cannot See Signs of Times Are Candidates for Plagues--God calls for men and means. Those who cannot see the signs of the times in this wicked and adulterous generation will be found with those who perish under the plagues poured from the vials of God's wrath.
12MR	43	1	Sound the Message of Preparation--The Lord is coming. Let the message of preparation sound forth everywhere. Let it reach from heart to heart, from home to home, from country to country. There are many who are waiting for this message.
12MR	43	2	Satan Will Cause God's People All the Trouble Possible--In the last days Satan will use all his powers against God's people, to afflict, to distress, to discourage them, to cause them all the trouble he possibly can.
------------------------MR No. 932--W. C. Sisley Biography
12MR	44	1	Dear Brother and Sister Sisley, I greet you this morning with a Happy New Year. Another year, with its burden of record, has passed into eternity. We know not what that record is, and cannot know till the judgment. But a new year has commenced, and I feel like dedicating myself anew to God, soul, body, heart, and strength. A new page is turned. What shall be the record of this new year? What shall be its revelations in the history of the world? What shall be its revelation in our individual history?
12MR	44	2	[Revelation 20:11-15, quoted.]
12MR	44	3	At this time we should be very careful to heed every word of warning that God sends to His people.
12MR	44	4	We have a work on our hands in Maitland. All the suburbs are aroused. The large numbers interested in the truth have so little light on the Scriptures that it is difficult to lead them or to hurry them. I have been instructed that if these people could have a genuine revival effort made for them, impressions would be made. The Holy Spirit would impress the soul. We must bow in prayer before God. Our business must not be placed first.
12MR	44	5	Those controlling various lines of work in our institution need to realize the truth of the words, "Without me ye can do nothing." A genuine missionary work must be done in the different lines of work. New principles must be developed as well as talked. In the place where all should walk humbly before God, there must be no large care for business and little care to understand whether the Lord Jesus is presiding. Begin your work every morning with prayer. The Lord says, "Them that honour Me I will honour" (1 Samuel 2:30). If you educate the workers in every department to invite the presence of the Lord Jesus, and begin the work with softened and subdued hearts, no loud-voiced ordering or sharp words will be heard. No harsh spirit will be manifested by men and women who believe that Christ is in the room. This is the reformation needed. The workers in every room are to be transformed into a Christian-endeavor company to help one another to please Christ by gentleness, good temper, and sunshine in the heart. Sweetness, gentleness, patience, longsuffering, love, and the strictest integrity must be manifested by those who stand at the head of every working force, because Christ is present, to see how His character is lived before the workmen. Every worker should feel that in his room angels preside, for Satan will seize every opportunity to weave in some of his sentiments and attributes.
12MR	45	1	Here, in the Lord's great workshop, Christian attributes, the tenderness and love of Christ, are to be the prevailing elements. As you take time to pray with the workers, you can take half an hour to introduce the heavenly Guest, and then ask if there are present those who would have you pray especially for them. Do not consider this wasted time, for by this means success and spiritual victory will be brought in. The machinery will respond to the touch of the Master's hand. God's blessing is certainly worth asking for, and the work cannot be done aright unless the beginning is right. The hands of every worker must be greatly strengthened, his heart purified before the Lord can use him satisfactorily. If pure and undefiled religion is brought into every workroom, impressions will be made upon human hearts and minds much more decidedly than by the word spoken to large congregations in the Tabernacle.
12MR	46	1	Our publishing houses were erected to do a work for the Lord, to send heavenly light to all parts of the world, to bring precious souls into the fold. Let the [publishing house] office be a missionary plant to do a work for the Master in the conversion of souls. Work, and watch, and pray for souls as they that must give an account. This year [try] the Lord's prescribed remedy for evil. Let every man do that which the Lord requires him to do, looking unto Jesus, who is the owner of every soul. Let the workers who have to act a part in this firm remember that God calls them to be a convention of Christian workers, a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Let small companies assemble together in the evening or early morning to study the Bible for themselves. Let them have a season of prayer that they may be strengthened and enlightened and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This is the work Christ wants to have done in the heart of everyone who is engaged in any department of the publishing work. If you will do this, a great blessing will come to you from the One who gave His whole life to service, the One who redeemed you by His own life. You must have the power of the Holy Spirit, else you cannot be an overcomer. What testimonies you should bear of the loving acquaintance you have made with your fellow-workers in these precious seasons when seeking the blessing of God. Let each tell his experience in simple words. This will bring more comfort and joy to the soul than all the pleasant instruments of song that can be produced in the Tabernacle. Let Christ come into your hearts.
12MR	47	1	The work of every believer is aggressive. It is a daily warfare. Christ is saying to the managers and workers in the office, "Ye are My witnesses." Think it; speak it; act it. Heaven is just next door. Open the door heavenward and close the door earthward. God is calling the workers in every department of the office. Will you hear His voice and open the door of the heart to Jesus? Will you love Him who gave His life for you?
12MR	47	2	Let little companies meet together to study the Scriptures. You will lose nothing by this, but will gain much. Angels of God will be in your gathering, and as you feed upon the bread of life, you will receive spiritual sinew and muscle. You will be feeding, as it were, upon the leaves of the tree of life. By this means only can you maintain your integrity. Fidelity to Jesus Christ will ensure a most precious reward. Let each soul strive for eternal life, acknowledging Christ in word and spirit. He has pledged His word that He will acknowledge you and me, gladly, heartily, joyously, before His heavenly Father. Is not this worth striving for? See what you can do personally to be true to principle, to maintain uncorruptness in every phase of your life; and you will behold His glory. I have a great interest in you. I desire that you may be acknowledged in the heavenly courts as true, faithful witnesses for Christ, faithful witnesses of the truth of the third angel's message.
12MR	47	3	Invitation to Come to Australia--Last night we had a conversation with Brother Daniells in reference to Maud Boyd and her daughter coming to Australia. Previous to this I had had a conversation with Brother and Sister [G. B.] Starr concerning this matter. I think it would be in the order of God for them to come. There is plenty of work to be done, and there is need that those of experience, who have a firm faith, should connect with the work.
12MR	48	1	The question was raised, "Would it not be in the order of God for Brother and Sister Sisley and their family to come?" We would be only too glad to welcome you to this country. There is an opening of new fields where the standard of truth must be uplifted. We are not moving as fast as we should to let the message be carried to all parts of the earth. The fields are white unto the harvest. The people in the churches feel that they have fed on husks long enough, and now they are crying, Give us the Word of Life. We want the Living Bread. While we can work we want to do all in our power to bring the light before the people in our cities....
12MR	48	2	We ask you, Brother and Sister Will Sisley, "Will you think of this matter?" Ask counsel of the Lord, and then if you feel free to move here with your family, all can find a place, parents and children. We need workers, more workers from America. We invite you to come. Our schools need the very best talent that the world affords.
12MR	48	3	If you feel it your duty to remain in Battle Creek, follow your conviction. If you feel that it is best for you to come to this country, we will give you a warm welcome. If you see others whom you think could become workers in the school or in city mission work, have them come with you.
12MR	48	4	I now leave this matter with you. Do just that which the Lord directs. Elder [A. G.] Daniells and W. C. White may write to you more definitely concerning matters that I cannot undertake to write about. Sister Starr is with us. She is having something like influenza and has been with us now about a week. We are enjoying visiting together. Brother Starr will come on the morning train and will spend the day with us.
------------------------MR No. 933--The Christian Life
12MR	50	1	[Romans 5:1-6; Colossians 1:25-29, quoted.] A solemn responsibility rests upon the men who teach God's Word. They are not to try to work the Holy Spirit; they are themselves to be worked by the Holy Spirit.
12MR	50	2	We greatly desire that at this time the Holy Spirit may show every professing Christian the fullness and perfection of Christ's atoning sacrifice. It was a whole and entire sacrifice that Christ made for the sins of the world. We are living and working and breathing in a low atmosphere. Now and then we get glimpses of Christ, but much selfishness is manifested. Our failure to appropriate the grace of Christ leaves us defective and faithless, unable correctly to represent Christ. By clinging to self, ministering to our selfish interests, we dishonor God, and the sacred word we minister is made to taste of the uncleansed vessel through which it is communicated. Self is so largely revealed that the sacredness of the truth is lost sight of.
12MR	50	3	Will not those who profess to be Christians walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness showing by their life and character that they realize the value of the atoning sacrifice of Christ our Saviour? The truth is not to be rendered lusterless by a manifestation of our own unsanctified, selfish spirit. The truth must shine forth in the life; then Christ is glorified. Emptied of self we must be, else we cannot show that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. The Lord would have self hidden, for when it appears, souls are misled. The preciousness and importance of truth must appear, and will appear, when self is hid with Christ in God; then Jesus will be revealed in our lives. Our characters will be molded after the divine similitude. Then the Holy Spirit will control the human agent. Men will possess the attributes of Christ.
12MR	51	1	The minds of many are clouded with unbelief because those who unite with the church as the chosen of God do not reveal the virtues that are the fruits of the Spirit. Joining the church is not a sure evidence that a man has joined himself to Christ. The new birth is a rare experience in this age of the world. This is the reason why there are so many perplexities in the churches. Many, so many, who assume the name of Christ are unsanctified and unholy. They have been baptized, but they were buried alive. Self did not die, and therefore they did not rise to newness of life in Christ.
12MR	51	2	Thousands who claim to be religious are not Christians. Paul was very strict in carrying out his religion, but he was not a Christian until Christ revealed Himself to him and talked with him, showing him that he was persecuting his Master in the person of His saints. Then Paul was converted. He became one of the sect he had despised and hated; and for his love of Christ he received the same cruel treatment that he had once cooperated with others in giving.
12MR	51	3	The churches have an abundance of the religion and zeal that Paul had. Many persecute those who differ from them in religious matters. But no true Christian will persecute one who conscientiously differs from him in faith. Those who try to force the consciences of their fellowmen do it because Christ is not abiding in their hearts. They do not realize that they have the attributes of Satan, but he delights to make them his instruments to bear witness against God's chosen ones. They strive to make them observe rites that have no foundation in the Word of God. When these persecutors have the Spirit of Christ, they will hear and receive the words of Christ "Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm" (1 Chronicles 16:22). Christ and Him crucified will absorb the whole soul.
12MR	52	1	[Colossians 3:12-17, 23-25, quoted.]
12MR	52	2	What does God require? Perfection, nothing less than perfection. But if we would be perfect, we must put no confidence in self. Daily we must know and understand that self is not to be trusted. We need to grasp God's promises with firm faith. We need to ask for the Holy Spirit with a full realization of our own helplessness. Then when the Holy Spirit works we shall not give self the glory. The Holy Spirit will graciously take the heart into His keeping, bringing to it all the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. We shall be kept by the power of God through faith.
12MR	52	3	When we are daily under the control of God's Spirit, we shall be commandment-keeping people. We may show to the world that obedience to God's commands brings its own reward, even in this life, and in the future life eternal blessedness. Notwithstanding our profession of faith, the Lord by whom our actions are weighed, sees but an imperfect representation of Christ. He has declared that such a condition of things cannot glorify Him.
12MR	52	4	It means much to commit the keeping of the soul to God. It means that we are to live and walk by faith, not trusting in or glorifying self, but looking to Jesus our advocate as the author and finisher of our faith. The Holy Spirit will do its work upon the heart that is contrite, but never can He work upon a self-important, self-righteous soul. In his own wisdom such a one would mend himself. He interposes between his soul and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will work if self will not interpose.
12MR	53	1	Where is our dependence? Where is our help? God's Word tells us: "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit is ready to cooperate with all who will receive Him and be taught by Him. All who lay hold on the truth and are sanctified through the truth are so united with Christ that they can represent Him in word and action. They have put on Christ, and they possess a power that enables them to reveal the truth to others. May the Holy Spirit speak to the hearts of God's chosen people, that their words may be as choice as gold, as they give the bread of life to those in transgression and sin. [John 14:21, 23, 24, quoted.]
12MR	53	2	If through the imputed righteousness of Christ we strive to keep God's commandments, we shall not be fractious when things do not please us. We will say, "I am not my own, I am bought with a price. I am the property of Christ, who has bought me with His own blood." "Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:20).
12MR	53	3	[John 15:4, 5, quoted.] We show that we are fruit-bearers by pure words, unselfish planning in the meekness and lowliness of Christ, by softened hearts full of sympathy, love, and compassion. [Galatians 5:22-26, quoted.]
12MR	53	4	God's people are justified through the administration of the "better covenant," through Christ's righteousness. A covenant is an agreement by which parties bind themselves and each other to the fulfillment of certain conditions. Thus the human agent enters into agreement with God to comply with the conditions specified in His Word. His conduct shows whether or not he respects these conditions.
12MR	54	1	Man gains everything by obeying the covenant-keeping God. God's attributes are imparted to man, enabling him to exercise mercy and compassion. God's covenant assures us of His unchangeable character. Why then are those who claim to believe in God changeable, fickle, untrustworthy? Why do they not do service heartily, as under obligation to please and glorify God? It is not enough for us to have a general idea of God's requirements. We must know for ourselves what His requirements and our obligations are. The terms of God's covenant are: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (Luke 10:27). These are the conditions of life. "This do," Christ said, "and thou shalt live" (verse 28).
12MR	54	2	Christ's death and resurrection completed His covenant. Before this time, it was revealed through types and shadows, which pointed to the great offering to be made by the world's Redeemer, offered in promise for the sins of the world. Anciently believers were saved by the same Saviour as now, but it was a God veiled. They saw God's mercy in figures. The promise given to Adam and Eve in Eden was the gospel to a fallen race. The promise was made that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and it should bruise His heel. Christ's sacrifice is the glorious fulfillment of the whole Jewish economy. The Sun of Righteousness has risen. Christ our Righteousness is shining in brightness upon us.
12MR	55	1	God did not lessen His claim upon men in order to save them. When as a sinless offering Christ bowed His head and died, when by the Almighty's unseen hand the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, a new and living way was opened. All can now approach God through the merits of Christ. It is because the veil has been rent that men can draw nigh to God. They need not depend on priest or ceremonial sacrifice. Liberty is given to all to go directly to God through a personal Saviour.
12MR	55	2	It is God's pleasure and will that the blessings bestowed on man shall be given in perfect completeness. He has made provision that every difficulty may be overcome, every want supplied through the Holy Spirit. Thus He designs that man shall perfect a Christian character. God would have us contemplate His love, His promises, given so freely to those who have no merit in themselves. He would have us depend fully, gratefully, rejoicingly, in the righteousness provided for us in Christ. To all who come to God in His appointed way, He freely listens.
12MR	55	3	[2 Corinthians 3:18, quoted.] Beholding Christ means studying His life as given in His Word. We are to dig for truth as for hidden treasure. We are to fix our eyes upon Christ. When we take Him as our personal Saviour, this gives us boldness to approach the throne of grace. By beholding, we become changed--morally assimilated to the One who is perfect in character. By receiving His imputed righteousness, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we become like Him. The image of Christ is cherished, and it captivates the whole being.
12MR	55	4	The Lord abides with the contrite soul. [Isaiah 57:15 and Isaiah 66:12 quoted.]
------------------------MR No. 934--Counsel to G. H. Bell
12MR	56	1	Professor Bell has been cautioned again and again in regard to making the Sabbath School work like a machine, but he has not heeded the testimony. He is getting matters so fine, he will have a big reaction by and by. I know whereof I speak. You, working, burden-bearing men, must become [as] level and evenly-balanced as possible. You need to cling more firmly to simplicity.
------------------------MR No. 935--Additional Information for Prescott Biography
12MR	57	1	The Matter of the Ordination of W. W. Prescott--I was visited by Brother Prescott. His brethren wish him to be ordained, but he is undecided what is best to do in this matter. I could only say I could see nothing to hinder this move being made if he in his judgment considered it best. His duties as principal of the college were important and large, and his responsibilities many. If he could serve the cause of God any better in receiving ordination and credentials, it would be best. But it must fall back upon himself to decide the matter according to circumstances and the dictates of his own conscience. He had several things to bring before me. One was the case of our brethren's and sisters' disrespectful irreverence manifest in the Tabernacle, where we go to worship God, talking and leaving the meeting before it is closed, and their children behaving disrespectfully in the church.
12MR	57	2	Ellen White Did Not Wish to Go to Battle Creek--I do not propose to go to Battle Creek. The memory of the terrible siege I had there for two years, with so few to help me, remains with me as a warning. I prefer to remain in this far-off country.
12MR	58	1	A Talk With Brother and Sister Prescott--In the afternoon Brother and Sister Prescott came up. We had a long talk. I read important matters to them. Our conversation was profitable. We could see some matters in a clearer light. The problem of studies in our school was canvassed. I had matter written some time ago, but could not find it till books were unpacked.
12MR	58	2	Ellen White Unclear as to Whether She Should Go to Australia--There is much talk in regard to our journey to Australia, but I cannot see my [way] clearly to go. Brethren say that Sister White will have no such burdens to bear as she has here in America, that she can write her books so much more readily without carrying so many responsibilities, but I know it is no use to tell them that all their flattering anticipations in my behalf do not lessen my ideas that going to Australia means work, responsibility to bear a message to the people who are not what the Lord would have them to be. If it were not thus, I would feel authorized to remain in America. As it is I dare not mention the state of things in the Office presented to me, for I am then sure they would firmly conclude I must go.
------------------------MR No. 936--Ellen White and the Kellogg Crisis
12MR	59	1	Exalt Science Less; Exalt Christ More--I want you, my brother, to stand under the shadow of the cross. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness shine directly there. I have no time to write more now, but I do feel an intense interest for your soul. Talk less; exalt science less; let your Redeemer be the one exalted. The melody of heaven is praise to God and the Lamb. It sounds forth from the voices of ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. Why does not praise flow from our lips? Why are we so dumb? The Lord is ready to disclose to His church more and more of His wonderful power, and to open new lines of thought in regard to the great plan of redemption--the love, the matchless love, that moved Him to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
12MR	59	2	Medical Missionaries to Set Forth to Patients Christ's Keeping Power--To love God with all the heart, to be a partaker with Christ in His humiliation and suffering, means more than many understand. The atonement of Christ is the great central truth around which cluster all the truths that pertain to the great work of redemption. The mind of man is to blend with the mind of Christ. This union sanctifies the understanding, giving the thoughts clearness and force. He who is thus united with Christ can do medical-missionary work that is excellent in God's sight.
12MR	60	1	The world is our field of missionary toil, and we are to go forth to our labor surrounded with the atmosphere of Gethsemane and Calvary. Those in our sanitariums are to take advantage of the opportunities given them to set before the sick and suffering the restoring efficacy [that] there is in Christ for the salvation of soul and body. How carefully should these precious opportunities be improved by nurses, matron, and physicians! They are to hold up the privilege which all have of becoming children of God by surrendering all they have and are to the keeping power of Christ. We have been bought with a price, and what a price!--even the blood of the only begotten Son of God. Shall we not, then, strive to bring our lives into conformity to His will?
12MR	60	2	Need to Look to the Cross--We are in this world to lift the cross of Calvary. As we lift this cross, we shall find that it lifts us. Let every Christian stand in his lot and place, catching the inspiration of the work that Christ did for souls while in this world. We need the ardor of the Christian hero, who can endure the seeing of Him that is invisible. Our faith is to have a resurrection. The soldiers of the cross are to exert a positive influence for good. Christ says, "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad" (Matthew 12:30). Indifference in the Christian life is a manifest denial of Christ.
12MR	61	1	God's Condescension in Saving Man--The Son of God does indeed call men, uniting them with Him as brethren, conferring upon them the honor of divine sonship. What wonderful condescension on the part of Christ. He became our elder brother, that we might become sons and daughters of God. We have been bought with a price--and what a price! Christ volunteered to come to this earth and stand at the head of fallen human beings, who were heirs of guilt, under sentence of eternal death. We must have perished had He not borne our guilt and the wrath of God.
12MR	61	2	My heart aches as I see how faint a realization human beings have of what has been done for them. How I wish they could see as I see what is meant by the punishment of the guilty. The invitation comes to us, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Those who do not believe in Christ, receiving Him as a personal Saviour, must die in their sins. They must suffer the punishment of the second death. Those who remain in unbelief cannot appreciate the love that Christ has expressed for them, and they will never have an experimental knowledge of the suffering that Christ endured in order that their sins might be pardoned and they be received as children of God.
12MR	61	3	Our Work Not to Try to Unravel Satan's Theory--The Lord has given our ministers a message to bear. Let them magnify the truth. The Lord has not given us the commission to unravel Satan's theories by entering into controversy regarding them. Hold up the truth; magnify the truth; say, "It is written." Our people do not appreciate as they should the saving power of the atonement. They do not understand as they should the meaning of the words, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."
12MR	62	1	Nothing Can Be Added to the Argument of the Cross--"It is Christ that died" is an argument that cannot be refuted. To it nothing can be added. To the repentant soul it is Yea and Amen. Christ leads the penitent soul upward step by step, and gives to the mind His peace. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Angels of God guard the penitent, believing soul, that evil angels may not intrude.
12MR	62	2	Christ's Ministration on Our Behalf--Christ died for us to make an atonement for our sins. He is now standing at His Father's right hand, pleading for us. To all who receive Him, He will give power to become the sons of God. Had He not paid the redemption price for us, we could not be saved. But His intercessions prevail. He had power to take away our sins. He lives to make intercession, and because He lives, we shall live also if we are obedient to His will. He will keep us from falling.
12MR	62	3	Doctrine of Spiritual Affinities a Departure From the Faith--I have been shown your peril during the time of your connecting with Dr. E. J. Waggoner. You both came to the [General] Conference [session] of 1901 enthused with what you supposed to be precious spiritual light. You were desirous of presenting this light to me, but I was shown that much of that which you supposed to be precious light was dangerous, misleading fables, and that I must have no conversation with you regarding these ideas that were filling your minds.
12MR	63	1	The theories held by Ellet Waggoner were similar in character to those we had met and rebuked in several places where we met fanatical movements after the passing of the time in 1844. Dr. Waggoner was then departing from the faith in the doctrine he held regarding spiritual affinities.
------------------------MR No. 937--To the Leaders in Our Medical Work
12MR	64	1	Dear Brethren, I have a message for you. I am instructed to say that all the arrangements connected with the management of the medical-missionary work are not to originate in Battle Creek. It is the deceptive power of the enemy of all righteousness that leads to the repeated attempts to bring all our medical institutions under the control of one organization. Certainly such efforts are not inspired by the Lord. The medical-missionary work is God's work, and in every conference and church we are to take a decided stand against allowing it to be controlled by men.
12MR	64	2	After I received word in regard to the excellent meeting of confession and unity that has been held in Battle Creek, I was writing in my diary, and was about to record the thankfulness I felt because a change had come, when my hand was arrested, and there came to me the words: "Write it not. No change for the better has taken place. The doctor is ensnared in a net of specious deception. He is presenting as of great worth things that are turning souls from the truth into byways and forbidden paths; things that lead human agents to act in harmony with their own inclinations, and to work out their unsanctified purposes; things that result in destroying the dignity and power of God's people, obscuring the light that would otherwise come to them from God through His appointed agencies."
12MR	64	3	The leaders in our medical work at Battle Creek have endeavored to bind our medical institutions fast, in accordance with their plans, notwithstanding the many warnings given them that this should not be done. Who has authorized them to lay all these plans, and to try in many ways to bring about their purposes? Our sanitariums do not belong to them; and yet they desire to tie up these institutions in some way so that all our medical work will be under their control.
12MR	65	1	In the past I have written much upon this subject, and now I must repeat the admonitions given, because it seems difficult for my brethren to understand their perilous position.
12MR	65	2	The Lord forbids that every sanitarium and bathhouse established should be brought under one control--bound up with the medical institution at Battle Creek. The managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium have their hands full now. They should devote their strength to the work of making this sanitarium what it should be.
12MR	65	3	The light given me of God is that Dr. Kellogg is assuming too much responsibility in these matters. He is not to think that he can be conscience for every one of our medical workers, for men are to look to the Lord God of heaven alone for wisdom and guidance.
12MR	65	4	In establishing and developing medical institutions, our brethren must not be asked to work in accordance with the plans of a ruling, kingly power. A change must be brought about. Dr. Kellogg must see and understand this, and bind about his desires to fasten every medical institution to the central organization at Battle Creek; the Lord forbids.
12MR	65	5	For years I have been instructed that there is danger, constant danger, that our brethren will look to their fellowmen for permission to do this or that, instead of looking to God. Thus they become weaklings, and permit themselves to be bound about with man-made restrictions disapproved by God. The Lord can impress minds and consciences to do His work under bonds to God, and in a spirit of fraternity that will be in accordance with His law.
12MR	66	1	God knows the future. He is the one to whom we are to look for guidance. Let us trust Him to direct us in the development of the various branches of His work. Let none attempt to labor in accordance with unsanctified impulses.
12MR	66	2	The division of the General Conference into District Union Conferences was God's arrangement. In the work of the Lord for these last days there should be no Jerusalem centers, no kingly power. And the work in the different countries is not to be tied up by contracts to the work centering in Battle Creek, for this is not God's plan. Brethren are to counsel together, for we are just as much under the control of God in one part of the vineyard as in another. Brethren are to be one in heart and soul, even as Christ and the Father are one. Teach this, practice this, that we may be one with Christ in God, all working to build up one another.
12MR	66	3	The kingly power formerly revealed in the General Conference at Battle Creek is not to be perpetuated. The publishing institution is not to be a kingdom of itself. It is essential that the principles that govern in General Conference affairs should be maintained in the management of the publishing work and the sanitarium work. No one is to think that the branch of the work with which he is connected is of vastly more importance than other branches.
12MR	66	4	There must be educational work in every sanitarium that shall be established. It is not the duty of Dr. Kellogg to carry so many responsibilities. God has control of the work, and no human agency is to feel that everything done in the sanitariums established must first be submitted to Dr. Kellogg. This course God forbids. The same God who instructed Dr. Kellogg will instruct the men and women who are called to do service for the Master in various parts of His vineyard.
12MR	67	1	Human laws and arrangement are being framed that are not acceptable to God. They will not prove a savor of life unto life. I am under the necessity of lifting the danger signal. The managers of every one of our institutions need to become more and still more intelligent regarding their individual work, not by depending upon another institution, but, while preserving the identity of their work, by looking to God as their instructor, and by revealing their faith in Him though wholehearted service. Then they will develop talents and capabilities.
12MR	67	2	Every man needs now to take his position on the old-time foundation of obedience to God. Let no one allow the propositions of any group of men to lead him, through a spirit of compromise, to accept wrong plans and principles. I have been instructed that history will be repeated, and that the specious working of Satan will be revealed by human agents. We must work discreetly and determinedly to adjust matters. The recent efforts to induce God's people to accept binding propositions, are the last that should be passed by without a decided protest. Let us not take another step toward the acceptance of such proposition, lest we be ensnared.
12MR	67	3	Brethren, let us firmly take our position now. In justice to our churches, we must now decide this matter, for we have a great work to do. We must now determine that every medical institution shall stand in its own individual right. Let every cord now be broken. Let our medical institutions refuse to be tied up with the Medical Association in Michigan.
12MR	68	1	I shall now be prepared to say to our brethren, "Cut loose, cut loose." After taking your position firmly, wisely, cautiously, make not one concession on any point concerning which God has plainly spoken. Be as calm as a summer evening, but as fixed as the everlasting hills. By conceding, you would be selling our whole cause into the hands of the enemy. The cause of God is not to be traded away. We must now take hold of these matters decidedly. I have many things to say that I have not wanted to say in the past, but now my mind is clear to speak and act.
12MR	68	2	I am sorry to be compelled to take the position that I am forced to take in behalf of God's people. In taking this position, I am placed under the necessity of bearing the heavy burden of showing the evil of the plans that I know are not born of heaven. This is the burden that many times in the past the Lord has laid upon me, in order that His work might be advanced along right lines. How much care and anxiety, how much mental anguish and wearing physical labor, might be saved me in my old age! But still I am under the necessity of going into the battle, and of discharging in the presence of important assemblies the duty that the Lord has laid upon me--the duty of correcting the wrong course of men who profess to be Christians, but who are doing a work that will have to be undone at a great loss, both financially and in the shaking of the confidence of the people.
12MR	68	3	If I act conscientiously, I must meet the crisis, for I believe that the precepts which the Lord has given concerning His work in the past, and at the present time, point out the right way. And His plans, His thoughts, are as much higher than man's plans, man's thoughts, as the heavens are higher than the earth. God's voice is to be heard. His wisdom is to guide us. We must not be broken up by any human wisdom or devising. God has outlined His plan in His Word and in the testimonies He has sent to His people.
12MR	69	1	Oh, how sad it is that men allow themselves to be so wrought upon by the enemy that they dare venture to exalt their finite judgment in opposition to God's plans and purposes. Man's authority bears the signature of man. We are not to permit the rank and file of our people to come under the generalship of the weak, confused sentiments of man. God's authority is to stand supreme. And I must call upon His people to recognize His authority, which bears the evidence of its divine origin. Every believer is called upon to unite inseparably with God's authority.
12MR	69	2	The foundation on which the truth has always been based is sure, and upon this foundation all are to stand who are doing the Lord's work. God's Word reveals His design; and that work only which is carried on in accordance with the principles of the Word will stand fast forever, approved both by the heavenly host and the adopted family living on the earth during the remnant of time remaining before the close of this earth's history. Finite man, yielding to Satan's devising, can easily lose sight of the Lord's purpose concerning him, for by yielding to temptation, man loses his powers of discernment. Every Christian is to strive to be a laborer together with God.
12MR	69	3	Christ calls for service altogether different from that which is given Him. Men in positions of responsibility should, through the power of the Holy Spirit, reveal the Redeemer much more clearly to the world than they have revealed Him. The infinite God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, in order that, receiving Him by faith and practicing His virtues, we should not perish, but have everlasting life. My brethren, how do you suppose He regards the great lack of spiritual enthusiasm manifested over the record of the great sacrificial offering made for our individual salvation?
12MR	70	1	All human ambition, all boasting, is to be laid in the dust. Self, sinful self, is to be abased, not exalted. By holiness to God in the daily life here below, we are to manifest the Christ-life. The corrupt nature is to become pure and undefiled, subdued, not exalted. We are to be humble, faithful men and women. Never are we to sit upon the judgment seat. God demands that His representatives shall be pure vessels, revealing the beauty of sanctified character. The channel is always to remain unobstructed, that the Holy Spirit may have free course; otherwise, spiritual leaders will gloss over the work that must be done in the natural heart in order to perfect Christian character, and they will present their own imperfections in such a way that they make of none effect God's truth, which is as steadfast as the eternal throne. And while God calls upon all His watchmen to lift the danger signal, at the same time He presents before them the life of the Saviour as an example of what they must be and do in order to be saved.
12MR	70	2	Concerning His disciples, Christ prayed, "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). A pleasant, self-satisfied feeling is not an evidence of sanctification. A faithful record is kept of all the acts of the children of men. Nothing can be concealed from the eye of the high and holy One, who inhabiteth eternity. Some make Christ ashamed by their course of devising, planning, and scheming. God does not approve of their conduct, for the Lord Jesus is not honored by their spirit or their works. They forget the words of the apostles, "Ye are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men" (1 Corinthians 4:9).
12MR	71	1	In consequence of the unfaithful lives of men who adorn not the doctrine of Christ our Saviour, Bible truth is blasphemed. My soul is grieved night after night, and day after day, as I view the present situation. [Signed Ellen G. White]
------------------------MR No. 938--Ellen White's Missionary Visits
12MR	72	1	Visit With a Family in Paremata, New Zealand--We drove up one mile in a short time to Sister Brown's, and received a hearty welcome. Their home is located on a rise of ground where they can have a plain view of the waters of the bay. The house is surrounded with high mountains and hills. There are trees and shrubs and cultivated flowers in abundance, and they have flowers the year round. The house is large, with very large rooms.
12MR	72	2	The husband and father is dead. Sister Brown has had twenty-one children. Thirteen are still living; the youngest is eight years old. The mother looks quite young. The father was just my age when he died. The mother was twenty years younger than her husband, who has been dead eight years and a half. This family have an interesting history which I cannot relate here; have not time.
12MR	72	3	The most interesting part to me is that after laboring ten days to present to them the precious value of truth and great blessing of being children of God and having Christ as our personal Saviour, Monday morning at one a.m. I was awakened repeating these words, "While it is called today; ... Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation" (Hebrews 3:13, 15). In the night season I had been in different companies bearing a message to them. I was in the family of Sister Brown, and was instructed by the angel of God to call them to a decision by speaking to each one of the children by name.
12MR	73	1	J was one who had much influence in the family and she is twenty-two years old. When we had family worship I addressed myself to J: "Will you give your heart to Jesus? Will you cut the cords binding you to the world, its pleasures and attractions, and leave the service of Satan and be a follower of Christ?" She said, "I will." She has been very worldly. She has attended parties of pleasure and dances, and the ten days' visit, the talks morning and evening, the earnest supplication to God in behalf of the family, had not been fruitless in her case.
12MR	73	2	Next was B, the only boy at home, and who was obliged to bear many heavy responsibilities for a boy of sixteen. He was of quick understanding. I addressed myself to B. I said, "Will you decide this morning to confess Jesus Christ? With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. All heaven is interested in this family. Will you this very morning choose to be a child of God and engage to serve the Lord Jesus to the best of your ability?" He responded, "I will."
12MR	73	3	W was a girl of fourteen years, looking like a grown woman. I addressed her by name: "Jesus says to you this morning, W, 'Follow Me.' Will you obey His voice? Will you enter the school of Christ to learn of Him?" She responded decidedly, "I will."
12MR	73	4	"D, I am sure you wish to be a child of God. You wish to learn of Jesus. You love the Lord Jesus. Will you confess that you love Him?" She responded [positively]; and now my heart was broken before the Lord, melted with His love, and we had a thanksgiving morning service. It was a precious season to us all. F followed me in prayer, then N A, who has been a believer some length of time; then the mother, who has seldom prayed, offered her tribute of praise and thanksgiving to God.
12MR	74	1	We parted with that family feeling under the renewed obligation to honor and glorify God. We felt our interest identified with these precious souls. Three of the children, all unmarried, are [away] from home on a farm rented to them by their mother. In the night season I was shown that little company and the course which they were pursuing. The young men were playing cards and drinking intoxicating drink. I arose about two o'clock a.m. and wrote out the scene and as soon as I can will have it copied for them to receive the warning from God to them.
12MR	74	2	The Lord sent us to Paremata to do this work, and although we had made our decision to leave the Thursday before, it rained so hard we could not go, and then Friday we went in the rain one mile to the station and waited more than one hour in the trap in the rain for the cars. There had been a washout. A bridge washed away, and there were many landslides and the train could not get through from Palmerston to Paremata Station where we were waiting. We returned in the rain to Sister Brown's, having to transport all our luggage back again.
12MR	74	3	We decided our work was not done and felt reconciled to the delay. We spent Sabbath with the family and I labored hard to present before them the important crisis that is just before us, when there will be two distinct parties--the one elevating the standard of truth, the other trampling under foot the law of God and lifting up and exalting the spurious sabbath. The world's favor is no chance matter. It is God's great plan that the Sunday question shall be agitated and the Sabbath of the fourth commandment be exalted as the Lord's memorial sign of the creation of the world, and that a knowledge of truth upon the Sabbath question shall be brought before many minds as a witness. This brings the first-day sabbath-question and its weak foundation before the world.
12MR	75	1	I presented the truth in all the solemn importance I was capable of doing, and the Lord impressed hearts and it was indeed a most important meeting. I commenced at 11:00 a.m. and continued until about two o'clock, presenting the truth as much as I could in that time. In the evening I had another opportunity at family worship. Monday morning all the children at home decided to be Christians and then we felt we could go home free, having done all that we could do for that family.
12MR	75	2	Never, never was there a time when our hearts were more in earnest than now. The work is great; the time is short; the end is near. The rebuke of God is upon all self-sufficiency. We must walk humbly before God and depend wholly upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness, we may then appear before God.
12MR	75	3	A bare assent to the truth is not of saving value to any soul. The submission that arises from conviction will be revealed by the self-surrender of the will. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10). While the understanding consents to the truth, the receiver trembles at the word of the Lord. Preparation may be made only at the throne of grace. Our tapers can be kindled alone at the altar of God by the holy fire. As we approach His altar He puts us under the guardianship of the Holy Spirit, who leads us in paths of holiness and peace, who takes the things of Christ, the precious words falling from His lips, and conveys them in living power into the obedient heart. The molding process of the Word of God places upon us the perfect image of its Author.
12MR	76	1	I hope and pray that those who read these lines may not be careless and think they can wait their own time and opportunity to suit themselves. God has given you knowledge, light, opportunities, and privileges. Shall the knowledge of God, which Jesus Christ came from heaven to impart, remain in our possession through our life as a dead letter? Shall we trifle with the letter from heaven which shows us the prescribed condition of salvation? "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:13).
12MR	76	2	We must serve God with true devotedness and Jesus will be found of us to be a whole Saviour, saving to the uttermost all who come unto Him--complete in Christ! Praise the Lord! Praise His holy name. The truth will make us free and free indeed."
12MR	76	3	More On the Visit With the Family in Paremata--I am convinced that the Lord is moving upon hearts in Wellington [New Zealand]. I was trying to impress upon the minds of those with whom I was conversing that the Spirit of the Lord was surely at work upon the hearts of many honest souls in Wellington. I fully believe the leaven has been put to work in the hearts of those not of our faith.
12MR	76	4	August 3 I was speaking [in the night season] to a company of those interested in the truth. Oh, how earnestly I entreated them to search for the truth as for hidden treasures. I was awakened. I prayed the Lord to lead me that I might gain souls as sheaves to bring to the Master. I was again in most earnest labor for souls that were ready to perish. They seemed to be in peril. Temptations were surrounding them and these temptations came in such a matter-of-course way that they suspected not that the arch deceiver was tempting them to their ruin.
12MR	77	1	Sabbath day, what a burden was upon my soul for the A family! We had services. I spoke most earnestly from Isaiah 58, bringing out the Sabbath question, dwelling upon verses 12-14 and on Exodus 31:12, 17. I presented the foundation of the Sunday--its being converted by the Roman power into a sacred day, and how nearly all Christendom had turned from the holy commandment, the fourth precept of the Decalogue--the day upon which the Lord rested, the day He sanctified as the day of His rest. He instituted the seventh day as the Sabbath, the memorial of Creation, that the Lord God should ever be reverenced and worshiped on the seventh day and no servile work should be done therein.
12MR	77	2	I felt the Spirit of God resting upon me in a special manner and I talked to them from 11:00 a.m. until about two o'clock. I felt the constraining power of God upon me and I know that hearts were feeling deeply.
12MR	77	3	Visit With a Discouraged Family--Yesterday in the morning Brethren [G. B.] Starr and McCullagh, Sister Starr and Sister White rode out thirteen miles in the country to visit brethren at Castle Hill.... We had been offered the use of that horse to go into country places, if we needed him, but his slow movements decided us not to enter into temptation by trying to drive such an animal. The King's business requires haste, but we could not dispatch it in haste if we depended on such a horse to take us from place to place.
12MR	78	1	When we go out to visit in the country, we have no opportunity to send them word beforehand, so we carry our provisions with us, place an abundance of simple food on the table, and eat with the family. This privilege we highly value, because it gives us an opportunity to see the family together, and have conversation with them, but we could not enjoy it that day, for we spent most of our precious time on the road. When we reached the first place, Brother L's, the family had taken their noonday meal. We had a conversation with them, and were convinced that they were letting go their hold upon the truth because of discouragements. Just before Brother L received the truth, he purchased a place in the country, at Castle Hill. The locality is very beautiful. The land boom was then sweeping over New South Wales, and he paid twenty-five pounds sterling per acre for ten acres of land. He has planted orchards of orange and other fruit trees, and has cleared and cultivated the land. Then he built a good-sized, two-story house. His brother, who is an unbeliever, pledged himself to help him out, but a few months ago the bank panic struck through this section, and the bank in which his brother had all his money closed. It has not failed, but the brother cannot get his money out. The same bank holds the obligation of Brother L, and they may come down on him any day and take his all, because he cannot raise five hundred pounds for the necessary payment. This brother sees no way out. He has a wife and five children. He feels that he is under the shadow.
12MR	79	1	There is only one more family at Castle Hill that keeps the Sabbath, and they meet together occasionally. They and their horses work hard all week, and they do not feel that it is right-to drive thirteen miles on the Sabbath in order to meet with the church at Paremata, or to go nine miles to Kellyville. They have not been visited, and they are under discouragement. We talked and prayed with them, and the blessing of the Lord rested upon us. Brother L's wife is a feeble woman, a consumptive. They have a nice, helpful family of children. The eldest boy is nearly fifteen; the eldest girl is eleven, and she acts like a little woman, bearing responsibilities to save her mother, who cannot live long unless the Lord works a miracle in her behalf.
12MR	79	2	The father can get no work. He is a stone mason, but the times are so hard that there is little building done. His trees are all young, and it will be two or three years before they will bear fruit so as to yield any profit. We shall do our best to help him. The Lord lives and reigns, and He can help him.
12MR	79	3	There are lessons to be learned in this country in regard to the necessity of helping one another from the Bible standpoint. Progress in this line comes slowly, but as men take the Bible for their rule of life and it is kept constantly before them, what is comprehended in loving God with all the heart, they will, as the natural result, see the importance of keeping the last six commandments. These are all comprised in the one precept, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Wonderful requirement! And this love is to become part and parcel of our very being. How brief is the whole period of human life, how short is our probation, and how earnestly should we copy the self-denying, self sacrificing life of Christ. He will have those to compose His kingdom who will not only enjoy the bliss of heaven themselves, but will add to that bliss by reflecting the character of Him who is the light and joy and glory of heaven.
12MR	80	1	Now do not be discouraged, though you may be in heaviness through manifold temptations. The trial of the faith of every true child of God will develop a Christlikeness of character which reveals to the world what is the fruit of genuine faith and which will "be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7). Brother L is passing through the most severe trials of his life. He is assailed by the fiercest temptations. But there is One who knows how to pity. He "was in all points tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15), and the inspired Word says that He "suffered being tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).
12MR	80	2	At times the conflict in the great controversy was so terrible that He prayed all night with strong crying and tears. If at times some souls, if [not] all souls, are thus tempted, they are not to fail or be discouraged. Temptation is not sin, and it is not an indication of the divine displeasure. The soul that resists temptation reveals to the universe of heaven and to the world the strength and virtue of Christian principle.
12MR	80	3	The stability and nobility of the Christian character is estimated in heaven by the strength drawn from the armory of heaven to war successfully against the mighty foe. The soul who thus battles with the enemy makes manifest his reliance upon a power mightier than the strong man armed. He is registered in the books of heaven as uncontaminated by the pollutions of the world. He is a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. When we patiently endure temptation, standing strong in His strength who hath said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33), we reveal the development of the graces of the Spirit that make us complete in Him.
12MR	81	1	Will this tempted brother fail with all the encouragements of the Word of God to sustain him in heroic endurance? "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Every trial is weighed and measured by the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is not beyond man's ability to endure through the grace given unto him. "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (Ibid.). Will this dear brother, who is so young in the faith, lay hold upon the promise? "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9). This means that, while everything may appear overwhelmingly dark, the Lord will bring forth the tried one with firmer faith and a richer experience.
12MR	81	2	Our gracious heavenly Father does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. He will accomplish the work of purification by the furnace fire of trial, and will overrule every event to His own name's glory in the good of the afflicted one. He will communicate grace and strength, and will manifestly interpose His own power to restrain the cruel power of the adversary. But we must be steadfast in the faith, demonstrating to the world a devotion to Jesus and a love for Him that nothing can destroy.
12MR	81	3	After our visit to Brother L's family, we rode across the field, by a short cut, to reach the house of a brother who is just taking his stand upon the truth. His wife is a Sabbathkeeper, an excellent Christian woman, and now if she has her husband with her, what a blessing they can be in letting their light shine forth to their neighbors. This brother (I think I may call him thus) has a large orchard of orange, lemon, and other fruit trees. The orange trees are twenty-five years old, and are loaded with fruit. He will not take it to the market until summer, which is winter in America. We had a timely visit with this family. After a season of prayer I conversed with them, showing that the only way we can grow into assurance and solidity of faith is to become interested in our neighbors, and be a living, shining light in the world. Thus we reveal to others the fruit of the truth in our own lives. We had a precious interview. I felt called out to urge them to be doers of the Word. We did not reach home until after dark, but were glad that we had made the visit.
12MR	82	1	Visit With a Consumptive--From Waitsburg we went to Walla Walla, where I met a sister who was dying with consumption. In her wheelchair she was brought to where I could speak to her from the carriage, but I got out of the carriage, knelt beside her chair, and prayed with her. This comforted her a great deal. She lived only a few weeks longer.
12MR	82	2	Visit With a Woman Doctor Going to Australia--At Walla Walla we spent some hours with the family of Brother Armstrong, whose unmarried daughter was just about to leave for Australia. We had many words to say to them. We had a most precious season of prayer, and the Lord came very near. The daughter leaving them, who came with us to Portland, [Oregon], is Dr. Armstrong, who is to be married to Dr. Keller. Dr. Keller has been working in Australia for several months. He is an excellent man and a good physician. We think they will both do a good work.
12MR	83	1	Carefulness in Our Speech--Our speech should be without deception. No guile must be found in our lips, no impurity allowed in our hearts, no unkindliness in our speech or in our attitude toward one another. Learn the language of Canaan here, which will be in harmony with the language of heaven. In this commencement of the new year, cultivate grace and love and a deep interest in spiritual things. Shall we not have the love of God burning upon the altar of our hearts? And shall not our thanksgiving go forth from unfeigned lips?
12MR	83	2	Order Life by the Inspired Word--I dare not give my opinion of duties for others unless I have the words of counsel from God. As I read the blessed, Holy Bible I can speak words from the Book of books and from instruction the Lord has given me to give to those who ask me to help them when they are in difficulty. But I always encourage them by the Word itself, and urge them to take everything to God in prayer, pleading the promise, "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find."
12MR	83	3	There should be a solemn importance attached to the testimonies the Lord gives His messenger to bear concerning the Word which calls us to come out from the practice of the world and be separate. A half conversion is only a snare to betray other souls into the same divided service. Every truly converted soul shows a transformation in character, and a marked change takes place.
12MR	84	1	Seeking Wisdom Regarding Burdens--The past night has been a night of great perplexity. Many things were represented to me which cause me much distress of mind. I have not been able to sleep after half past twelve o'clock and there is much to think of. How shall we avoid spiritual difficulties we must meet if things are ever set in order? I leave my bed, but do not feel refreshed as I would like to feel. I build my fire, seek the Lord and ask Him to help me to do His will and not to take on burdens I can avoid.
12MR	84	2	Follow Your Divine Leader--The Lord Jesus has given to every believer a work to do for Him. We are not to act like sinners. We must do the work given us. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." In this work none are to be carried, but all are to exercise their God-given powers. Each one is to stand on his own feet, and all are to have their feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Do not go stumbling on alone. Remember that one step taken heavenward prepares the way for the next. Those who step aside from the straight way to try paths of their own choosing will find themselves entangled in difficulties. Follow your Leader, obeying every direction He has given. Every day Christ gives us work to do, and in doing this, we become better fitted for the duties of the morrow. Our duties are to be performed with cheerful alacrity. There is to be no repining, no scolding, no fretting. We are constantly to go forward, full of faith and hope and courage in the Lord.
------------------------MR No. 939--Means for God's Work To Be Appropriated Evenly
12MR	85	1	The question is to be carefully considered. Am I to take the stewardship of thousands of pounds, and invest this money in objects that will require just as much more money to sustain them? Are there not interests of vast importance in missionary lines that should be helped by part of these donations? Shall I erect in America building after building, as memorials, while my brethren are laboring in fields which are without one standard or memorial? Has God designed that I shall have such large supplies, while others are toiling without conveniences, without the means to advance the work of God in new fields?
12MR	85	2	Shall I erect buildings, gathering to myself all the means I can to do a class of medical-missionary work in my part of the vineyard, adding constantly to my facilities, when one half of this money, appropriated more evenly, would set in operation a work which would greatly advance the kingdom of God? While my brethren are laboring without facilities, shall I add building to building because some have confidence in my management?
12MR	85	3	Thus was this matter placed before me. God sent me to Australia. Here I have worked, parting with all I have received in royalties to advance the work. I was instructed by the Lord to say to A, You are swaying altogether too heavily in one line of work. It is not after the counsel of God that so much means shall be absorbed in America. There are other portions of His vineyard which are to be worked. Call to the men in America, call to Dr. Kellogg, for the help which they should give to build up the work in places where I have sent My experienced workers. They need the facilities which are so abundantly provided in America. Call upon those in South Africa. Let them understand that Australia should have part of the means which have flowed into America. The donations received should be distributed in accordance with the necessities of the field. If this were done, Australia would stand more evenly with America. We would be able to send forth educated workers.
------------------------MR No. 940--How Ellen White Dealt With Cavilers
12MR	87	1	In response to the enemy's work on human minds, I am to sow the good seed. When questions suggested by Satan arise, I will remove them if I can. But those who are picking at straws had better be educating mind and heart to take hold of the grand and soul-saving truths that God has given through the humble messenger, in the place of becoming channels through whom Satan can communicate doubt and questioning.
12MR	87	2	To allow images of straw to be created as something to attack, is one of the most unprofitable things that one can engage in. It is possible for one to educate himself to become Satan's agent in passing along his suggestions. As fast as one is cleared away, another will be proffered.
12MR	87	3	I have been instructed to say, "The Lord would not have my mind thus employed. I have written something on the meaning of the words, 'I,' 'we,' and 'us,' in the Testimonies. [Reference is made to a letter written by Dr. C. E. Stewart in which he inquires concerning Ellen White's occasional use of the words "I," "we," and "us," In her writings, suggesting that others were influencing the testimonies. Ellen White answered the objection in Letter 170, 1906 (June 13, 1906.)] This point is, as it were, a man of straw, set up in the imagination of some who have been sowing tares."
12MR	88	1	It would be better for some had they spent in Bible study the time that they have spent in seeking to undermine confidence in the testimonies that God has given. It is time for weak, sinful men to humble themselves in the dust.
12MR	88	2	More and more I shall present the message to the people in Scripture language. Then, if exception be taken by anyone, his contention must be with the Bible.
------------------------MR No. 941--Ellen White and the Australian Depression of the 1890's
12MR	89	1	Depressed Conditions in Australia and the Remedy--Australia needs the leaven of sound, solid, common sense to be freely introduced into all her cities and towns. There is need of proper education. Schools should be established for the purpose of obtaining not only knowledge from books, but knowledge of practical industry. Men are needed in different communities to show the people how riches are to be obtained from the soil. The cultivations of land will bring its return.
12MR	89	2	Through the observance of holidays the people both of the world and of the churches have been educated to believe that these lazy days are essential to health and happiness, but the results reveal that they are full of evil, which is ruining the health and the morals, and demoralizing the country. The youth generally are not educated to diligent habits. Cities and even country towns are becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah, and like the world as it was in the days of Noah. The training of the youth in those days was after the same order as children are being educated and trained in this age, to love excitement, to glorify themselves, to follow the imagination of their own evil hearts. Now as then, depravity, cruelty, violence, and crime are the results.
12MR	89	3	All these things have lessons for us. Few now are really industrious and economical. Poverty and distress are on every hand. There are men who work hard and obtain very little for their labor. There is need of much more extensive knowledge in regard to the preparation of the soil. There is not sufficient breadth of view as to what can be realized from the earth. A narrow and unvarying routine is followed, with discouraging results. The land boom has cursed this country. Extravagant prices have been paid for lands bought on credit; then the land must be cleared, and more money is hired. A house to be built calls for more money, and then interest with open mouth swallows up all the profits. Debts accumulate, and then come the closings and failures of banks, and the foreclosures of mortgages. Thousands have been turned out of employment; families lose their little all. They borrow and borrow, and then have to give up their property and come out penniless. Much money has been put into farms, bought on credit or inherited with an incumbrance. The occupants lived in hope of becoming real owners, and it might have been so, but for the failure of banks throughout the country.
12MR	90	1	Now, the case where a man owns his place clear is a happy exception to the rule. Merchants are failing, families are suffering for [lack of] food and clothing. No work presents itself. But the holidays are just as numerous. Their amusements are entered into as eagerly. All who can do so will spend their hard-earned pence and shillings and pounds for a taste of pleasure, for strong drink or some other indulgence. The papers that report the poverty of the people have regular standing notices of the horse races, of the prizes presented for different kinds of exciting sports. The shows, the theaters, and all such demoralizing amusements, are taking the money from the country, and poverty is continually increasing. Poor men will invest their last shilling in a lottery, hoping to secure a prize, and then they have to beg for food to sustain life, or go hungry. Many die of hunger, and many put an end to their existence. The end is not yet.
12MR	91	1	Men take you to their orchards of oranges and lemons and other fruits, and tell you that the produce does not pay for the work done in them. It is next to impossible to make ends meet, and parents decide that children shall not be farmers. They have not the courage and hope to educate them to till the soil.
12MR	91	2	What is needed are schools to educate and train the youth so that they will know how to overcome this condition of things. There must be education in the sciences, and education in plans and methods of working the soil. There is hope in the soil, but brain and heart and strength must be brought into the work of tilling it. The money devoted to horse-racing, theater-going, gambling, and lotteries; the money spent in the public houses for beer and strong drink, let it be expended in making the land productive and we should see a different state of things.
12MR	91	3	Hoped to See the Work Go Forward in Australia--The failure of banks, the financial pressure, makes hard times everywhere in this country. It is difficult for students to obtain money to defray their expenses at school, or for our brethren to build even the most humble places for worship. We hear of people starving to death in the cities, and nearly every day persons come to our door begging for something to eat. They are never turned away. And we are constantly called upon to hand out money to keep the work moving.
12MR	92	1	Oh, how thankful I shall be when we shall see the work going with power, and many souls compelled to come in from the highways and hedges because of the overwhelming evidence of the truth that the Lord impresses upon human hearts.
12MR	92	2	Ellen White's Philanthropy--We occupy a house in Granville, a one-story cottage, for which we pay $27 per month. The house affords but limited room for our large family and frequent visitors, so I purchased a tent for $35 and had it pitched close by the house. The tent is brought into use when company comes. Our expenses are much heavier in this country than in America. We have to make very close figuring in order to do our duty to ourselves and to all outside our own family who need assistance and who will suffer without it. My clothing is getting very shabby, but I cannot expend money even on needed articles of dress when I see families that cannot buy bread.
12MR	92	3	One family, that of Brother A, who lives at Castle Hill, have been in great financial perplexity. Before the hard times came, Brother A was in good circumstances. During the land boom he purchased twenty acres of land, and set it out to orange, lemon, and other fruit trees. These bring him no profit for three or four years. Elder [G. B.] Starr and his wife, Brother McCullagh, and myself went to visit them, twelve miles from Granville. We always take more provisions with us than we need, for we wish to be a spiritual blessing to the ones we visit, and do not want them to be worrying in preparing food for us. We found a very needy family.
12MR	93	1	Brother A has a consumptive wife and seven children. They have a comfortable house, nicely located on a beautiful spot of ground, but the house is [only] partially furnished, and everything bespeaks pressure and want. The purchase was made before they accepted the truth. Brother A is an intelligent man, and his children are well behaved. They will soon be left motherless. In building their house Brother A incurred a debt, and now he cannot obtain work. He is a stone mason by trade. His brother, who has money in the bank, promised to loan him money if necessary, but in the financial pressure the bank closed, and the brother cannot obtain a pound. He must wait until better times for his money. Brother A is in debt to the same bank, and he is in daily expectation of receiving a summons either to repay the money loaned him or to lose all that he has. He said, "For many months we have not lived, only existed."
12MR	93	2	This depression of finances has brought several families who believe the truth into destitution because of foreclosures. Brother A was in great discouragement as he looked upon his dependent family. He was in danger of giving up everything. We had a most precious season in praying and conversing with them. They had not attended meetings for months. The Lord blessed us, and comforted the hearts of this dear family, and although they live twelve miles from Parramatta church, and ten miles from Kellyville church, of which they are members, they have been out every Sabbath since, and now instead of talking unbelief and discouragement, they are talking faith and hope and courage. Thank the Lord for this....
12MR	93	3	Brother B lives at Kellyville. He has been a real-estate agent, earning from twenty to forty pounds sterling a month. When the tent was pitched at Kellyville, he, with his wife and older children, embraced the truth. This is a most precious family, intelligent and devoted. They had purchased and cleared twenty acres of land, which cost them thirty pounds sterling an acre, and set it out to fruit trees. It was entirely paid for, and, expecting to be as prosperous as he had been, Brother B built himself a nice cottage and had it expensively furnished. But the financial crisis came, and he with hundreds of others was thrown out of employment, for men had no money to purchase land and dwelling houses.
12MR	94	1	Thousands Destitute in Australia During Depression--The poor are everywhere. The banks have ruined the country. They invested the people's deposits in various speculations, exceeded their funds, and as the result some have failed, and others have closed, so that the people are poor and helpless. Thousands are destitute of money; they are thrown out of work, and distress is everywhere. The country is in financial ruin. We need not have felt the pressure we are now under if the books could be sold, but not much can now be done in this line. People are so poor that canvassing is not a success. The horse-racing, the multiplied holidays, the theater-going, the gambling, the public houses (called saloons in America), gather up a large share of what little means there is, and the country is made no better for it. If the public houses were but closed, how much suffering would be saved.
12MR	95	1	How Ellen White Dealt With the Financial Depression in Australia--Our faith has been tested and tried. We have been pressed with poverty on every side. Families were continually coming to me and telling me that they had no money to buy bread, but what could I do? I could not pay my own workers any wages, and our grocery bills were accumulating. For three or four months my workers could not be paid, but they were willing to suffer inconvenience. I received from Battle Creek six hundred dollars. This would barely set me straight with my creditors, but some of them were willing to wait.
12MR	95	2	I immediately set to work on my garden men who were in need, some of these destitute of daily food. One man with a family of four children came to me and said that they had had nothing but squash to eat for a week. I gave them a cow, for they must have something for their children. We also plowed their land for them, my hired man doing the work. To another family I loaned a cow, that they might have milk for their children. I cannot see such poverty as this without great pain of heart, for I know that there is enough in the world to sustain all if economy were practiced by those who have the means.
------------------------MR No. 942--Compassion Toward the Penitent
12MR	96	1	"And of some have compassion, making a difference" (Jude 22:1). Those who are wise in the wisdom born of God will see souls in need of help, souls who have been overcome, and who, though they have sincerely repented, would scarcely dare, without encouragement, to lay hold of hope. The Lord will put it into the hearts of those who are stewards of His grace to welcome these trembling, repentant souls to their loving fellowship. His true followers will not treat sinners as if they were beyond forgiveness. They will have compassion on those whose circumstances have been unfavorable, and who have allowed Satan to lead them in forbidden paths. These souls have sinned against God, but if they repent and show the genuineness of their repentance by earnest efforts to serve the Lord, who shall dare forbid them? Encourage them. Give them an opportunity to regain what they have lost.
12MR	96	2	Pride, covetousness, sensuality, may have been their besetting sins. Point out their errors, but not in a way that will drive them from Christ. By words of loving compassion draw them to Him. However low they may have fallen, do not destroy their hope of pardon. Labor for them, pray with them, point them to the Redeemer. And when in repentance and contrition they come to Him, give them something to do for Him. If they desire to labor to save others from the pit of destruction from which they themselves were rescued, give them room to work. If possible, connect them with the work of God, that by association with believers and workers they may gain spiritual strength. Do not allow them to drift away. Set them at work winning souls to Christ. Fill their hearts and hands with work for the Master. Let them do all in their power to work for Christ. Do not set them apart from you as those you cannot trust. If they have learned their lesson of test and trial, they know how to pity those who are tempted as they were.
12MR	97	1	By earnest, Christlike efforts, men will be convicted and converted, and God will speak pardon to them. Let no one turn away a soul who leaves the service of Satan and asks Jesus for pardon. "Of some have compassion, making a difference." When they give evidence that the Spirit of God is striving with them present to them every encouragement for entering the Lord's service. Do not discourage them by indifference, by drawing away from them with an air of, "I am holier than thou."
12MR	97	2	Those who act as Pharisees may not be guilty of exactly the same sins they condemn in others, but they may be guilty of sins much greater in the sight of God. Each will be rewarded according to his work. Let those who condemn others take heed to themselves, lest they be condemned by God for Phariseeism.
------------------------MR No. 944--Luther Warren and Work in New York City
12MR	98	1	Dear Brother [Luther] Warren, I have no special light that you should remain in New York City. You must look to the Lord to teach you your duty. If that field, in its pitiful and awfully sinful condition, does not speak for itself, tell me, what place can you find that expresses its need?
12MR	98	2	I understand why you feel discouraged. It is because the work is hindered by a lack of unity and harmonious action on the part of those who were already in the field when you came.
12MR	98	3	If you are sick, you should call in a physician. But if you go to the Lord in faith, believing His promises and taking special care of yourself, He will give you strength and blessing. Take periods of rest. Husband the strength that God has given you. If during the summer the heat is very severe, you must not endanger your life by remaining in the city. The Lord does not require anyone to remain in a place at the risk of health and life.
12MR	98	4	I am sorry that I hear nothing from Elder Franke. I deeply regret this, for God has given him a work to do if he will work in God's appointed way.
12MR	98	5	Oh, who will rid himself of all hindrances and take up the work in New York City? Will you, my brother, take hold of the work where you are, helping as best you can?
12MR	99	1	Let us remember Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Let us remember that He lived not to please Himself. He left heaven to take His place in the ranks of fallen beings, to endure humiliation and abuse. Without humbling Himself to the death of the cross, He could not have borne the penalty of transgression.
12MR	99	2	It must have been a very severe ordeal for our Saviour to lay aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and clothe His divinity with humanity, coming to this world as a little child, to live a life of obedience in behalf of the sinful race. Lest we should make a mistake in regard to what the redeemed must be, He came to give in His life a revelation of the character God requires His children to form. He came that we might have an example of what human nature may become by receiving Him as a perfect Saviour. He came to show us that we may be Christlike. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12). He came to reveal the character of God. He took human nature upon Him in order that He might come to this world as a man, and as a man live a life of obedience.
12MR	99	3	Before the foundation of the world was laid, the plan of redemption was devised. In heaven a mysterious voice was heard saying, "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: ... Lo, I come ... to do Thy will, O God" (Hebrews 10:5-7). "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart" (Psalm 40:8).
12MR	99	4	Think you not that Christ was often homesick as, unrecognized and unhonored, He lived in the world that He Himself had made. Who was He? Ask Isaiah, he will tell you: [Isaiah 9:6; 63:1 quoted.] Ask him who was sent to announce His coming: [Matthew 3:1, 2, 11, 12 quoted.] Ask John, the beloved disciple: [John 1:1, 4, 14 quoted.]
12MR	100	1	We turn to Peter, and he declares of his Master: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). We ask Christ Himself who He is, and He replies: [John 8:58; 5:22 quoted.] We ask Paul. With strength and assurance comes the answer: [1 Timothy 3:16; Philippians 2:6-11; Colossians 1:14-17 quoted.]
12MR	100	2	My brother, do not become discouraged. The light given me is that we need in our large gatherings, our camp meetings, all the ministerial talent that can possibly be spared from other lines of work. Our ministers must not think that God has appointed them to hover over believers, or to tie themselves down to a business office. Let businessman do the business work, and let ministers be left free to attend the camp meetings. At these meetings a special work is to be done.
12MR	100	3	Let us all offer the prayer, "Lord, give Thy servants an understanding heart" (see 1 Kings 3:9).
12MR	100	4	Solomon called himself the Lord's servant, pleased that he could sustain this relation to the King of kings. [1 Kings 3:5-9 quoted.]
12MR	100	5	God gave this prayer to Solomon as a sample prayer, appropriate for all, high and low, rich and poor. God said to Solomon: [1 Kings 3:11-14 quoted.]
12MR	100	6	The Lord told Solomon that if he would walk in His way, His blessing would go with him, and wisdom would be given him. But Solomon failed to keep his contract with God. He followed the prompting of his own heart, and the Lord left him to his own impulses.
12MR	101	1	Today each one has a part to act--duties to perform and responsibilities to carry. No one can act his part acceptably without wisdom from on high. May God help us all to understand the prayer that He gave Solomon in the night season as a prayer appropriate for him to offer.
------------------------MR No. 945--O. A. Olsen Materials
12MR	102	1	We have a work to do if we would be a living church. Individually and as a whole we are to tread sin under our feet. Our habits, our conversations, our daily life, must be placed on the Lord's side. We must intercede and wrestle with a covenant-keeping God in behalf of His watchmen, that souls may be won to the Saviour.
12MR	102	2	How many there are who need to become fools in their own estimation in order that they may be wise. God bestows on the humble and contrite one a wisdom that He does not give to the worldly-wise and prudent, those who are so self-sufficient that they know not the things that make for their peace. He reveals His wisdom to babes. He lays in the dust all human pride, but He recognizes the meek and the lowly, and exalts them with a true exaltation. How tenderly God regards the humble, contrite, self-denying follower of Christ, who is a daily learner in the school of the great Teacher.
12MR	102	3	Elder Olsen, I urge you to be of good courage. Have confidence in God. Carry every burden to Him. He can and will make you efficient, but you must have faith. Do not be depressed, do not mourn in secret because of the unfaithfulness of the watchmen on the walls of Zion. There is no call for despondency and misapprehension. Place yourself where the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness can shine into all the chambers of your mind and into the soul-temple. We are the light of the world, God says. He will make those who are faithful in the church radiant with the word of God. His Spirit will be communicated to human instrumentalities, giving them light before which moral darkness must flee away.
12MR	103	1	We need far less talking and very much more praying in living faith; less, a great deal less of self, and more firm trust and confidence in God.
------------------------MR No. 947--Letter to Emma Weber
12MR	104	1	Dear Sister Weber, I wish to speak with you particularly. Last night my guide opened before me some things in regard to you, Sister Emma, in connection with Dr. Dowse. The Lord gave me words to speak to you both, but to you especially. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and grace shall be given you. You are not able to walk alone in the sparks of your own kindling, for if you do not place yourself under the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness that they may shine into your heart and expel all selfishness, all worldliness, you cannot be a light to the world. You are not cultivating piety, and a meek and quiet spirit through the grace of Christ. You need to cultivate human sympathy and love. You are too cold. You hold yourself aloof from others, while circumstances and opportunities are granted you every day to represent the character of Jesus. You worry too much.
12MR	104	2	The blessings that come to the world must come through the living, human agents which must work harmoniously with the heavenly instrumentalities. Submission to God and tender affection are not natural with you, and these graces you greatly need and must have in order to represent Jesus Christ. All blessings flow to us through the medium of the cross, and we have need to cherish sympathy which is so largely revealed in the character of Jesus Christ. Let love be an abiding principle of the soul and it will be revealed. You need to guard your words, to be cheerful. Your very countenance may express the Jesus Christ abiding in your soul. Your words will be after Christ's order, because you have the mind of Christ.
12MR	105	1	I was saying to you with intensity of feeling, "Emma, God will be found of you when you seek Him with all your heart. He will be found of you, then you can with words, in patience, forbearance, longsuffering, and gentleness diffuse the love of Jesus. Catching His Spirit, you can shine as a steady, bright light to all that are around you, but you are in danger because you are losing the precious grace of the Spirit of the Master. You are becoming too much absorbed in temporal matters, and allowing these business matters to have the supremacy and quench the love of God which should be exercised toward those who need it.
12MR	105	2	You need to take a decided interest in religious meetings. You have no strength to keep yourself under the sharp assaults of the enemy. You are kept by the power of God through faith. Make earnest and determined efforts to be to every meeting possible. The divine direction is, Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but so much the more as you see the day approaching. [See Hebrews 10:25]. You are to be found among the little few who meet to worship God. The help of every soul who loves the truth is needed to bear testimony of the truth and act as missionaries of God, home missionaries to strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die. Every jot of influence from Christ's soldiers is now called for on the Lord's side. Where two or three are assembled together in My name, there am I in the midst and that to bless. [See Matthew 18:20.] Then if we allow ourselves to be hindered by supposed excuses, the enemy will have a hand in creating circumstances so that we shall not be present where Jesus meets to bless His worshipers.
12MR	106	1	We must not be careless and negligent in exercising faith, in maintaining a principle to be in the assembly of the saints, and be the Lord's witnesses, and have a testimony to bear that is uplifting, full of courage and hope and victory. Ask at every step, Is this the way of the Lord? You can shape your business so that it shall not become all-absorbing and you grow away from Jesus and lose sight of His attractive loveliness. Darkness and want of faith create a sickly religion, a waning piety, and in no case can you represent Jesus Christ in your character.
12MR	106	2	Jesus' voice of invitation is heard, Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take My yoke (not a yoke that you have manufactured) and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. [See Matthew 11:28, 29.] Take all your temporal concerns to Jesus. Prayer in regard to temporal things is an expression of confidence and trust in God. As a child has confidence and trust in its earthly parents, you acknowledge God as your Father; as His child you tell Him your needs--and how sweet to the Christian is this trusting faith. You can say, I have laid down all my burdens at the feet of Jesus. I have committed myself without reserve into His care. He has me in charge; I am not my own; I am bought with a price. He is infallible in wisdom, omnipotent in power, and infinite in knowledge. He must and will give me His wisdom. May the Lord help and strengthen you.
12MR	107	1	My sister, you can and are in danger of giving a wrong example to Dr. Dowse, and both of you are in a fair way to backslide from God and become nominal religionists. In the position of responsibility that you are both in, you need the grace of Christ that you may lift the cross daily, and overcome many things. Every day let the pen of the recording angel trace the words in your behalf, "Victory over the deceptive powers of Satan." Satan would have you both lose your hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ, but you must not allow him to do his will with you. Kindle your taper from the divine altar and shine as lights to the world.
12MR	107	2	God can give Dr. Dowse wisdom and skill in her profession if she will cling to Him and make God her strength. You are both situated where the Lord requires that you constantly work with Him, then you will both be a blessing wherever you are. A godlike, holy purpose must be kept ever in view. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? [See Mark 8:36]
12MR	107	3	Keep the soul right. Let this be the language of the soul: I believe in God, in His providence, in the Bible, and in truth and clearness of purpose. I cannot, I will not, swerve one jot from my duty and the claims that the Lord has upon me. I cannot, I dare not, sacrifice in the least degree my vital interest in holy things in order to gain relief from the pressure of temporal embarrassment. I will wait any time; walk humbly with God; walk in meekness, in humility, in simplicity of soul till the Lord gives me success and victory in His own time and way. My motto must be, God is my strength, my wisdom, my all. "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing." Then do not try to meet the world's standard; you want the treasures of heaven. You want the crown of life that fadeth not away. If the Lord prepares the way before you, then you may walk in safe paths, and you will have the peace of Christ. Satan will have no power over a soul who is emptied of self and imbued with the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
12MR	108	1	Jesus will help you in His own way, not in your way. Under the power of unbelief you may obtain relief in your way and blot your own character. Pray let your heart be drawn out in earnest prayer for the Lord to help you in and under every pressure of circumstances. Do all you can, putting your trust in God. He will help you both. But you can, and should, be a much greater help to Dr. Dowse than you have been. How? "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch (with prayer) to see what He will say unto me" [see Habakkuk 2:1].
12MR	108	2	Do not be anxious to make a great figure in the world, for if you do you will make a small one. You must feel your need of richer blessings than temporal ones. Serve the Lord heartily; gather to yourself the sunshine of Christ's countenance. You are responsible for the impression you leave upon the minds of those with whom you are brought in contact. In seeking any temporal advancement, your faith in holy, sacred truth will impose upon you moderation of desire and repress all inordinate ambition. Do not allow ambition for greatness to make you indifferent to goodness.
12MR	108	3	You must and will, if a Christian, win the respect of believers and unbelievers. You need the love of Jesus in your heart, then you will love all for whom Christ has died. Be universally kind, because Christ was kind. You will make your life fragrant with tender love and will give to all the milk of human kindness. A sour word will not answer, because you misrepresent Jesus. Much wisdom and strength, prudence and patience, are essential. Do not venture to be domineering, but be kind, that you may succeed upon religious principles which will call into exercise the graces in the character of forbearance, self-denial, and resolution to resist temptation.
12MR	109	1	In all your work, in all your words, there is a Witness, One who says, I know thy works. Depend upon God and all that God has promised; bring into your daily life the warmth of love. You are cold and distant to many, but it will not pay. "My grace is sufficient for you," is the promise.
12MR	109	2	Wake up, Sister Weber, and when you come near to God, He will draw near to you. Wake up and feel that God will help you. Let it be the language of your soul, He must increase, I must decrease. Put "me" and "I" just where they belong, and lift up Jesus, talk of Jesus. If He does not lie at the foundation of all your plans, if your eye is not single to the glory of God, and yourself obedient to all His requirements, keeping eternal realities in view, you are on the losing side.
12MR	109	3	Take no more upon you than you can bear pleasantly and kindly toward all. When you have not strength and the help of One who is all-sufficient to carry you and your burdens, then your burdens oppress you. Christ declares His yoke to be easy, and His burden light. Through Jesus Christ you can wear the yoke gracefully. If you exalt yourself, then you will place yourself where it will be necessary for the Lord to abase you. If you humble yourself at every step, Jesus will lift you up, but let Jesus do all the lifting up, and remember that Jesus always bears the heavy end of the yoke. Then, if you are laborers together with God, you have a divine Helper at every step. You can be in the world and not be of the world; pure in heart, full of the milk of human kindness; keeping the way of the Lord, to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with God.
12MR	110	1	Let every page in your lifework be fresh and pure and clean in the morning, then keep your heart uplifted to God, breathing out your prayer to Him for guidance, for the upholding by His free Spirit; pray for wisdom that comes from above, that the angels of God may be by your side to help you. You see not in life the end of human actions; their influence never dies. Every morning bear in mind that you are sowing seeds which will bear fruit to life eternal, or to death. If you are in a position where you can mold others, you want first to be molded by the Lord Jesus, then you can be a vessel unto honor. The sphere in which you act may not be large, but you are transmitting impressions that may be for good through the ceaseless ages of eternity. The blessing of God resting upon you will repeat itself by being reflected upon others, and in their turn they may reflect the same upon others.
12MR	110	2	The good that you may do, if your life is hid with Christ in God, will not be buried with you. You may, if you walk humbly with God, bring many sheaves to the Master. Be sure that your advance be in the highest heavenly direction, else it is no advance in truth and righteousness. You are to feel that in God's providence you are placed where you are to be beacons of light to the world.
12MR	110	3	But the Lord has opened to me that you need the transforming grace of God upon your own soul. You may both be as beacon lights upon a hilltop, illuminating the moral atmosphere around you. Your golden words may drop as the dew and as the soft showers of rain upon the tender herb. You may be examples, you may help other feet to tread the royal path to heaven--the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in.
12MR	111	1	A Christian life is a living reality, for it is constantly reproducing itself. Please remember that you have not to do only with business matters, but with minds, differently organized minds. Your influence reaches the soul; you touch not a wire but that vibrates back to God. You have a personal influence; your words, your actions, leave their trace on other minds. It is your duty to be Christians in the highest sense of the word--"Christ-like." It is through the unseen lines that attract you to other minds with which you are brought in contact that may, if you are in constant connection with God, leave impressions that will make you a savor of life unto life. Otherwise, if you are selfish, if you are self-exalted, if you are worldly minded, no matter what your position, no matter what your experience has been, or how much you know, if you are not having the law of kindness on your lips, sweet fragrance of love springing from your heart, you can do nothing as it ought to be done. You want to come closer to hearts, never to merely touch the hand you take with the tip ends of your fingers, and in a lifeless way saying, Stand off, don't come too near me, I am better than thou. Let heartiness come into your life and be revealed in your connection with those whom God has valued so highly as to give His own life that they might live with Him through eternal ages.
------------------------MR No. 948--Fanaticism as Leaven in Meal
12MR	112	1	No Time to be Negligent--May the Lord impart to us His own light. The doctrine of a wonderful experience of holiness and sanctification that has been taught in Battle Creek and other places has been as leaven put into meal. I fear greatly for the results of this fanaticism. The experiences we passed through in the early days of the message have always led me to feel, when I see men professing to occupy a high platform of righteousness, that something will follow of which we should be ashamed, something that will work harm.
12MR	112	2	We certainly need clear spiritual eyesight. When I hear of theories being presented relating to my Father and my God, I am afraid lest the Lord shall be presented by finite man in a manner to belittle and dishonor Him....
12MR	112	3	We are on the earth as combatants. This is not time or place for us to be negligent, indifferent, or careless. We have a heaven to win and a hell to shun. There is frequently presented to me a scene of conflict and of determined opposition. How can it be otherwise when we are in an enemy's country?
------------------------MR No. 949--Standard of Truth To Be Upheld in Christ's Love
12MR	113	1	Church Discipline to Be Considered in the Fear of God--Elders and deacons are chosen to have a care for the prosperity of the church; yet these leaders, especially in young churches, should not feel at liberty, on their own judgment and responsibility, to cut off offending members from the church; they are not invested with such authority. Many indulge a zeal like that of Jehu and rashly venture to make decisions in matters of grave importance, while they themselves have no connection with God. They should humbly and earnestly seek wisdom from the One who has placed them in their position, and should be very modest in assuming responsibilities. They should also lay the matter before the president of their conference and counsel with him. At some appointed time the subject should be patiently considered. In the fear of God, with much humility and sorrow for the erring, who are the purchase of the blood of Christ, with earnest, humble prayer the proper officers should deal with the offenders. How different has been the course when, with self-assumed authority and a hard, unfeeling spirit, accusations have been made and souls have been thrust out of the church of Christ.
12MR	113	2	The matter should be thoroughly investigated before any action is taken. Let such questions as the following be carefully considered: What is the charge brought against the erring? Has the law of God been willfully transgressed? Has the offender been dishonest in his dealing with his brethren or the world? Has he been guilty of licentious conduct? Has he been untruthful? Has he practiced deception? Has he been severe, overbearing, and abusive in his family, with his neighbors, his brethren, or worldlings? Has he shown a spirit of penuriousness, selfishness, covetousness, doubt, faultfinding, or talebearing? Has he talked of the faults of his brethren, magnifying their wrongs, and cherished a spirit of bitterness toward them, thus endangering the prosperity and unity of the church?
12MR	114	1	All these points require careful consideration, but the next question is, What course has been pursued toward the erring? Has the Bible rule been followed to the letter? Read before the church the rules given them by their Captain, and let the question be asked, Have they obeyed orders like faithful soldiers in the army? To go contrary to the positive orders of the Captain of our salvation is deserving of severest censure by those whom God has placed in authority.
12MR	114	2	Those who constitute the active element in the church at Ligonier are the ones who should see their wrongs and be willing to confess them, or they should be disconnected from the church. Their spirits are strong and uncontrollable; if checked lightly today, they will rise in triumph tomorrow if they have a chance. They will gather about them those who cannot see and understand their spirit and who will oppose any influence that would check their movements.
12MR	114	3	There is always danger and trouble in any church which is composed mostly of family connections. This is the curse of the Ligonier church. Relatives who are unconsecrated sympathize with one another and thus a sinful harmony exists among them. Jesus is united to His people by a love far greater and more enduring than ever bound together the hearts of human kindred. This love, so deep, so unchanging, is a continual assurance of His faithfulness to support the weak, confirm the wavering, comfort the feeble-minded, and bind up the bruises of the soul. Oh, wondrous love, that should lead the Saviour to yield up His honor, His glory, His royal throne and royal court, and for our sakes become poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich!
12MR	115	1	In order to secure us to Himself and ensure our eternal salvation He gave all that He had--His riches, His glory, and His own precious life. For us He endured the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane, when the mysterious cup trembled in His hand and His anguished soul cried out, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." From His pale, quivering lips came this anguished prayer, and then the words of submission, "O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me except I drink it, Thy will be done." An angel from heaven strengthened the royal Sufferer to tread His blood-stained path to Calvary, and to drink the cup of suffering to its very dregs. Oh, why was all this suffering, this ignominy, and torturing agony? It was that by this sacrifice of Himself His love might stand revealed, that He might woo men from the ways of sin. After man has cost so much, will He leave him now? Oh no, no! He is faithful that has promised; His arms are outstretched to clasp the repentant, believing ones to His heart of love, with all the tenderness of divine affection. In Jesus we have an enduring, unchanging friend, and though all earthly prospects should fail and every earthly friend prove treacherous, yet He is faithful still.
12MR	115	2	His servants are as dear to Him as the apple of the eye. In trial, in want, in perplexity and distress, we are not alone; at every step, in tones of assurance, He bids us, "Follow Me." "I will never leave nor forsake thee." But this blessed assurance is given only on condition of our obedience and faithfulness to Him.
12MR	116	1	In view of the infinite price paid for man's redemption, how dare any professing the name of Christ treat with indifference one of His little ones? How carefully should brethren and sisters in the church guard every word and action, lest they hurt the oil and the wine! How patiently, kindly, and affectionately should they deal with the purchase of the blood of Christ! How faithfully and earnestly should they labor to lift up the desponding and the discouraged! How tenderly should they treat those who are trying to obey the truth and have no encouragement at home, who have constantly to breathe the atmosphere of unbelief and darkness!
12MR	116	2	In what contrast to the course of our Exemplar has been that pursued by Sister A and those connected with her. The reason is, they have not the spirit of Christ. He does not dwell in them. Satan will in every conceivable manner obstruct the path of all who try to follow the Saviour, and when Christ's professed friends allow themselves to tear down, to discourage and destroy, they show that they are not of Christ, but of Satan, for his works they do.
12MR	116	3	All Our Powers to Be Under Control of the Spirit of God--There are two classes of people in our world who profess godliness--the self-complacent, and the self-abhorrent. The first class do not practice the lessons of Christ. They search the Scriptures, but it is for the purpose of picking out incidental portions which they misinterpret to strengthen their own peculiar views. They flatter themselves that they find a high morality reflected in their character.
12MR	117	1	The lesson of Christ in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican is recorded for the benefit of all who believe the words of Christ. It was spoken to some who the great Teacher saw were self-conceited, full of their own righteousness, and who despised others. "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted" [Matthew 23:12]. Your position is that of exalting self. Your assumption of excellency that does not belong to you will certainly exclude you from the grace which, can truly exalt. True righteousness never produces such fruit; false righteousness always does.
12MR	117	2	If you could only see yourself and that past experience which you value so highly, as God sees you, you would abhor yourself. While you congratulate yourself that you are not like those in whom you think you see faults and wrongs, you are not awake to your own state. You will have no credit for your keen eyesight in discerning other's errors, for you do not see that you are making far greater blunders than you accuse them of making. Were your eyes anointed with the spiritual eyesalve, you would but have bitter self-upbraiding. You do not know what spirit prompts you to action. You are self-deceived. God alone can change your perverted heart. He alone can transform your character and prepare you for the kingdom of heaven....
12MR	117	3	Sanctified knowledge is power, life, peace, and joy forever. If you had all your powers under the control of the Spirit of God, you could be a blessing to others, but as you are you simply bring in confusion and heresy. Every effort you make to lead souls into the truth is fruitless because you bring up your daughter's spurious visions, comparing them with Sister White's, and thus lead souls to believe a lie. Satan can speak some truth to those he wishes to deceive, as he did to Christ. He can so interweave truth with falsehood that the truth will be of none effect....
12MR	118	1	In your case, and those connected with you, the church has been zealously seeking to keep out these heresies. They have openly protested against them, and this has caused those in error to raise the cry, "Persecution!" The ones who dealt with these persistently inconsistent elements became excited and harsh, moved unwisely, and thus gave Satan great advantage. This is not the way to deal with the erring. The standard of truth should always be held up in the spirit of the Master. God alone is able to decide how far circumstances and personal infirmities were responsible for their accepting heresies--whether it was a sin of ignorance, or a lack of wisdom.
12MR	118	2	Some are so bold and defiant, so self-sufficient, and believe such inconsistent and superstitious things, that it is necessary to take decided action in their case. But after the reproof is given, it is not necessary to neglect them, or meet them with coldness, with an unsympathetic, denunciatory spirit.
12MR	118	3	The evils which have existed in all ages will continue to exist till the close of probation. We need to understand the cause of these evils, and the modes of Satan's attacks, that we may be able to resist them. We have to meet not only men who fall into error, but principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. Satan is battling for his empire, which the servants of God are determined to wrench from him. In this sharp warfare, for fear that errors will come into their ranks they have sometimes turned their weapons against the true messengers of God. What can keep the church from making these sad blunders, from putting light for darkness? Only the spirit of the blessed Jesus. They cannot avoid meeting these errors and will have to deal with them, but they should never do it in a harsh manner, with a fierce, haughty, tyrannical spirit.
------------------------MR No. 950--Counsels to Students
12MR	120	1	Students to Make Christ Their All--You refer to some letter that I wrote some time ago in reference to the danger of sending young men to the medical college at Ann Arbor, and say that you are more and more impressed with the danger as students return from their year's work at the medical college, and you can see that some have been affected by the influences with which they have been surrounded. You also say that some of them are standing up nobly against these contaminating influences. Thank the Lord for this. If our youth understood their own weakness, they would go to God for strength, but if they give their minds up almost wholly to study, and do not make Christ their all in all, even while pursuing a course of education, they will lose all that enriches life. The first chapter of Second Peter is full of instruction, and strikes the keynote of victory. The truth is impressively forced upon the mind by the way it is presented in this chapter. Let us more abundantly recommend the study of these words, and the practicing of these precepts.
12MR	120	2	The Hebrew Captives--"And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes" [Daniel 9:3].
12MR	121	1	Daniel knew the value of prayer, its aim, and its object. The prayers which he and his three companions offered after being chosen by the king for the courts of Babylon received answers, which he acknowledged. But prayer is not understood as it should be. Our prayers are not to inform God of anything which He does not know. The Lord is acquainted with the secrets of every soul. Prayers need not be loud and long. The prayers that are offered to tell the Lord of all our wretchedness, when we do not feel wretched at all are the prayers of hypocrisy. "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" [Isaiah 57:15].
12MR	121	2	The Lord hears the contrite prayer. He reads the hidden thought. We may pray in secret, where no man can see or hear, and He who seeth in secret will hear and reward us openly. Prayer is not intended to work any change in God. It brings us into harmony with God. It is not to take the place of duty. The prayer offered ever so often and ever so earnestly will never be accepted by God in place of your tithe money. Prayer will not pay your debts to God. The servant of Jesus Christ is to pray and rely upon God as did Daniel in the courts of Babylon.
12MR	121	3	The youth have an example in Daniel, and if they are true to principle and to duty they will be instructed as Daniel was. As the wisdom of the world viewed the matter, he and his three companions had every advantage secured to them. But here their first test was to come. Their principles must come into collision with the regulations and appointments of the king. They were to eat of the food placed upon his table and drink of his wine. Three years was this diet to last before their examination should take place, and then they were to be brought in before the king.
12MR	122	1	But Daniel and his companions did not take the position that because their food and drink was of the king's appointment it was their duty to partake of it. They prayed over the matter and studied the Scriptures. Their education had been of such a character that they felt even in their captivity that God was their dependence. After careful consideration from cause to effect, Daniel "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself" [Daniel 1:8].
12MR	122	2	This request was not proffered in a defiant spirit, but was solicited as a great favor. The appearance of Daniel and his companions was as every youth's should be. They were courteous, kind, respectful, possessing the grace of meekness and modesty. And now as Daniel and his fellows were brought to the test, they placed themselves fully on the side of righteousness and truth. They did not move capriciously, but intelligently. They decided that as flesh meat had not composed their diet in the past, neither should it come into their diet in the future. And as the use of wine had been prohibited to all those who should engage in the service of God, they determined that they would not partake of it. The fate of the sons of Aaron had been presented before them, and they knew that the use of wine would confuse their senses, that the indulgence of appetite would place them where their powers of discernment would become beclouded. Nadab and Abihu disobeyed the requirements of God and used the common fire in the place of the sacred.
12MR	123	1	These particulars were placed on record in the history of the children of Israel as a warning to all youth to avoid all approach to customs and practices and indulgences that would dishonor God in any way. Daniel and his companions knew not what would be the result of their decision. They knew not but that it would cost them their lives, but they determined to keep the straight path of strict temperance even in the courts of licentious Babylon.
12MR	123	2	"Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs" [Daniel 1:9]. The good behavior of these youth obtained for them favor. They rested their case in the hands of God, following a discipline of self-denial and temperance in all things. And the Lord cooperated with Daniel and his fellows, the servants of the only true God. The Lord had charge of these youth because they prayed to Him and trusted in the Lord in regard to the course they should pursue, to do all that lay in their power to reveal the infinite superiority of the worship of the true God.
12MR	123	3	There was another class of captives carried into Babylon. They were permitted to be torn from their homes and carried into a land of idolaters, because they were themselves constantly going into idolatry. The Lord let them have all they desired of the idolatrous practices of Babylon. The righteous with the unrighteous were taken away into a land where the name of Jehovah would not come to their ears, where songs of praise and thanksgiving to God would not be heard, where the miracle-working power of God would not be seen, and where prophets with messages of warning and reproof and counsel from God would be few and far between.
12MR	124	1	Students to Cooperate With Teachers--Students, prepare yourselves to cooperate with your teachers. As you cooperate with them, you give them hope and courage. You are helping them, and at the same time you are helping yourselves to advance. Remember that it rests largely with you whether your teachers stand on vantage ground, their work an acknowledged success.
12MR	124	2	Our time for work is short. We have no time to spend in self-pleasing. You will gain true satisfaction and happiness only when you have a determined purpose to succeed.
12MR	124	3	Every learner needs an increasing capacity as he advances in his study of the Word of God, making the Book of books his textbook. Make your student life as perfect as possible. You will pass over the way but once. Precious are the opportunities granted you. You are not only to learn, but to practice the lessons of Christ. It rests with you yourself whether you make a success or a failure. As you succeed in gaining a knowledge of the Bible, you are storing up treasures to impart.
12MR	124	4	It is your privilege to make the advancement spoken of in the first chapter of Second Peter. Working on the plan of addition, you will add daily to your store of the knowledge of God and of Christ; and God will work for you on the plan of multiplication.
12MR	124	5	Be assured that as you advance, you will gain increased capabilities. If you see a fellow student who is backward, try to help him. Explain to him the lesson that he does not understand. This will be an aid to your understanding. Use simple words. State your ideas in clear, comprehensive language. Thus you are helping your teachers. Often minds apparently stolid will catch ideas more quickly from a fellow student than from a teacher.
12MR	125	1	This is the cooperation that Christ commends as a good work. The great Teacher stands beside you, helping you to help the one who is backward. The Lord Jesus meets everyone, old or young, just where he is.
12MR	125	2	While obtaining your education, you may have opportunity to tell the poor and ignorant of the wonderful truths of God's Word. Improve every such opportunity. The grace of God will bless every minute spent in this way.
12MR	125	3	My brethren and sisters at Berrien Springs, you are doing a good work. The Lord is leading you. Just so long as you follow Christ you will be guided aright. Maintain your simplicity and your love for souls, and the Lord will lead you in safe paths. The rich experience you will gain will be of more value to you than gold and silver and precious stones.
12MR	125	4	Truth Has a Spiritual Influence--To all students we would say, In the name of the Lord do not permit yourselves to be held where the spiritual atmosphere is poisoned with skepticism and falsehood. Those who have had the evidence of truth, but who for days, weeks, months, and years have had about them a subtle influence that gives a distorted representation, a false coloring, to the truth of God, are not fit for teachers for our youth. Where falsehoods regarding the word and work of God are reported as truth is no place for students who are preparing for the future, immortal life. We are seeking heaven, wherein can enter none who have changed the truth of God into a lie.
12MR	125	5	Truth has a spiritual influence. It enters the mind, direct and uncorrupted, from One who is truth. The reception of truth in the inward parts is charged with the greatest results. Truth is to be received into the heart and developed and expressed in the character.
12MR	126	1	No lie is of the truth. On every occasion possible Satan is on hand to introduce the leaven of his deceptive fallacies. Listen not a moment to the interpretations that would loosen one pin, remove one pillar, from the platform of truth.
12MR	126	2	Human interpretations, the reception of fables, will spoil your faith, confuse your understanding, and make of none effect your faith in Jesus Christ. Study diligently the third chapter of Revelation. In it is pointed out the danger of losing your hold upon the things that you have heard and learned from the Source of all light. "Remember ... how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent" [Revelation 3:3]. Why repent? Because there have come in faults in the form of theories so subtle that by the influence of mind upon mind--through the agency of those who have departed from the faith--the wily foe will cause you imperceptibly to be imbued with the spirit that will draw you away from the faith.
12MR	126	3	Soul Is Safe Under Divine Guidance--God permitted Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, to come to our world to seek and to save perishing souls. But today some who have been entrusted with the care of these blood-bought souls are denying Him in word, in method, in action. Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people.
12MR	126	4	Where are the earnest calls that should be given to arouse the people to that preparation of heart that will purify, refine, and ennoble characters to shine as lights amid the moral darkness? The soul is never safe, save under divine guidance. The word of God coming from sanctified hearts and lips will soften and break hard hearts. And if ever there was a period of time when the words of Christ should be heard, it is now.
12MR	127	1	None but He who created man can effect a change in the human heart. Every teacher is to realize that he must be moved by divine agencies. The mind and judgment must be submitted to the Holy Spirit. Through the sanctification of the truth, we may bear a decided testimony for righteousness before both believers and unbelievers.
12MR	127	2	We are far behind what we should be in our experience. We are backward in pronouncing the testimony that should flow from sanctified lips. Even when sitting at the table, Christ taught truths that brought comfort and courage to the hearts of His hearers. Whenever it is possible, we are to present the words of Christ. If His love is in the soul, abiding there as a living principle, there will come forth from the treasure-house of the heart, words suitable to the occasion; not light, trifling words, but uplifting words, words of truth and spirituality.
12MR	127	3	Let teachers and students watch their opportunities whenever possible to confess Christ in their conversations, speaking of their experiences in following Christ, praying with their brethren for the Holy Spirit. Confessing Christ openly and bravely, exhibiting in the choice of words the simplicity of true godliness, will be more effective than many sermons. There are but few who give a true representation of the meekness of Christ. Oh, we need, and we must have, His meekness! Christ is to be formed within, the hope of glory.
12MR	127	4	We are preparing for translation to the heavenly world. Our conversation should be in heaven, from whence we look for the Lord Jesus. He is to be acknowledged as the Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Author of all our blessings, in whom is centered our hope of eternal life.
12MR	128	1	Angels of heaven are taking note of all our works and watching to see how they can minister to our needs. With intensity of spirit, all heaven stands ready to lend aid to us in our divine progress. Shall we improve our present opportunities and receive the impress of the divine image?
------------------------MR No. 951--Testimony to Battle Creek Sanitarium
12MR	129	1	The Lord's eye is over all His works and He will make a faithful record of all the deeds of the children of men. When the blessing of the Lord rests upon ministers, doctors, and the people, it will be after they have conscientiously followed the light and ceased their backslidings. When they put away their idols from among them and repent with sorrow of heart for their departure from the light God has given them, the Lord will be entreated in their behalf.
12MR	129	2	The prospering hand of God is not evidenced by the numbers who patronize the sanitarium or attend services in the Tabernacle, but by the high standard of morals, their unwavering fidelity to God, and by the light which emanates from Christ, shining as His representatives and through them shedding the light of truth in the beauty of holiness to the world. All will not accept and be in harmony with the light given. They love not the things which bring their own neglect and sins to their mind.
12MR	129	3	There will be those who will fret, fume, scold, and denounce anything which savors of reform, of sanctification and of heaven. Because there is no union between Christ and Belial, those connected with the sanitarium, college, and publishing house who have no love for God, who have not been backward to denounce religious sentiments (especially those ideas they know our people cherish), there has been a course pursued ... to close the door to the rays of light that God would have shine forth in all our institutions--the office, the school, the sanitarium. Satan has prevailed when he might have been repulsed, defeated; his power has had the ascendancy rather than the Spirit of God.
12MR	130	1	I cannot say to the sinner, It will be well with thee. God's curse will rest upon the evildoer. God has sent message upon message to bring those who were regarded as responsible men and women into harmony with His mind, but they were so intent to carry out their own ideas and move forward in their own judgment that they did not hear His voice nor heed His message. Their own ways and their own unsanctified judgment seemed more pleasing to them than to lift the cross, deny self, and follow Jesus wheresoever He may lead.
12MR	130	2	The great anxiety in the sanitarium has been to cater to the taste of the wealthy. The lovers of pleasure more than the lovers of God have received honor. The poor have been set down in the lowest place, while those who have had money have received attention and favor. God despises your policy, and I rebuke it in the name of the Lord. Your continual and persistent effort to meet the world's standard, notwithstanding the Word of God condemns it (the testimonies He has given you have condemned it), makes you sinners against God and places you at cross-purposes with your Redeemer. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" [James 4:4].
12MR	130	3	You have chosen your own course. God sees and has recorded it--the distaste you are prone to feel toward Himself, and the opposition which rises in your hearts to His words and His ways. Notwithstanding He says His ways are ways of pleasantness and all His paths are peace.
12MR	130	4	Has there not been a cause for great anxiety and distrust and forebodings by the lovers of the truth in regard to the sanitarium as they see those in responsible positions borne on and on by the current to the world's customs, and the spirit of the world pervading? Two of her physicians already have denied the truth and become infidels--a standing evidence of the weakness of human vain philosophy and science "so-called." These persons had excellent abilities and had their choice to become men of God or men of the world. They chose to lean to human reasoning and have ceased to rise in moral value and moral excellence with God. They chose the slime of doubt, skepticism, and unbelief, and Satan exults over his prey.
12MR	131	1	Dishonesty, immorality, and base depravity have lived in their very midst, and [they have had] no eyes to see where they were drifting, no Holy Spirit among them to discern and condemn the works of darkness.
12MR	131	2	The guardians of this institution are so devoid of the Spirit of God as to feel the best harmony with the Lord's worst enemies. Elder E stated of one of this class that he loved him as a brother. Why was this? Because of his smooth words and fair speeches. The man was working to carry out the artifice of his master. He was keeping the favor of a man who had the highest opinion of his own opinions and plans. He did not feel the necessity of counseling at every step. He did not see the need of constant watchfulness and prayer, of walking humbly with God, and learning from the great Teacher the meekness and lowliness He exemplified in His life. No, he did not want discerning eyes in that sanitarium to see and sense the wrong. God was daily dishonored. Warnings and reproofs were unheeded and there was a pretense, a form of religion, but God was displeased; for all the time they were casting His words behind them.
12MR	131	3	God gave me a message when Elder E and the matron were present in the parlor of the old building. It was the voice of God in warning. It was acknowledged to be such. The Lord spoke through clay. But was there any manifest change? No, all things went on as they had done.
12MR	132	1	We know that the sanitarium is not answering the purpose of God. Is it anything surprising that the people everywhere know these things when the patients carry the reports all over the field? Truly, we have cause to put away our idols, to clothe ourselves with modest apparel and repent for our extravagance, and greatly humble our souls before God, for His wrath is upon us as a people. There is the accursed thing in the camp of Israel, and God says of you, "Neither will I be with you any more, ... until ye take away the accursed thing from among you" [Joshua 7:12, 13].
12MR	132	2	The Spirit of God has not had a controlling influence upon Elder E, Dr. F, Sister G, and many others not in as responsible positions. Dr. F would have a different state of things, in some respects, if he could. But his position is well understood--that he is questioning and philosophizing and seeking through science to make of none effect the working of God's special Providence, his finite mind seeking to comprehend God. He could know more of God in one hour by opening the door of his heart to divine grace than he will find out by a lifetime through his vain philosophy and "so-called science." He must become a fool, in the sense God terms it, in order to become wise in the things of God and in the workings of His Spirit. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
12MR	132	3	I have been shown that the sanitarium under its present management is not a safe place for youth. They have already and would receive impressions in their education that would have a demoralizing influence upon them. Sister G, as matron, does not have moral fortitude and spiritual discernment to pursue a steadfast, conscientious course for the right. She is swayed, molded by the associations and influences surrounding her. Mothers have opened their hearts to me and with bitter weeping and anguish of heart have told me their sorrow. They told me they thought that if their children were in the Sanitarium it would be as an asylum--the matron would have a religious interest for these inexperienced ones, but in the place of this they quoted her example: She and her daughter did this and that, and permitted, or gave consent to, many things they had instructed their children were wrong, and now the conscience of these children seems unimpressible. They think now, "Mother is altogether too particular, and exercises too much restraint. Why," say they, "sport and fun and frolic were permitted there, and if it had been wrong I guess Mrs. G, who sings and takes an active part in worship, would not sanction it." This is only one of many varieties of complaints that reach us from different ones. Everything has been drifting in a wrong channel. Deficiencies of character, which God has reproved, have not been overcome, but have been cherished, notwithstanding the rebuke of God has been upon them.
12MR	133	1	It is not like amusement or play to change wrong habits, to grow out of indolence and want of moral power, to resist worldly influences in which they have indulged themselves for years. There has been a neglect of duty in faithfulness, and it has resulted in a separation from God.
12MR	133	2	I greatly fear for those who have been even once reproved and have not made decided reforms, and when the reproof has been repeated there has been a blindness, an unfeeling heart, benumbed senses to take heed to warnings given. The conscience has been blunted, hardened against the influence of light. It is no easy matter to correct habits once formed. That which is right and pure, ennobling and enduring, can be won only by persistent energy, by patient industry, by unwearied effort and untiring zeal. Many will become heartsick as they see themselves in the light God views them. They will want to turn away from the mirror.
12MR	134	1	The heart is deceptive and desperately wicked. Looking into the mirror and discerning the defects of character should set us to work, by personal efforts and in penitence and repentance through faith in the grace of Christ, to overcome them. Oh, how many times we shall become weary in the strife against internal foes. We shall long for release and often become discouraged, and then we will, in view of the prize of eternal life, arise again, gird on the armor anew, and toil on to gain the prize. Self-conquest, perfection of the heart, is nothing less than washing our robes of character and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. Thousands fail because they love ease and indulgence and self-gratification. Thousands will gain because they will be persevering, courageous, and vigilant.
12MR	134	2	Said one mother of good ability, of high intellectual attainments, "I am amazed at the change in my daughters. Before going to Battle Creek to work at the sanitarium they were particular in regard to keeping the Sabbath, but now they often infringe upon the Sabbath. They used to love to attend our meetings, and they will now frame any excuse to remain at home. Their love for serious things is gone. Their love for vanity, for dress, for trimmings and display has become a passion. They laugh at me in the face when I express surprise and tell me that we can be religious without being so prudish and fanatical. They say, 'I wish you could see how the lady physicians dress at the sanitarium. I wish you could see how different are the ideas of the matron. She is a real good woman--so kind and accommodating to us girls. She does just what we want her to do!' And they began to sing a light song, and broke into a coarse laugh."
12MR	135	1	The mother said it was so unlike her child that she thought she was possessed of an evil spirit. She said, "Since that time I have never recommended anyone who wanted a situation or any invalid to go to the Sanitarium. I could not even take the Good Health. I feel so disappointed that I should have a child of mine thus transformed. I thought Mrs. G so motherly, so good a woman. If I had had twenty children, I would not have hesitated a moment to have placed them under her care." The tears rolled down her cheeks. Said she, "The work is done, I fear, for time and eternity, and I cannot undo it, but I prayed, oh, so earnestly, that God would save my children [even] if through sickness and dread death." I tried to present to the mother as favorably as I could the more pleasant prospect, but she only looked grieved and despairingly said, "They have ruined my child. I never can feel that they have done right even in their intention. I hoped you could do something to prevent this state of things." She knew not how much I had done.
------------------------MR No. 952--Material for Piper Biography
12MR	136	1	The girl, Nina Piper, has been with us several weeks. She is a remarkable girl among the girls. She is a sincere Christian. They have a large family and it is hard to support them. Mr. Piper has been a drunkard and poverty has been their experience. I pay the girl seven shillings per week and she is getting herself some clothing. But she was very sad when we decided to go to Napier. She had been told by her father that she must go out to work and earn her food and clothes. He has work now and has not drunk for two or three years, but he is not a Christian. I thought it would cost too much money to have her go with us, but as the time drew near when we must go, I told Emily my mind was ill at ease. I could perhaps get a girl in Napier, but she might be frivolous and want to be with the boys. She might be wasteful. She might be one who would be ill satisfied with the work, and Nina is feeling she is so privileged. She is willing to work hard and is saving, quiet, not forward. She answers well for us. I did not want Emily to do the housework, for she has more than she can do now. I could not lay any extra burden on Sister Wilson, for she must go with her husband, and we decided that we will not in the end save anything to go at a venture and leave a good girl behind.
12MR	137	1	When I proposed the matter to her, she was so elated and felt so privileged, she acted as though it was a dream. I never saw a girl as thankful, and it is such a rare thing to have anyone who does the common duties of life thankfully. I felt thankful that it was my privilege to make anyone so happy. She immediately communicated with her father and mother. They both felt very much pleased to have the girl with me, and the mother said it seemed so much of a favor to do her, to employ her daughter. She thought the news too good to be true.
12MR	137	2	She went to the government office where her brother is employed in the stamp department, and she told her brother of the proposition made to her. He told her that her lines had fallen in pleasant places. He is not a believer and is a staunch Presbyterian, but she came back so happy. She said he told her he was glad to see her. The mother came down evening after the Sabbath and remained until past ten. I had a pleasant interview with her. I never saw a woman more thankful, for she has a mother's interest in her child. The mother is a sweet-faced, amiable-looking woman.
12MR	137	3	We shall have no trouble now in getting the help we so much need, and we know what we have by experience--a child in years, yet a woman in stern experience. This is the way matters stand. If I go to Sydney I shall certainly take her with me.
12MR	137	4	The mail day was a trying day. We sent off quite a mail, and we all have felt like doing next to nothing since. We have now quite a little mail for South Africa, copies of letters sent to America. We will be glad to welcome you to Napier. Elder Israel says he shall break up as soon as we do, so by the first of September Sister Tuxford will be left alone to manage the office. I will now leave this until tomorrow, after looking over the mail.
12MR	138	1	Monday, August 14. About eleven o'clock at night there was a knock at the door. My window being opened, I looked out and saw a man at the door. I inquired, "Is it the postman?" He answered, "Yes." Then I called Emily and they received the mail. It was a very light affair. I send your mail. Today, I think, the boat leaves. I send you Edson's letter. Poor boy, I feel sorry for him. I do not think he knows himself, else something more would have come than that scrap of a letter contains.
12MR	138	2	I send you the draft upon Echo office. My letters were: One from Elsie Hare, Emma and Edson, Reekie, Ebdall, Marian. I cannot believe this is all the mail I shall receive. It is very small indeed. I think there must be more to come. We have very little to answer this time if this is all.
12MR	138	3	August 15--We leave here for Napier. I think we will be comfortable. Brother Mountain is going to help us off in the morning. He worked late. Last night Nina's father came to see us and her. He seems quite an intelligent man. He thinks it the most wonderful thing that I take an interest in their daughter and expressed great gratitude as though we were doing them a great favor. I assured him we would have an interest in her. He thought it was such a rare thing, so unexpected.
------------------------MR No. 953--Sale of Testimony No. 34 for Relief of Institutions in Denmark
12MR	139	1	I believe with all my heart that the Lord has the supervision of the sale of Christ's Object Lessons, and my heart is being deeply stirred to make an effort for the relief of the institutions in Denmark and Norway. I wish to donate the proceeds from Testimony 34 to this work. Will our publishing houses act in harmony with me in this matter? Shall we not do our best to lift the burden of debt from these institutions? Those who take part in such an effort will not lose, but gain; for this effort will bear God's endorsement. A manifestation of liberality now will win His approval.
------------------------MR No. 954--Study of Growth of Ellen White's Theological Understanding
12MR	140	1	Spiritual Darkness Result of Separation From God--The spiritual darkness that covers the earth is the result of a separation from God. Christ is the light and life of the world. "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness" (Psalm 112:4). All sin in darkness. When Christ came to this world, the Jewish rulers refused to accept His words. Wise in their own conceit, they declared that they knew all about the law of God. But Christ said to them, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). Darkness covered the earth and gross darkness the people. The human family, and even the Lord's chosen people, had to a large extent lost the knowledge of God. The Jewish priests were teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. God was misrepresented. False ideas prevailed in regard to His character and attributes. Christ came to this world, and the light shone forth into the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not.
12MR	140	2	Sin is death; righteousness is life. Sin cannot be changed into righteousness, but it can be taken away and the righteousness of Christ put in its place. The Saviour was manifested to take away our sin. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23). The Pharisees trusted in their own righteousness, of which Christ said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). Of the Jewish leaders, He said, "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). The righteousness of Christ brings life and healing. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him" (Colossians 2:6). In Him all fullness dwells.
12MR	141	1	It is a beautiful morning. The Lord is good, and I praise His holy name. I greatly desire a clear, distinct idea of the subject of righteousness by faith in Christ. We have thought and talked on this subject far less than we should have; therefore we have dwelt in the shadow of darkness--hopeless, faithless, without power to resist the tempter. We need clearer spiritual eyesight, that like Moses we may be able to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. There is a great work to be done in Australia, a great work to be done in the Melbourne church. In this city we should have one hundred missionaries at work, but instead there are only a few Bible workers. What does this mean? My cry is, "O God, wake up the people, and make them laborers together with Thee. Breathe into those who know the message for this time the true missionary spirit."
12MR	141	2	Learn by Searching the Scriptures--The law of God cannot be made void by the law of a nation. When the law is trampled in the dust, the sacredness of the commandments of God will be vindicated by those who are loyal to Him. We are to make no railing accusation against the nations, for this would close our way so that we could not set the light before the people. Every objection raised against the commandments of God will make a way for the advancement of truth and enable its advocates to present its value before men. There is a beauty and force in the truth that nothing can make so apparent as opposition and persecution. When this is revealed, many will be converted to the truth. Many who profess the truth do not know its preciousness, nor realize the richness of the assurances God has given. And they will not understand this until they are pressed into places of difficulty. But then they will understand what the Saviour means when He says, "I will manifest Myself unto them." (See John 14:21.) When surrounded by those who have not the love of God, the Christian will realize how precious it is to have communion with God and to obtain views of eternal redemption.
12MR	142	1	Day by day we are to learn by searching the Scriptures that God does not exalt one man for the purpose of controlling the minds and the practices of another. Everything that is done to direct people to follow the sayings and observe the customs of men, in opposition to what the Lord has said, is wrong. Those who dare to take the guidance of men should understand that these very men need to be guided by that Voice which has said that there is to be no lording it over God's heritage. We have need of broad-minded, deep-thinking men; but we do not need men who, because they are in positions of trust, will think that they should put the yoke upon their fellow men. Those who think that their position gives them this authority had better become Bible students. The end of all government was beautifully set forth by the Lord in the symbol of a tree that gave shelter to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the air. Nebuchadnezzar was at one time a superior ruler, a man more compassionate toward his subjects than was the ruler of any other heathen nation, and his rule was symbolized by a lofty tree. But the man who thinks it is his prerogative to command his fellow men and says, "You shall," and "You shall not," is entirely out of his place. He takes upon himself that which was never given him and lords it over God's purchased possession. Every man is accountable to God for his actions. The man in a position of trust who is guided by the spirit of God will always protect the weak, relieve the needy, and look after the widow and the fatherless.
12MR	143	1	God Desires to Save Sinful Man--God has revealed His character toward fallen man by giving him a Saviour, Jesus Christ. He covenanted not to stir up His wrath against the perversity of His children, not to censure them in His hot displeasure, until every advantage had been given them through all their period of probation. And even when they shall refuse His warnings, His messages of invitation, the presentation of His righteousness, when they continue to sin in the face of light and evidence, still He will not break forth upon them in His great anger. He leaves all judgment to His Son, whom He gave as a sin offering for the world.
12MR	143	2	God has a yearning desire to save the purchase of the blood of Christ from the sure result of a wrong course of action, which, if persisted in, will bring upon them the wrath of the rejected Lamb. Mercy, rich and free, is presented in the gift of Christ's righteousness. Those who scorn this precious gift, who despise and reject the Saviour, who refuse the invitation, "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me" (Isaiah 27:5), reject the offer of the attributes of a character which will constitute them sons and daughters of God. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:" (What name? Immanuel, the Son of God) "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:12-14).
12MR	144	1	Cultivate Dependence on God--The faith of those who believe every word of God is accounted unto them for righteousness. We need to cultivate a trustful dependence on God, saying as did the apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. (See 2 Timothy 1:12.)
12MR	144	2	The Gift of the Holy Spirit--"The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26). There is a multitude of errors in our world, but the truth is a unit always. Those who cherish the truth in the heart will manifest its sanctifying power, for true faith works by love and purifies the soul. "Nevertheless I tell you the truth," Christ declared, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you" (John 16:7).
12MR	144	3	This was the arrangement of the divine government. Christ's ascension was the event which in heaven's order was to mark the descent of the Holy Spirit. A vital work was to be carried on. The world's Redeemer designed to show His followers on earth His union with the Father and with man.
12MR	145	1	"If ye love Me, keep My commandments, "Christ continued. "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him" (verse 21).
12MR	145	2	When God's people search the Scriptures with a desire to know what is truth, Jesus is present in the person of His representative, the Holy Spirit, reviving the hearts of the humble and contrite ones. (John 15:23, 10, 11 quoted.)
12MR	145	3	Not Possible for Law of God to Be Set Aside--Holiness is wholeness for God. It means perfect obedience to every precept of the law of God. This is the only true moral excellence. A character in harmony with the law of God is the only character which will receive His approval. It shows that man has by faith received Jesus Christ, who came to this world to die for the transgressors of God's law. Christ by His own obedience to the law places man on vantage ground with God, giving him another trial. Thus probation is granted to man, opportunity is given him to show his hatred of sin, the transgression of the law, and to return to his loyalty to God.
12MR	145	4	Is it possible for the law of God to be changed or set aside? Nay, verily; for that law is immutable, eternal. It is forever to hold its claim of obedience upon every soul who has opportunity to gain a knowledge of the will of God. The responsibility of men today is proportionate to the light they receive through the messages of warning God has given.
12MR	145	5	To abrogate the law of God is as impossible as it would be for God to abolish Himself. The law of God's kingdom is a transcript of His character. Men may talk of Christ. They may claim to be saved by Christ. They may talk of righteousness. But the only true righteousness is entire conformity to the law of Jehovah. Righteousness, goodness, virtue, purity, all mean conformity to the law of God.
12MR	146	1	Gospel of Christ to Be Practiced--God says, "A new heart will I give you." Every learner may be renewed in knowledge and true holiness. The ransom of an enslaved race was Christ's purpose in coming to this earth. What a pity it is that human beings cannot discern their own weakness. What a pity that they enslave their souls by lifting themselves up unto vanity. Christ alone can make us free. And when He makes us free, we are free indeed. His power breaks the yoke of bondage that binds man to the great deceiver, the originator of sin. But how many there are who are unwilling to allow Christ to break their shackles. How many there are who choose to cling to the thraldom of sin. The gospel of Christ is truly believed only when it is practiced. Faith is justified by works. Self must be hid; Christ must appear as the chiefest among ten thousand, the One altogether lovely. When an unreserved surrender of the powers of body, mind, and soul is made to the Saviour, self no longer strives for the mastery. What man needs today is the crucifixion of self and the revelation in his life of Christ, the hope of glory. Then will be fulfilled the word, "Ye are the light of the world." Then will be answered the prayer, "That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us" (John 17:21). In thought, word, and action, Christ's followers will be an exemplification of godliness. An atmosphere of peace will surround them.
12MR	147	1	Step by step let us follow on to know the Lord, treading in His footprints, striving to live His life. He says to His followers, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14, 16). From the lives of God's children, the bright light of purity, of honesty, of unselfishness, is to shine forth.
12MR	147	2	As yet we have scarcely been a light to the world, because we cling to our sinful, corrupting practices. We have been too well satisfied with the twilight glow of heavenly enlightenment. We have not yet gained the experience that will make us feel at home in heaven. As yet we are but stepping over the threshold of the sanctuary containing the truths which every child of God must receive and reveal to a world lying in wickedness.
12MR	147	3	Holy Spirit Needed--The Holy Spirit is greatly needed in our schools. This divine agency comes to the world as Christ's representative. He is not only the faithful and true witness to the Word of God, but He is the searcher of the thoughts and purposes of the heart. He is the source to which we must look for efficiency in the restoration of the moral image of God in man. The Holy Spirit was eagerly sought for in the schools of the prophets; His transforming influence was to bring even the thoughts into harmony with the will of God and establish a living connection between earth and heaven.
12MR	148	1	Teachers, if you will open your hearts to the indwelling of the Spirit of God, if you will welcome the heavenly guest, God will make you laborers together with Him. In cooperation with the Master Teacher, the spirit of selfishness will be expelled, and wonderful transformations will take place.
------------------------MR No. 955--Items for Newbold--Part II
12MR	149	1	Each Person Has an Influence on Others--The fruit borne upon the tree is not seen in good works, but in perpetuation of transgression and sin. It is not alone one's own soul and his own hope of eternal life that are sacrificed. He has influenced others. And all the influence he failed to exert in behalf of righteousness and truth, all the stumbling blocks laid in the way of other souls, will be charged against him in that great day when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, and everyone shall be judged according to his deeds. The soul that has had light in regard to the Lord's Sabbath, His memorial of Creation, and to save himself from inconvenience and reproach has chosen to remain disloyal, has sold his Lord. He has dishonored the name of Christ. He has taken his stand with the armies of antichrist. With them at the last great day he will be found outside the city of God, not with the loyal, the true and righteous, in the heavenly kingdom.
12MR	149	2	All who have genuine faith will be tested and tried. They may have to forsake houses and lands, and even their own relatives, because of bitter opposition. But "when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another," Christ said, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, til the Son of man be come" (Matthew 10:23).
12MR	150	1	God Wants His People to Be Ready to Meet Him in Peace--God is deferring the bringing of His judgment upon the earth in order that those who are supposed to be His people, but who have been bringing in the very things He has condemned in ancient Israel, working according to methods He will not accept, may get ready to meet Him in peace. Those who have been devising and bringing in selfish, covetous principles, and taking credit to themselves for their sharpness, will never see the kingdom of God unless they are decidedly changed in character; for selfishness is an abomination in the sight of the Lord, and is a dishonor to Christ, their Creator and Redeemer, whose name they claim. God says, "I will thoroughly purge My floor of all chaff. I will sift My people as in a sieve. Those who name My name must be thoroughly cleansed from all false and corrupting principles. Those whom I claim as My heritage will even now be wondered at as a peculiar people, cleansed from all fraud, all injustice. Those who enter the city of God will here have worked righteousness revealing to the world the principles of heaven."
------------------------MR No. 956--Revival at Danvers, Massachusetts
			Lynn, Mass. USA., December 15, 1890, 
12MR	151	1	Dear Brother Olsen, Our meeting at Danvers has closed. During the session I spoke five times, two evenings in the week and on Sabbath morning, at the missionary meeting held Sunday morning, and also on Sunday afternoon. I am satisfied beyond a doubt that the Lord has a message for me to bear to His people. I have felt the sustaining power of God as I have stood before the congregation, and I know that the power of God was working through the human agent. I know that many have received the word, and hungry souls have been fed. My heart is full of sympathy and love for the souls that are ready to die.
12MR	151	2	Since the Brooklyn camp meeting I no longer talk of sickness and infirmity. I have never had such freedom from pain, and have not slept so well for twelve years. The peace of God abides in my heart. To speak the words God has given me is more than my meat and my drink. Thankful praise ascends to God from my heart all the time. Day and night I have a spirit of intercession that the Lord will give me the spirit of meekness and the gentleness of Christ, and clothe me with His righteousness.
12MR	152	1	We had a most precious meeting in Lynn, but especially so at Danvers. Last Sabbath all in the house save two--an aged colored man and a poor timid soul who dared not make the move--came forward for prayer. The angel of God was in our midst. The ministers sought the Lord, and their supplications were heard in heaven. Oh, how thankful I was that I was able to feed the flock of God through the grace given me. The churches are starving for the bread of life, and they grasp readily the truth presented. I cannot hold back and refuse to visit these places, for I know that I have a message for them from the Lord.
12MR	152	2	After the season of prayer, we asked those who were conscious of the blessing of the Lord to testify. Although many of them had been in the church from nine o'clock in the morning, and had had nothing to eat in that time, they were in no hurry to have the meeting closed. Many testimonies were borne, and again supplications were made to God for ministers and people. The presence of the Lord was in the meeting. I felt the power of the Lord upon me. Elder Fifield was greatly blessed. After the season of prayer he grasped my hand and thanked the Lord for His goodness and rich blessing. It was the universal testimony from the Lord that the people at Danvers had never before experienced [so great a blessing].
12MR	152	3	When I see how much the Spirit of God is needed, and how much it is appreciated, I feel wholly reconciled to visit these places. I am treated by the people with respect and confidence. After the severe trials and hard labor I have undergone in Battle Creek, only to be met with a refusal to receive the message, this spirit refreshes my soul. I have a deep-seated conviction that my work is not to be one of perpetual conflict, that the Lord does not call upon me to brace and push for every inch done. The men who should have held up my hands in the work have been laboring to the best of their ability to weaken and discourage me. My strength has been spent in beating against the walls of wicked prejudice and opposition. They do not see and understand, and I fear sometimes they never will. [Written in the critical period shortly after the general conference of 1888. See A. V. Olson, thirteen crisis years, pp. 33-130.]
12MR	153	1	The statement is made that Christ could not do many mighty works in certain places because of unbelief. Jesus was the source of all power, all light and life, and if His way was obstructed by unbelief, what can be expected of the finite instrument? Time and time again the Lord has longed to communicate His Spirit in rich measure, but there was no place for it to rest. It was not recognized or valued. The blindness of mind, the hardness of hearts interpreted it as something of which they should be afraid. Some hidden evil lurks in the heart to hinder the manifestation of the power of God, and His Spirit cannot descend.
12MR	153	2	I know that if the way were only prepared there would be in Battle Creek such a feeling of love and sacred zeal in the heart that the message would go to the world, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. When the leaders cease to obstruct the way, the work of God will progress in Battle Creek. The missionary spirit will revive and the church will act in the sense of her obligation to God and the world. In the highest sense God's people will be missionaries.
12MR	154	1	Christ has bought the church with His own blood, and He is longing to clothe her with salvation. He has made her the repository of sacred, holy truth, and He wants her to partake of His glory. Again and again the Lord has sent His Spirit to change the attitude of His people by infusing into the church a living, working principle. But unconsecrated elements have been at work, and the church has been rocked to sleep in the cradle of carnal security. The God of Israel has opened the windows of heaven and sent to the world rich floods of light, but that light has been rejected. The spirit manifested in Battle Creek has been the spirit of many churches. The power of God, the rich grace He longs to bestow, is not desired unless men can themselves mark out the way in which God shall work.
12MR	154	2	The whole treasure of heaven is at our command in our work of preparing the way of the Lord. God has made it possible by giving us the cooperation of heavenly angels, for our work to be a wonderful, yes, a glorious success. But success will seldom result from scattered, individual effort. The influence of every church member is required. The influence of ministers and workers is needed to prepare the way for the light and glory of God. Every soul who claims to believe in Jesus, God lays under tribute to Himself. The prayer of Christ for His disciples was, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one" (John 17:20-22).
12MR	155	1	As we near the time when principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places will be brought into warfare against the truth, when the deceiving power of Satan will be so great that if it were possible he will deceive the very elect, we must have our discernment sharpened by divine enlightenment, that we may know the spirit that is of God, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's deceptions. Human effort must combine with divine power, that we may be able to accomplish the closing work for this time.
12MR	155	2	Christ used the wind as a symbol of the Spirit of God. As the wind bloweth whither it listeth, and we cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, so it is with the Spirit of God. We do not know through whom it will be manifested. But I speak not my own words when I say that God's Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed" (Amos 9:13). These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God's name alone will be glorified.
12MR	155	3	The church is highly privileged in being permitted to act a part with heavenly angels. God now calls upon professing Christians to be men and women of intercession. By their course of action they will show how much they love Jesus and the souls He has bought with His own blood. By holding up the hands that are ready to fall they may gain a high and holy experience, beautified by the attributes of Christ. We have a work to do if we would be a living church. Individually and as a whole we are to tread sin under our feet. Our habits, our conversation, our daily life, must be placed on the Lord's side. We must intercede and wrestle with a covenant-keeping God in behalf of His watchmen, that souls may be won to the Saviour.
12MR	156	1	How many there are who need to become fools in their own estimation in order that they may be wise. God bestows on the humble and contrite one a wisdom that He does not give to the worldly-wise and prudent, those who are so self-sufficient that they know not the things that make for their peace. He reveals His wisdom to babes. He lays in the dust all human pride, but He recognizes the meek and the lowly, and exalts them with a true exaltation. How tenderly God regards the humble, contrite, self-denying follower of Christ, who is a daily learner in the school of the great Teacher.
12MR	156	2	Elder Olsen, I urge you to be of good courage. Have confidence in God. Carry every burden to Him. He can and will make you efficient, but you must have faith. Do not be depressed, do not mourn in secret because of the unfaithfulness of the watchmen on the walls of Zion. There is no call for despondency and misapprehension. Place yourself where the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness can shine into all the chambers of your mind and into the soul-temple. "Ye are the light of the world," God says. He will make those who are faithful in the church radiant with the word of God. His Spirit will be communicated to human instrumentalities, giving them light before which moral darkness must flee away.
12MR	156	3	I must close this epistle. I send my sincere love to you and your wife and children. May the Lord bless you and them is the prayer of your sister,
12MR	157	1	P. S. I was urged by our ministering brethren to return to Lynn and speak on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. I have consented to do this. Brother Fifield is doing all he can to get the people to the meetings on these two evenings. May the Lord move upon their hearts, is my prayer. On Thursday night we go to Boston, take the sleeper for Washington, and arrive in that city on Friday at eleven o'clock.
------------------------MR No. 957--Unity Prevails at 1889 General Conference
12MR	158	1	We are having a good meeting. [The 1889 general conference session was held from October 18 to November 3, in Battle Creek, Michigan.] There seems to be no dissension. The testimonies which have been borne by ministers are that the light that came to them at Minneapolis and during the past year has been highly appreciated and they will walk in the light. They have seen more of the blessedness of the truth and the love of Jesus than ever before in their lives--that success has attended their labors during the past year as never before and they have enjoyed the presence and the love of God in large measure. This has been the testimony borne and the meetings are excellent. At the same time there are a large number who apparently stand where they did at Minneapolis. Oh, that God would work mightily for His people and scatter the clouds of darkness and let the sunlight of His glory in!
12MR	158	2	I am much pleased with the meeting. Thus far, not one voice of opposition is heard. Unity seems to prevail. I have had precious seasons of prayer in your behalf and I believe the Lord is working for you and Satan will be disappointed.
------------------------MR No. 958--Sabbathkeeping in Arctic Lands
12MR	159	1	God rested on the seventh day, and set it apart for man to observe in honor of His creation of the heavens and the earth in six literal days. He blessed and sanctified and made holy the day of rest. When men are so careful to search and dig to see in regard to the precise period of time, we are to say, God made His Sabbath for a round world; and when the seventh day comes to us in that round world, controlled by the sun that rules the day, it is the time, in all countries and lands, to observe the Sabbath. In the countries where there is no sunset for months, and again no sunrise for months, the period of time will be calculated by records kept. But God has a world large enough, and proper and right for the human beings He has created to inhabit it, without finding homes in those lands so objectionable in very many, many ways.
12MR	159	2	The Lord accepts all the obedience of every creature He has made, according to the circumstances of time in the sun-rising and sun-setting world. Obedience is the test; and all this plowing into the intricacy of the precise minutes and hours of the Sabbath--it is the test of man's obedience to honor and glorify God. To sin, or transgression of His law, God will prove a consuming fire. The Sabbath observance is "a sign between Me and you throughout your generations forever."
------------------------MR No. 959--Wages for Women Doing Gospel Work
12MR	160	1	The Laborer Is Worthy of His (or Her) Hire--I was solicited to visit Melbourne before the tent would have to be taken down, but on account of the severe heat they dared not make the request too urgent. Elder Robinson thought my testimony must be given, as it was greatly needed. He and his wife were left to bear the responsibility of the work, giving Bible readings, conducting the mission, and training several young men and women as workers. The work has rested heavily upon them. Sister Robinson has hired a girl to do her housework and is doing work every way as taxing as that of a minister. The women workers have not received pay, but this will be changed in due time. The cause is now hemmed in for want of means....
12MR	160	2	There are ministers' wives--Sisters Starr, Haskell, Wilson, and Robinson--who have been devoted, earnest, whole-souled workers, giving Bible readings and praying with families, helping along by personal efforts just as successfully as their husbands. These women give their whole time, and are told that they receive nothing for their labors because their husbands receive wages. I tell them to go forward and all such decisions will be revised. The Word says, "The labourer is worthy of his hire" (Luke 10:7). When any such decision as this is made, I will in the name of the Lord, protest. I will feel it my duty to create a fund from my tithe money to pay these women who are accomplishing just as essential work as the ministers are doing, and this tithe I will reserve for work in the same line as that of the ministers, hunting for souls, fishing for souls. I know that the faithful women should be paid wages as it is considered proportionate to the pay received by ministers. They carry the burden of souls and should not be treated unjustly. These sisters are giving their time to educating those newly come to the faith and hire their own work done and pay those who work for them. All these things must be adjusted and set in order and justice be done to all. Proof-readers in the office receive their wages; those who are working at housework receive their wages, two dollars-and-a-half and three dollars a week. This I have had to pay and others have to pay. But ministers' wives, who carry a tremendous responsibility, devoting their entire time, have nothing for their labor.
12MR	161	1	This will give you an idea of how matters are in this conference. There are seventy-five souls organized into a church, who are paying their tithe into the conference, and as a saving plan it has been deemed essential to let these poor souls labor for nothing. But this does not trouble me, for I will not allow it to go thus.
12MR	161	2	Women Who Carry Responsibilities Should Receive Wages--Neither Brother nor Sister Hughes [Elder C. B. Hughes was the principal of Avondale College in 1898.] have the physical ability that Herbert [Lacey] and his wife have, yet they have been hard toilers. All through the vacation Sister Hughes has carried a heavy burden. Sister Hughes is not a strong woman, but she will carry the burdens that lie in her pathway. Her labors during the vacation are of as much value as is her work during the school session, and she should receive according to her work. She has shouldered the care, the burden, the inconveniences, and the responsibility of the school, and for this she should receive proportionate wages....
12MR	162	1	Discouragement has been brought upon Brother and Sister Hughes, and the impressions made upon their minds must be effaced by their associate workers. Those who have held the fort, bearing responsibilities, are to receive just and equal remuneration. They have a love for the cause of God, and a conscientious regard for the work in all its phases, and the work needs their talents and influence. They will not leave upon the work a wrong impress. The door of temptation should not be opened to them by the inattention of their brethren.
12MR	162	2	The ways of the Lord are just and equal. The workers in the school should receive according to the hours they give to the school in honest, hard labor. Injustice must not be done to any worker. If one man or woman gives to the school full time, he is to receive from the school according to the time which the school receives from him. If one gives mind, toil, and strength in bearing the burdens, he is to receive according to the value he gives to the school. Justice and truth are to be maintained, not only for the present and future standing of the school, but for our own individual benefit in righteousness. The Lord will not be a party to the least injustice.
12MR	162	3	Ministers' Wives Who Do Bible Work Should Be Paid a Salary--A house has been hired for the ministers and their wives and those whom they are educating to give Bible studies from house to house. The people are invited to ask their friends and neighbors to these meetings, and opportunity is given for them to ask questions on the lessons given. These are occasions of deep interest. I have great confidence in this method of labor. The workers who are hunting and fishing for the souls of men and women labor hard from morning till night. Often their appointments are not over till ten o'clock.
12MR	163	1	Work has now been begun in Wallsend, a suburb of Newcastle, ten miles from Newcastle, and in Maitland, a town twenty miles from Newcastle. This is a large field, and we shall employ workers who will give their whole time to the work. Elder Haskell and his wife are now laboring in Newcastle. They have tact and skill and teach the truth both in public and from house to house. There will be other ministers there besides Elder Haskell and the Bible readers. No less than twelve workers are needed in this place, for it is a large field.
12MR	163	2	In the past I have appropriated the means to sustain this kind of work, but my fund is now exhausted, for in this field the calls have been continual. Missionary work has been done in many cities. The ministers' wives join their husbands in this work, and accomplish that which their husbands could not possibly do. In order to do this work, these sisters have to hire someone to do their housekeeping. It takes the very best talent to do this class of missionary work, and the women who do it should receive a suitable amount for their work. Because of the dearth of means, our sisters have received very little pay, yet they have faithfully worked on, without any definite provision being made for them. Less qualified workers, who are receiving instruction by precept and example, are paid one pound a week, out of which they pay their board. But as yet the ministers' wives have been paid nothing.
12MR	164	1	I wish to create a fund for the payment of these devoted women who are the most useful workers in giving Bible readings. I am also led to say that we must educate more workers to give Bible readings, and I come right to the point: Will you consent to make me your steward, entrusting me with a certain amount to be invested in educating and sustaining workers, and also in helping to erect the humble meetinghouses we have to build? I have invested means in every house of worship save one which has been built by our people in Australia.
12MR	164	2	I think I have made the case plain. If you desire, I will send you a monthly statement of how your money has been invested.
12MR	164	3	Women Missionaries to Be Financially Supported--When I see the great desire shown by men and women to hear the truth, I long earnestly for means to open up the work where the third angel's message has never been heard. We have had some very interesting experiences in Maitland. Our women workers, in giving Bible readings, find families, not always poor, who cannot read. They have taught several persons to read. By the blessing of God these can now read the Word of God for themselves.
12MR	164	4	Every soul is precious in God's sight, and I am wondering what can be done for the destitute fields where the flock of God is without a shepherd. I have thought that if every Seventh-day Adventist family would, during the year 1900, cut off every needless indulgence, and place the money thus saved in the Lord's treasury, there would be meat in His house. A rich blessing would rest upon those thus practicing self-denial. The Lord would give them more to give. We need so much just now these fruits of self-denial, to support women missionaries in the field.
12MR	165	1	When Ministers and Their Wives Work Together, Both Should Receive Remuneration--Again and again I have repeated the instruction the Lord has given me concerning the opening of new fields, that our large cities might hear the truths of the third angel's message. Yet with all the urgent calls that have been made our brethren are not yet turning their attention to this work with the determination and earnestness that the importance of the case demands. A great work will be done in our cities when more earnest plans are laid for the furtherance of the cause of present truth in these places.
12MR	165	2	We should release some of the workers that are now tied up in those places where many interests are centering, that they may go out as missionaries to communicate the truth to others. Not only should the workers in these centers be devoting their energies and means to the sending out of our publications, but they should also feel the importance of spending a portion of their money in supporting the living preacher in the cities where labor wisely expended will be very effective.
12MR	165	3	The printed page cannot accomplish alone the work that the living minister can do. He can explain the Scriptures to the people, praying with them and appealing to them, and making effective the truths of the Bible. Not merely one or two men are called to do this work, but many men and women who have ability to preach and teach the Word.
12MR	166	1	As the messengers of God teach the Word, and live themselves by its truths, heavenly angels will set home the words to minds and hearts. One living discourse to a congregation of hearers may do a work that many publications could not accomplish. The minister's words, spoken under the Holy Spirit's guidance, his example in his association with the people, will accomplish a work that our publications of themselves cannot do.
12MR	166	2	If necessary, let us limit the number of our periodical publications, and let us send forth men and women to labor in faith and consecration for the giving of this last message of mercy to the world. When it is possible let the minister and his wife go forth together. The wife can often labor by the side of her husband, accomplishing a noble work. She can visit the homes of the people and help the women in these families in a way that her husband cannot.
12MR	166	3	Some will offer themselves for service who are not adapted to this line of work. Direct these to a work that they can do, and encourage them to study the first chapter of 2 Peter. Here is a representation of the experiences that will fit men and women to become efficient workers of God.
12MR	166	4	Select women who will act an earnest part. The Lord will use intelligent women in the work of teaching. And let none feel that these women, who understand the Word, and who have ability to teach, should not receive remuneration for their labors. They should be paid as verily as are their husbands. There is a great work for women to do in the cause of present truth. Through the exercise of womanly tact and wise use of their knowledge of Bible truth, they can remove difficulties that our brethren cannot meet. We need women workers to labor in connection with their husbands, and we should encourage those who wish to engage in this line of missionary effort.
12MR	167	1	Elder Haskell and his wife have united their labors in the California Conference. Conditions here demanded the capabilities of both. Let none question the right of Sister Haskell to receive remuneration for her work. Dr. Kress and his wife are likewise capable of uniting in missionary effort. None would question the right of Sister Kress to receive a salary. Laboring thus, Brother and Sister Kress can accomplish more than if they labored separately.
12MR	167	2	Study the Scriptures for further light on this point. Women were among Christ's devoted followers in the days of His ministry, and Paul makes mention of certain women who were helpers together with him in the gospel (see Philippians 4:2, 3).
------------------------MR No. 960--Necessity of Balance in Health Reform
			St. Helena, Calif., May 29, 1901
12MR	168	1	Dear Brother and Sister Kress, I am deeply pained to learn that Brother Kress is ill. We have not yet heard the particulars.
12MR	168	2	I have some things I wish to send you, if I can get them off in this mail. Several cases have been presented to me, which I will speak of in time; meanwhile, do not put yourself through [such an extreme regimen] as you have done, and do not go to extremes in regard to the health reform. Some of our people are very careless in regard to health reform. But because some are far behind, you must not, in order to be an example to them, be an extremist. You must not deprive yourself of that class of food which makes good blood. Your devotion to true principles is leading you to submit yourself to a diet which is giving you an experience that will not recommend health reform. This is your danger. When you see that you are becoming weak physically, it is essential for you to makes changes, and at once. Put into your diet something you have left out. It is your duty to do this. Get eggs of healthy fowls. Use these eggs cooked or raw. Drop them uncooked into the best unfermented wine you can find.[Dr. Kress accepted this counsel. He followed the raw-egg and grape-juice regimen regularly until his death in 1956 at the age of 94.] This will supply that which is necessary to your system. Do not for a moment suppose that it will not be right to do this. There is one thing that has saved life--an infusion of blood from one person to another; but this would be difficult and perhaps impossible for you to do. I merely suggest it.
12MR	169	1	The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and I beseech you to call for the elders of the church without delay. May the Lord help you, is my most sincere prayer. We appreciate your experience as a physician, and yet I say that milk and eggs should be included in your diet. These things cannot at present be dispensed with, and the doctrine of dispensing with them should not be taught.
12MR	169	2	You are in danger of taking too radical a view of health reform, and of prescribing for yourself a diet that will not sustain you.
12MR	169	3	Again, let nothing come up before you to worry you. Come apart and rest awhile. This you must do. Draw from the great Physician leaves from the tree of life. Plead in your own behalf, and let others also plead for you. "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me" (Isaiah 27:5).
12MR	169	4	I do hope that you will heed the words I have spoken to you. It has been presented to me that you will not be able to exert the most successful influence in health reform unless in some things you become more liberal to yourself and to others. The time will come when milk cannot be used as freely as it is now used; but the present is not the time to discard it. And eggs contain properties which are remedial agencies in counteracting poisons. And while warnings have been given against the use of these articles of diet in families where the children were addicted to, yes, steeped in, habits of self abuse, yet we should not consider it a denial of principle to use eggs of hens which are well cared for and suitably fed.
12MR	170	1	On one occasion a brother was taken sick with erysipelas of the head. His head was very much swollen. A message was sent for Dr. Lay to come at once. Meanwhile, a messenger was sent for me. At that time my husband and I had a most serious case on hand, a case in which the least wrong movement would prove fatal. A man had become dizzy while crossing a stream of water. He fell from his carriage, and was trampled under the feet of two high-spirited horses. He was brought to our house in a partially unconscious condition. His head and face were badly bruised and his skull was broken. A physician was sent for. He came and said that the man would have some chance for his life if he remained at our house. If he were taken to his own home, he would die; for his wife would indulge him in eating. The physician said that he could trust Elder White and his wife to carry out his orders strictly. For ten days he was to be kept at the point of starvation.
12MR	170	2	Just at this point his wife appeared, and concluded that her husband needed nourishing food. Without saying a word to me, she prepared something good, as she thought, and when we had left him to rest and sleep, stole in and gave it to him. In a short time he was in a raging fever, as crazy as a man need to be. All hope for his life seemed to have gone. We found out what was the matter, sent his wife home at once, and for two days worked unremittingly to save the life so heedlessly jeopardized. We watched, and we worked, and we prayed; and the Lord mercifully carried him again in His arms.
12MR	171	1	Thus we were working when the call came for us to attend Brother Wilson, the man who had come down with the erysipelas. But we dared not leave our patient. The night before I dreamed that I was caring for a child whose life was despaired of. Its head was swollen, and the whole body inflamed. A skillful physician gave orders to take woolen sheets, dip them in hot water, and wrap them round the child. Up to this time the child had been without sense of feeling. But as we worked over him with persevering diligence, wrapping him in hot blankets, we saw that he began to cringe. This process was kept up until the child's life was saved.
12MR	171	2	It was the brother of the sick man who came to me with the message, and when I told him my dream about the child, he said that I had described his brother's case exactly. He said he would follow the directions given, for the dream was of the Lord. He said, "My brother has no sense of feeling. His body is apparently dead, just as you described the body of the child to be."
12MR	171	3	He went home and carried out the treatment as given in my dream. Two or three times they wrapped the sick man in hot blankets, until he began to wince and finally asked them what they were doing. In a short time the swelling left his head, and he was fully conscious. When the physician arrived, he said that it was nothing less than a miracle.
12MR	171	4	After this Dr. Lay came to me and said, "I have gone as far as I can go, but Brother Wilson is sinking. I cannot arouse him." I said, "Last night I dreamed that my sick child was sinking. I asked the skillful Physician, who has never lost a case, what I should do. The answer came, "Break an egg into a glass of unfermented wine, and give him such a drink two or three times a day, until the exhaustion is gone and there is a revival of the life forces." Snatching up his hat, Dr. Lay said, "This is of the Lord. We shall save Brother Wilson yet." And off he went. For three days he gave him egg and wine, and he was soon fully recovered.
12MR	172	1	This Brother Wilson was the father of our beloved Brother Wilson who died in Queensland, Australia.
12MR	172	2	I write you this that you may see that the very simplest things may be used as remedial agents in placing one in great danger in a favorable condition.
12MR	172	3	I have something to say in reference to extreme views of health reform. Health reform becomes health deform, a health destroyer, when it is carried to extremes. You will not be successful in sanitariums where the sick are treated if you prescribe for the patients the same diet you have prescribed for yourself and your wife. I assure you that your ideas in regard to diet for the sick are not advisable. The change is too great. While I would discard flesh meat as injurious, something less objectionable may be used, and this is found in eggs. Do not remove milk from the table or forbid its being used in the cooking of food. The milk used should be procured from healthy cows, and should be sterilized.
12MR	172	4	Those who take an extreme view of health reform are in danger of preparing tasteless dishes. This has been done over and over again. The food has become so insipid as to be refused by the stomach. The food given the sick should be varied. They should not be given the same dishes over and over again.
12MR	173	1	There should be in our sanitarium a cook who thoroughly understands the work, one who has good judgment, who can experiment, who will not introduce into the food those things which should be avoided. It is well to leave sugar out of the crackers that are made. Some enjoy best the sweetest crackers, but these are an injury to the digestive organs. Butter should not be placed on the table, for if it is some will use it too freely, and it will obstruct digestion. But for yourself, you should occasionally use a little butter on cold bread, if this will make the food more appetizing. This would do you far less harm than to confine yourself to preparations of food that are not palatable.
12MR	173	2	Dr. Kellogg has prepared a potato flour, and this food I have used during my journey. It is made as a gruel, and some good cream is added to it. It is palatable, and does not produce any ill effects. I use some salt, and always have, because from the light given me by God, this article, in the place of being deleterious, is actually essential for the blood. The whys and wherefores of this I know not, but I give you the instruction as it is given me.
12MR	173	3	I have told you what I have because I have received light that you are injuring your body by a poverty-stricken diet. I must say to you that it will not be best for you to instruct the students as you have done in regard to the diet question, because your ideas in regard to discarding certain things will not be for the help of those who need help.
12MR	173	4	Brother and Sister Kress, I have all confidence in you, and I greatly desire that you may have physical health, in order that you may have perfect soundness spiritually. It is the lack of suitable food that has caused you to suffer so keenly. You have not taken the food essential to nourish your frail physical strength. You must not deny yourself of good wholesome food.
12MR	174	1	At one time Dr. Merritt Kellogg tried to teach our family to cook according to health reform, as he viewed it, without salt or anything else to season the food. Well, I determined to try it, but I became so reduced in strength that I had to make a change and a different policy was entered upon with great success. I tell you this because I know that you are in positive danger. Food should be prepared in such a way that it will be nourishing. It should not be robbed of that which the system needs.
12MR	174	2	The Lord calls upon Brother and Sister Kress to reform, to take periods of rest. It is not right for you to take burdens as you have done in the past. Unless you take heed, you will sacrifice that life which is so precious in the sight of the Lord. "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).
12MR	174	3	You love to obey the commandments of God. I would that your conscientious adherence to principle could be seen in Brother _____ and Dr. _____. Then they would work on altogether different lines. They would be a strength and a necessity to the sanitarium. These brethren need converting. Then the correct principles will be followed in the development of character.
12MR	174	4	Self is the hardest master to serve. And no one can serve self and Christ. The responsibility of Christian profession is often shunned as a yoke of bondage. Men shake it off as an intolerable burden, supposing that they will be disgraced unless they assert their dignity and their authority. Unless they wish to stand condemned before the heavenly universe, they must view in an altogether different light the wearing of the yoke of Christ. Unless they change, they will be humbled instead of exalted.
12MR	175	1	The religion of Christ is not what many have supposed it to be. Many have lost the holy principles of genuine Christlikeness. They make a pretense to follow Jesus, but self, dear self, is the mainspring of every action. They are not Christians, for Christ is dishonored by their misrepresentation of His example. They carry not with them the reviving hopes and helps of the gospel. These are kept in the outer court. They do not think it essential to blend the principles of Christ with their philosophy. They do not allow the Sun of Righteousness to give decided influence to their life-practice. Bible religion, reverence for God, homage to Christ, unswerving obedience to principle, are kept in the outer court. Christ has no personal contact with their lives. Their practice is far from the reality and sacredness of true religion.
12MR	175	2	God calls for whole-souled, upright, high-principled men. These are the men needed in our institutions. Those who are satisfied with half-and-half service can well be spared.
12MR	175	3	I arose very early this morning and wrote the foregoing before breakfast. I have more written on this subject, which the next mail may bring to you.
12MR	175	4	God calls upon those for whom Christ died to take proper care of themselves and set a right example to others. My brother, you are not to make a test for the people of God upon the question of diet, for they will lose confidence in teachings that are strained to the farthest point of extension. The Lord desires His people to be sound on every point in health reform, but we must not go to extremes. I have matter written on these points, but I shall not be able to get it copied for this mail. This that I now send you was opened distinctly before me last night. The reason for Dr. Kress's poor health is his overdrawing on his bank stock of health and then failing to replace the amount drawn out by wholesome, nutritious, palatable food. My brother, devote your whole life to Him who was crucified for you, but do not tie yourself down to a meager diet, for thus you misrepresent health reform.
12MR	176	1	While working against gluttony and intemperance, we are to remember the means and appliances of gospel truth, which commend themselves to sound judgment. In order to do our work in straight, simple lines, we must recognize the conditions to which the human family are subjected. God has made provisions for those who live in the different countries of the world. Those who desire to be co-workers with God must consider carefully how they teach health reform in God's great vineyard. They must move carefully in specifying just what food should and should not be eaten. The human messenger must unite with the divine Helper in presenting the message of mercy to the multitudes God would save.
12MR	176	2	We are to be brought into connection with the masses. Should health reform be taught them in its most extreme form, harm would be done. We ask them to leave off eating meat and drinking tea and coffee. That is well. But some say that milk also should be given up. This is a subject that needs to be carefully handled. There are poor families whose diet consists of bread and milk, and, if they can get it, a little fruit. All flesh food should be discarded, but vegetables should be made palatable with a little milk or cream or something equivalent. The poor say, when health reform is presented to them, "What shall we eat? We cannot afford to buy the nut foods." As I preach the gospel to the poor, I am instructed to tell them to eat that food which is most nourishing. I cannot say to them, "You must not eat eggs or milk or cream. You must use no butter in the preparation of food." The gospel must be preached to the poor, and the time has not yet come to prescribe the strictest diet.
12MR	177	1	The time will come when we may have to discard some of the articles of diet we now use, such as milk and cream and eggs, but my message is that you must not bring yourself to a time of trouble beforehand, and thus afflict yourself with death. Wait till the Lord prepares the way before you.
12MR	177	2	The reforms that are strained to the highest tension might accommodate a certain class who can obtain all they need to take the place of the things discarded, but this class forms a very small minority of the people, to whom these tests seem unnecessary. There are those who try to abstain from what is declared to be harmful. They fail to supply the system with proper nourishment, and as a consequence become weak and unable to work. Thus health reform is brought into disrepute. The work we have tried to build up solidly is confused with strange things that God has not required. The energies of the church are crippled.
12MR	177	3	But God will interfere to prevent the results of these too-strenuous ideas. The gospel is to harmonize the sinful race. It is to bring the rich and the poor together at the feet of Jesus.
12MR	178	1	This is all I can write today, for the mail must go soon. But I wish to say that when the time comes that it is no longer safe to use milk, cream, butter, and eggs, God will reveal this. No extremes in health reform are to be advocated. The question of using milk and butter and eggs will work out its own problem. At present we have no burden on this line. Let your moderation be known unto all men.
------------------------MR No. 961--Looking Back at Minneapolis
12MR	179	1	It was by faith I ventured to cross the Rocky Mountains for the purpose of attending the General Conference held in Minneapolis. We left Oakland for Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 2. A number of friends were on the same train and it was a pleasure for me to visit with them, but it was too much for my strength. I needed entire rest. I had a spasm of the heart that night and for several hours I suffered much with exhaustion. This illness so prostrated me that I was obliged, because of severe pain in my heart, to keep my berth nearly all the time through the entire journey.
12MR	179	2	We changed cars at Kansas City. The train that would take us to Minneapolis was gone and we had to wait over for several hours. The babble of confusion in the depot was almost unendurable. I could not remain there with any safety, and went out into the open air. A vacant place was found for me, and a trunk provided me a seat, but in a few minutes the heavy trucks loaded with baggage were rolled up and unloaded and the words, "Move, if you please, we must have this space," were so often repeated, wherever I might go, that I knew not what to do next. W. C. White, accompanied by a brother, went in search of some trace of our brethren living in that place, while Elder Jones and other brethren watched the baggage.
12MR	180	1	I was becoming exhausted when my hand was grasped, and I heard these words: "Why this is Sister White! How glad I am to see you once more! You have been at my father's house. My name is Mallory. We were to take the train for our home, but I must find my father, for he will be pleased to see you." I was grateful to meet with friends, and for the warm clasp of a friendly hand. Soon we were surrounded with brethren and sisters who were glad to see us and we to see them.
12MR	180	2	We were informed that this was to be the last day of their meeting.[The Kansas Camp Meeting was scheduled for October 3-8. See The Review and Herald, September 11, 1888, page 592.] The campground was about six miles away, on the outskirts of the city. Quite a number who had long distances to go had left to return to their homes, but a large number were still on the encampment. We were urged to go out on the streetcar and speak to them that night and in the morning. My son returned, accompanied by Brother Shireman, and after consulting together we decided to tarry overnight upon the encampment.
12MR	180	3	Elder Dan Jones and his wife kindly gave us their tent and we were made comfortable. We here met many friends whom we had not seen since the death of my husband. Elder Haskell spoke in the evening. That night messengers were sent miles through the city and into the country, riding the entire night, to inform those who had left of the arrival of friends from the Pacific coast, and that they would speak at the campground. Believers and unbelievers responded to the call. I was surprised to see so large a number assembled.
12MR	181	1	I stood before the people in great weakness, but the Lord, who has been my support and strength in all my labors, was my helper on this occasion. I felt the blessing of the Lord resting upon me as I presented the message the Lord gave me for them--the necessity of practical Bible religion, religion brought into their homes, the truth sanctifying the soul temple. I felt urged to reprove and rebuke and encourage souls.
12MR	181	2	There has come a double-mindedness and indecision, a halting, wavering instability among those who have had great light, many advantages, and rich opportunities. If they only would improve these advantages and opportunities by showing zeal, steadfastness, and devotion to God corresponding with the greatness of light that shines upon our pathway! God calls for men of decided purpose, of determined character, to do His work in these last days.
12MR	181	3	Great light shines upon this generation. Decided piety and pure living unto God will distinguish the people of God from the world. The Lord would not have His people looking down in discouragement, but looking up to the things that are not seen, which are eternal. Then as His people by faith follow in the path where Christ leads the way, there will be no backsliding, but advancing, keeping pace with the opening providence of God. Then shall we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. The world and its treasures sink into insignificance when our eyes are fastened upon the imperishable treasure. Let God be the object of our supreme love. Then a decided influence will go forth from those who believe the truth, upon the household and upon the neighborhood, and it will be as far-reaching as eternity.
12MR	181	4	Brother A.T. Jones spoke to the people, also Brother E.J. Waggoner, and the people heard many precious things that would be to them a comfort and a strength to their faith. They appreciated this, to them, all-important privilege.
12MR	182	1	The meeting closed and we were obliged to make a hasty farewell. We were unable to speak at all to a large number of our brethren and sisters, for our time was short and we were compelled to take the cars for the Kansas City depot. We regretted that we could not have been with our people at the earlier stage of the meeting. We had many things of great importance we would have been glad to present to them.
12MR	182	2	At Minneapolis we met a large delegation of ministers. I discerned at the very commencement of the meeting a spirit which burdened me. Discourses were preached that did not give the people the food which they so much needed. The dark and gloomy side of the picture was presented before them to hang in memory's hall. This would bring no light and spiritual freedom, but discouragement.
12MR	182	3	I felt deeply moved by the Spirit of the Lord Sabbath afternoon to call the minds of those present to the love God manifests to His people. The mind must not be permitted to dwell on the most objectionable features of our faith. In God's Word, which may be presented as a garden filled with roses and lilies and pinks, we may pluck by faith the precious promises of God, appropriate them to our own hearts, and be of good courage--yes, joyful in God--or we may keep our attention fastened on the briars and thistles and wound ourselves severely and bemoan our hard lot.
12MR	182	4	God is not pleased to have His people hanging dark and painful pictures in memory's hall. He would have every soul plucking the roses and the lilies and the pinks, hanging memory's hall with the precious promises of God blooming all over the garden of God. He would have us dwelling upon them, our senses sharp and clear, taking them in in their full richness, talking of the joy that is set before us. He would have us living in the world, yet not of it, our affections taking hold of eternal things. He would have us talking of the things which He has prepared for those that love Him. This will attract our minds, awaken our hopes and expectations, and strengthen our souls to endure the conflicts and trials of this life. As we dwell on these scenes the Lord will encourage our faith and confidence. He will draw aside the veil and give us glimpses of the saints' inheritance.
12MR	183	1	As I presented the goodness, the love, the tender compassion of our heavenly Father, I felt that the Spirit of the Lord was resting not only upon me but upon the people. Light and freedom and blessing came to the hearers and there was hearty response to the words spoken. The social meeting that followed evidenced that the Word had found lodgment in the hearts of the hearers. Many bore testimony that this day was the happiest of their lives, and it was indeed a precious season for we knew the presence of the Lord Jesus was in the assembly and that to bless. I knew that the special revealing of the Spirit of God was for a purpose, to quell the doubts, to roll back the tide of unbelief which had been admitted into hearts and minds concerning Sister White and the work the Lord had given her to do.
12MR	183	2	This was a season of refreshing to many souls, but it did not abide upon some. Just as soon as they saw that Sister White did not agree with all their ideas and harmonize with the propositions and resolutions to be voted upon in that conference, the evidence they had received had as little weight with some as did the words spoken by Christ in the synagogue to the Nazarenes. Their hearts were touched by the Spirit of God. They heard, as it were, God speaking to them through His Son. They saw, they felt, the divine influence of the Spirit of God and all witnessed to the gracious words that proceeded from His mouth. But Satan was at their side with his unbelief and they admitted the questioning and the doubts, and unbelief followed. The Spirit of God was quenched. In this madness they would have hurled Jesus from the precipice had not God protected Him that their rage did not harm Him. When Satan once has control of the mind he makes fools and demons of those who have been esteemed as excellent men. Prejudice, pride, and stubbornness are terrible elements to take possession of the human mind.
12MR	184	1	I had received a long epistle from Elder Butler, which I read carefully. I was surprised at its contents. I did not know what to do with this letter, but as the same sentiments expressed in it seemed to be working and controlling my brother ministers I called a few of them together in an upper room and read this letter to them. They did not, any of them, seem to be surprised at its contents, several saying they knew this was the mind of Elder Butler, for they had heard him state the same things. I then explained many things. I stated that which I knew was a right and righteous course to be pursued, brother toward brother, in the exercise of investigating the Scriptures. I knew the company before me were not viewing all the things in a correct light, therefore I stated many things. All my statements set forth correct principles to be acted upon, but I feared that my words made no impression upon them. They understood things in their way, and the light which I told them had been given me was to them as an idle tale.
12MR	184	2	I felt very much pained at heart over the condition of things. I made most earnest appeals to my brethren and sisters when assembled in the morning meetings, and entreated that we should make this occasion a season of profit, searching the Scriptures together with humility of heart. I entreated that there should not be such freedom in talking in regard to things of which they knew but little. All needed to learn lessons in the school of Christ. Jesus has invited, "Come unto me, all ye that labor 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). If we daily learn the lessons of humility and lowliness of heart, there will not be the feelings which exist at this meeting.
12MR	185	1	There are some differences of views on some subjects, but is this a reason for sharp, hard feelings? Shall envy and evil surmisings and imaginings, evil suspicion, hatred and jealousies become enthroned in the heart? All these things are evil and only evil. Our help is in God alone. Let us spend much time in prayer and in searching the Scriptures with a right spirit--anxious to learn and willing to be corrected or undeceived on any point where we may be in error. If Jesus is in our midst and our hearts are melted into tenderness by His love we shall have one of the best conferences we have ever attended.
12MR	185	2	There was much business to be done. The work had enlarged. New missions had been opened and new churches organized. All should be in harmony freely to consult together as brethren at work in the great harvest field, all working interestedly in the different branches of the work, and unselfishly considering how the Lord's work could be done to the best advantage. If ever there was a time when, as a conference, we needed the special grace and enlightenment of the Spirit of God, it was at this meeting. There was a power from beneath moving agencies to bring about a change in the Constitution and laws of our nation, which will bind the consciences of all those who keep the Bible Sabbath, plainly specified in the fourth commandment as the seventh day.
12MR	186	1	The time has come when every man should be found doing his duty to the utmost of his ability to hold up and vindicate the law of God before our own people and the world, working to the limit of his capacity and entrusted talents. Many are blinded, deceived by men who claim to be ministers of the gospel, and they influence very many to consider they are doing a good work for God when it is the work of Satan. Now, Satan had a council as to how he should keep pen and voice of Seventh-day Adventists silent. If he could only engage their attention and divert their powers in a direction to weaken and divide them his prospect would be fair.
12MR	186	2	Satan has done his work with some success. There has been variance of feelings, and division. There has been much jealousy and evil surmising. There have been many unsanctified speeches, hints, and remarks. The minds of the men who should be heart and soul at work, prepared to do mighty strokes for God at this very time are absorbed in matters of little consequence. Because the ideas of some are not exactly in accordance with their own on every point of doctrine involving minor ideas and theories which are not vital questions, the great question of the nation's religious liberty, now involving so much, is to many a matter of little consequence.
12MR	186	3	Satan has been having things his own way; but the Lord has raised up men and given them a solemn message to bear to His people, to wake up the mighty men to prepare for battle, for the day of God's preparation. This message Satan sought to make of none effect, and when every voice and every pen should have been intensely at work to stay the workings and powers of Satan there was a drawing apart; there were differences of opinion. This was not at all the way of the Lord. At this meeting the subject of the law in Galatians was brought before the ministers. This subject had been brought into the conference three years before. We have a letter, extracts from which we will here present, which letter was written while in Basel, Switzerland, and sent to Brethren A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner.
12MR	187	1	We know that if all would come to the Scriptures with hearts subdued and controlled by the influence of the Spirit of God, there would be brought to the examination of the Scriptures a calm mind, free from prejudice and pride of opinion. The light from the Lord would shine upon His Word and the truth would be revealed. But there should be prayerful, painstaking effort and much patience, to answer the prayer of Christ that His disciples may be one as He is one with the Father. The earnest, sincere prayer will be heard and the Lord will answer. The Holy Spirit will quicken the mental faculties and there will be a seeing eye to eye. "The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Psalm 119:130).
12MR	187	2	Elder E. J. Waggoner had the privilege granted him of speaking plainly and presenting his views upon justification by faith and the righteousness of Christ in relation to the law. This was no new light, but it was old light placed where it should be in the third angel's message. What is the burden of that message? John sees a people. He says, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). This people John beholds just before he sees the Son of man "having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle" (verse 14).
12MR	188	1	The faith of Jesus has been overlooked and treated in an indifferent, careless manner. It has not occupied the prominent position in which it was revealed to John. Faith in Christ as the sinner's only hope has been largely left out, not only of the discourses given but of the religious experience of very many who claim to believe the third angel's message. At this meeting I bore testimony that the most precious light had been shining forth from the Scriptures in the presentation of the great subject of the righteousness of Christ connected with the law, which should be constantly kept before the sinner as his only hope of salvation. This was not new light to me, for it had come to me from higher authority for the last forty-four years, and I had presented it to our people by pen and voice in the testimonies of His Spirit. But very few had responded except by assent to the testimonies borne upon this subject. There was altogether too little spoken and written upon this great question. The discourses of some might be correctly represented as like the offering of Cain--Christless.
12MR	188	2	The standard by which to measure character is the royal law. The law is the sin detector. By the law is the knowledge of sin. But the sinner is constantly being drawn to Jesus by the wonderful manifestation of His love in that He humiliated Himself to die a shameful death upon the cross. What a study is this! Angels have striven, earnestly longed, to look into this wonderful mystery. It is a study that can tax the highest human intelligence, that man, fallen, deceived by Satan, taking Satan's side of the question, can be conformed to the image of the Son of the infinite God--that man shall be like Him, that, because of the righteousness of Christ given to man, God will love man, fallen but redeemed, even as He loved His Son. Read it right out of the living oracles.
12MR	189	1	This is the mystery of godliness. This picture is of the highest value. It is to be meditated upon, placed in every discourse, hung in memory's hall, uttered by human lips, and traced by human beings who have tasted and known that the Lord is good. It is to be the groundwork of every discourse. There have been dry theories presented and precious souls are starving for the bread of life. This is not the preaching that is required or that the God of heaven will accept, for it is Christless. The divine picture of Christ must be kept before the people. He is that Angel standing in the sun of heaven. He reflects no shadows. Clothed in the attributes of Deity, shrouded in the glories of Deity, and in the likeness of the infinite God, He is to be lifted up before men. When this is kept before the people, creature merit sinks into insignificance. The more the eye looks upon Him, the more His life, His lessons, His perfection of character are studied, the more sinful and abhorrent will sin appear. By beholding, man can but admire and become more attracted to Him, more charmed, and more desirous to be like Jesus until he assimilates to His image and has the mind of Christ. Like Enoch he walks with God. His mind is full of thoughts of Jesus. He is his best friend.
12MR	189	2	We have been pained to see, when ministers are much together and laboring together, that one catches the ways and the attitudes and the gestures, the manner of address, the very tones of the voice, of another, until his identity is lost in that of his associate. This causes me pain of heart, because I know that if he had been looking to Jesus, thinking of Jesus, talking of His love and imitating His character, the stamp of Jesus would be upon him and not the human impress of finite beings who, in words, manners, and spirit, but faintly represent the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. If every minister who claims to love Jesus will only be filled with His charms and become assimilated to His image, what an example would he give to his brethren and to the world! The more ministers are in the company of Christ by communing with Him, the more they will be fastened to Christ. Catching His holy looks and copying His holy ways, they will be transformed into His image. They may be truly said to represent Jesus Christ.
12MR	190	1	"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1). Study Christ. Study His character, feature by feature. He is our pattern that we are required to copy in our lives and our characters, else we fail to represent Jesus, but present to the world a spurious copy. Do not imitate any man, for men are defective in habits, in speech, in manners, in character. I present before you the Man Christ Jesus. You must individually know Him as your Saviour before you can study Him as your pattern and your example. Said Paul, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.... Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them" (Romans 1:16-19).
12MR	190	2	We felt deeply and solemnly grateful to God that minds were being stirred by the Spirit of God to see Christ in the living oracles and to represent Him to the world, but not in words merely. They see the Scripture requirements that all who claim to be followers of Christ are under obligation to walk in His footsteps, to be imbued with His Spirit, and thus to present to the world Jesus Christ, who came to our world to represent the Father. In representing Christ we represent God to our world. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Romans 8:9). Let us inquire, Are we reflecting in the church and before the world the character of Jesus Christ? A great deal deeper study is required of us in searching the Scriptures. Placing the righteousness of Christ in the law distinctly reveals God in His true character and reveals the law as holy, just, and good, glorious indeed when seen in its true character.
12MR	191	1	If all our ministering brethren could have come to their Bibles together, with the spirit of Christ, respecting each other, and with true Christian courtesy, the Lord would have been their instructor. But the Lord has no chance to impress minds over which Satan has so great power. Everything that does not harmonize with their mind and their human judgment will appear in shadows and dark outlines.
12MR	191	2	Self has far more to do with our religious experience than we imagine. When self is crucified, when the stubborn will is subdued, then the language of the heart will be, "Not my will, but Thine, be done, O God, whose I am and whom I serve." "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." None will be as fixed stars, cold and immovable. This selfish, worldly dignity will no longer be maintained. There will be a beautiful blending of purity, elevation and nobility, which is wisdom from above and the meekness and lowliness of Jesus Christ. An innocent lamb was chosen as a representation of Christ.
12MR	191	3	Selfishness is written on the human heart in plain, unmistakable characters. Just as soon as the love of God takes its place, there is the image and superscription of Jesus Christ. His entire life amid a world filled with pride and selfishness was without an exception an embodiment of that charity that suffereth long, and is kind: that envieth not; that "vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Here is presented before us the fruits of the grace of God which every follower of Christ will manifest in his life and reveal in his character. If these manifestations are wanting, there must be most earnest seeking of God. By repentance and faith in Jesus Christ we may receive the spirit of Christ here specified, and then we may indeed be called children of God and not children of the wicked one. We must have greater faith; then we shall have more of Christ.
12MR	192	1	My burden during the meeting was to present Jesus and His love before my brethren, for I saw marked evidences that many had not the spirit of Christ. My mind was kept in peace, stayed upon God, and I felt sad to see that a different spirit had come into the experience of our brother ministers, and that it was leavening the camp. There was, I knew, a remarkable blindness upon the minds of many, that they did not discern where the Spirit of God was and what constituted true Christian experience. To consider that these were the ones who had the guardianship of the flock of God was painful. The destitution of true faith, the hands hung down, because not lifted up in sincere prayer! Some felt no need of prayer. Their own judgment, they felt, was sufficient, and they had no sense that the enemy of all good was guiding their judgment. They were as soldiers going unarmed and unarmored to the battle. Can we marvel that the discourses were Spiritless, that the living water of life refused to flow through obstructed channels, and that the light of heaven could not penetrate the dense fog of lukewarmness and sinfulness?
12MR	193	1	I was able to sleep but a few hours. I was writing all hours of the morning, frequently rising at two and at three a.m. and relieving my mind by writing upon the subjects that were presented before me. My heart was pained to see the spirit that controlled some of our ministering brethren, and this spirit seemed to be contagious. There was much talking done.
12MR	193	2	When I stated before my brethren that I had heard for the first time the views of Elder E. J. Waggoner, some did not believe me. I stated that I had heard precious truths uttered that I could respond to with all my heart, for had not these great and glorious truths, the righteousness of Christ and the entire sacrifice made in behalf of man, been imprinted indelibly on my mind by the Spirit of God? Has not this subject been presented in the testimonies again and again? When the Lord had given to my brethren the burden to proclaim this message I felt inexpressibly grateful to God, for I knew it was the message for this time.
12MR	193	3	The third angel's message is the proclamation of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The commandments of God have been proclaimed, but the faith of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists as of equal importance, the law and the gospel going hand in hand. I cannot find language to express this subject in its fullness.
12MR	193	4	"The faith of Jesus." It is talked of, but not understood. What constitutes the faith of Jesus, that belongs to the third angel's message? Jesus becoming our sin-bearer that He might become our sin-pardoning Saviour. He was treated as we deserve to be treated. He came to our world and took our sins that we might take His righteousness. Faith in the ability of Christ to save us amply and fully and entirely is the faith of Jesus.
12MR	194	1	The only safety for the Israelites was blood upon the doorposts. God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). All other devices for safety would be without avail. Nothing but the blood on the doorposts would bar the way that the angel of death should not enter. There is salvation for the sinner in the blood of Jesus Christ alone, which cleanseth us from all sin. The man with a cultivated intellect may have vast stores of knowledge, he may engage in theological speculations, he may be great and honored of men and be considered the repository of knowledge, but unless he has a saving knowledge of Christ crucified for him, and by faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, he is lost. Christ "was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). "Saved by the blood of Jesus Christ," will be our only hope for time and our song throughout eternity.
12MR	194	2	When I plainly stated my faith there were many who did not understand me and they reported that Sister White had changed; Sister White was influenced by her son, W. C. White, and by Elder A. T. Jones. Of course such a statement coming from the lips of those who had known me for years, who had grown up with the third angel's message and had been honored by the confidence and faith of our people, must have influence. I became the subject of remarks and criticism, but no one of our brethren came to me and made inquiries or sought any explanation from me. We tried most earnestly to have all our ministering brethren who were rooming in the house meet in an unoccupied room and unite our prayers together, but did not succeed in this but two or three times. They chose to go to their rooms and have their conversation and prayers by themselves. There did not seem to be any opportunity to break down the prejudice that was so firm and determined. We had no chance to remove the misunderstanding in regard to myself, my son, and E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones.
12MR	195	1	I tried to make another effort. I had that morning at an early hour written matter that should come before our brethren, for then my words would not be misstated. Quite a number of our leading responsible men were present, and I deeply regretted that a much larger number were not taken into this council, for some of those present, I knew, began to see things in a different light, and many more would have been benefited had they had the opportunity to hear what I had to say. But they did not know and were not benefited with my explanations and with the plain "Thus saith the Lord" which I gave them.
12MR	195	2	Questions were asked at that time. "Sister White, do you think that the Lord has any new and increased light for us as a people?" I answered, "Most assuredly. I do not only think so, I but can speak understandingly. I know that there is precious truth to be unfolded to us if we are the people that are to stand in the day of God's preparation."
12MR	195	3	Then the question was asked whether I thought the matter better drop where it was, after Brother Waggoner had stated his views of the law in Galatians. I said, "By no means. We want all on both sides of the question." But I stated that the spirit I had seen manifested at the meeting was unreasonable. I insisted that there should be a right spirit, a Christlike spirit manifested, such as Elder E. J. Waggoner had shown all through the presentation of his views; and that this matter should not be handled in a debating style. I urged that this matter should be handled in a Christlike spirit and that there should be no thrust made against the brethren who differed with them. As Elder E. J. Waggoner had conducted himself like a Christian gentleman they should do the same, giving the arguments on their side of the question in a straightforward manner.
12MR	196	1	I told them I had been shown that some of our brethren had educated themselves as debaters. The process of this education and the mold received by such an education were not after God's order, neither did they meet the approval of God. In many respects men trained in this kind of school unfitted themselves to become pastors of the sheep and lambs; and in combating an opponent, as in the way of discussions, usually harm is done with but little good results. The combative spirit is raised in both parties, and a defiant, hard spirit becomes habitual when their track is crossed. They become criticizers and do not always handle the Scriptures fairly, but wrest the Scriptures to make their point.
12MR	196	2	The remark was made, "If our views of Galatians are not correct, then we have not the third angel's message, and our position goes by the board; there is nothing to our faith." I said, "Brethren, here is the very thing I have been telling you. This statement is not true. It is an extravagant, exaggerated statement. If it is made in the discussion of this question I shall feel it my duty to set this matter before all that are assembled, and whether they hear or forbear, tell them the statement is incorrect. The question at issue is not a vital question and should not be treated as such. The wonderful importance and magnitude of this subject has been exaggerated. For this reason--through misconception and perverted ideas--we see the spirit that prevails at this meeting, which is un-Christlike, and which we should never see exhibited among brethren. There has been a spirit of Pharisaism coming in among us which I shall lift my voice against wherever it may be revealed."
12MR	197	1	Again, a brother said, "Perhaps you think nothing should be said on the other side of the question." My son Willie and I spoke decidedly that we would not have the matter end here by any means, but we desired that they should bring out all the evidence on both sides of the question, for all we wanted was the truth, Bible truth, to be brought before the people.
12MR	197	2	What was my astonishment to learn the next morning that a meeting was called where the statement was made that they felt bad, for Sister White was opposed to the other side of the question being discussed! One in the meeting went for my son, W. C. White, who was entirely ignorant of the meeting, and advised him to come in. Apparently there was a very mournful presentation of the case, which created great sympathy for the brethren who were crippled and not allowed a chance to set forth their ideas. My son said he would speak in behalf of his mother, who was just as desirous--and more so now that Elder Waggoner had spoken--to hear all that was to be said on the other side of the question; and she had spoken thus decidedly in the council of the ministers the night before. Thus the matter was set before them in the correct light.
12MR	197	3	When they came into the meeting in the morning I was surprised to hear Elder _____ make the kind of speech he did before a large audience of believers and unbelievers--a speech which I knew could not be dictated by the Spirit of the Lord. He was followed by Elder _____, who made remarks of the same order, before Brother _____ began his talk, which was all calculated to create sympathy which I knew was not after God's order. It was human but not divine. And for the first time I began to think it might be we did not hold correct views after all upon the law in Galatians, for the truth required no such spirit to sustain it.
12MR	198	1	Brother _____, who first spoke in decided, unqualified language, deplored the introduction of the subject of the law in Galatians. He stated, over and over again, that he greatly deplored the introduction of this question and that he was so sorry it should be introduced at a time when Elder Butler was sick and could not be present to manage this matter. With emphasis he stated that it was a cowardly thing to broach this matter when Elder Butler could not be present, as he was best prepared to handle this question. There were many things said which astonished me, both by Elder _____ and Elder _____. These men were speaking these things before a mixed congregation. The house was full. And these were the ones who felt that it was not the thing to do to bring this subject for investigation before any but the ministering brethren!
12MR	198	2	Elder Waggoner had taken a straightforward course, not involving personalities, to thrust anyone or to ridicule anyone. He conducted the subject as a Christian gentleman should, in a kind and courteous manner. This was acknowledged to be the case by those who were holding opposite views. If only Elder _____ had done the same, and had entered upon the work without these preliminaries before a large congregation, many not of our faith being present! Their course of action and their expressed ideas and objections against presenting these subjects before even our own people did not harmonize.
12MR	198	3	I could see a great want of wise discrimination and of good judgment. The evil of such things has often been presented before me. The difference of opinion was made apparent to both believers and unbelievers. These things made such an impression upon my mind that I felt that my brethren had met with a great change. This matter had been set before me while I was in Europe, in figures and symbols, but the explanation was given me afterwards so that I was not left in the dark in regard to the state of our churches and of our ministering brethren.
12MR	199	1	Language cannot express the burden and distress of my soul. I had been passing through deep and painful exercise of soul in Switzerland as the conference held in Battle Creek three years before was presented before me. The same distress and anguish of mind were upon me. I had not one doubt or question in regard to the matter. I knew the light which had been presented to us in clear and distinct lines.
12MR	199	2	The brethren had all the evidence they would ever have that words of truth were spoken in regard to the righteousness of Christ. I knew that if they had distinguished the voice of the true Shepherd, if they had opened their hearts to receive the light, such speeches would never be made to create sympathy and leave the impression upon the congregation that we were at variance and at enmity one with the other.
12MR	199	3	Had my efforts that I made before some of the prominent men in responsible positions done any good? Certainly my labors seemed to be in vain. There was a spirit upon our brethren that I never met in them before.
12MR	199	4	I returned to my room questioning what was the best course for me to pursue. Many hours that night were spent in prayer in regard to the law in Galatians. This was a mere mote. Whichever way was in accordance with a "Thus saith the Lord," my soul would say, Amen, and Amen. But the spirit that was controlling our brethren was so unlike the spirit of Jesus, so contrary to the spirit that should be exercised toward each other, it filled my soul with anguish.
12MR	200	1	In the next morning's meeting for the ministers I had some plain things to say to my brethren, which I dared not withhold. The salt had lost its savor, the fine gold become dim. Spiritual darkness was upon the people and many evidenced that they were moved with a power from beneath, for the result was just such as would be the case when they were not under the illumination of the Spirit of God. What pages of history were being made by the recording angel! The leaven had indeed done its sharp work, and nearly leavened the lump. I had a message of reproof and warning for my brethren, I knew. My soul was pressed with anguish. To say these things to my brethren caused me far greater anguish than they caused those to whom they were addressed. Through the grace of Christ I experienced a divine compelling power to stand before my ministering brethren, in the name of the Lord, hoping and praying that the Lord would open the blind eyes. I was strengthened to say the words which my secretary took in shorthand. (Here comes in Morning Talk, October 24. [See Manuscript 9, 1888, published in thirteen crisis years, pp. 300-303.])
12MR	201	2	I thought I had done all that I could do to present the light which the Lord had given me and that I would quietly withdraw from the meeting and answer the earnest solicitation of my brethren and sisters to speak to them in Kansas City. There was firm and decided resistance to anything that I might say that did not harmonize with the ideas of those present in regard to their treatment of Brethren A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner and those who did not fully harmonize with their own views. Conjectures, much talk, and hard speeches gave evidence of what kind of a spirit was in those who made them. False statements and surmisings were current, but no one came to me to ask if there was any truth in these things. I was in their midst. I would have talked freely with any of them and would have enlightened their minds if they had had any desire to be enlightened.
12MR	201	1	It was evident that a spirit had been at work for years to bring about this state of things. It was no sudden work. Our brethren never did have and never will have any greater evidence that God was with me, working with me and by me for the benefit of His people, than they had at that conference. It was evident that a delusion was upon our brethren. They had lost confidence in Sister White, not because Sister White had changed but because another spirit had taken possession and control of them. Satan's purpose is, through his devices, to make of none effect the testimonies of the Spirit of God. If he can lead the minds of the people of God to see things in a perverted light, they will lose confidence in the messages God sends through His servants; then he can the more readily deceive, and not be detected.
12MR	201	2	If our brethren had been divested of prejudice, if they had had the Spirit of Christ and spiritual discernment, reasoning from cause to effect, they would not have borne false witness against me. They would not have made the statement that Sister White was influenced by W. C. White, A. T. Jones, and E. J. Waggoner.
12MR	201	3	The charge of my being influenced has been brought against me by first-day Adventists and by those to whom the Lord has sent warnings, cautions, and reproof. "Someone has influenced Sister White," they have said, "Someone has told her these things." This I have had to meet from the very first day of my labors. Everyone who has been reproved and has apostatized has had these things to say.
12MR	202	1	One thing many did know, and that is that they were guilty of the very things for which they were reproved, but rather than humble their proud hearts and confess their sins, they threw themselves fully on Satan's ground to work wickedness. They are of that class of whom Christ said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). "Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:20).
12MR	202	2	The Lord was testing and proving His people who had had great light, whether they would walk in it or turn from it under temptation, for but few know what manner of spirit they are of until circumstances shall be of a character to test the spirit which prompts to action. In many the natural heart is a controlling power, and yet they do not suppose that pride and prejudice are entertained as cherished guests, and work in words and actions against light and truth.
12MR	202	3	Our brethren who have occupied leading positions in the work and the cause of God should have been so closely connected with the Source of all light that they would not call light darkness and darkness light. They had the example of those before them who had claimed to believe the truth but who, when mercifully reproved for sin and errors, gave loose rein to their own natural temperament and opposed the work of the Spirit of the Lord. They had seen these go farther and farther in darkness until they became apostates to the truth. And they do not discern that they are in the greatest peril, if, notwithstanding the course and marked example of others, they blindly stumble into the same path of doubt, unbelief, and rejection of light sent of God, because it does not coincide with their ideas. They do not seem to understand that if the Lord sent them reproof it was because He loved them.
12MR	203	1	A Christian is the highest type of a man because he is Christlike, and when he departs from the principles that are after Christ's order he is often ignorant that he has done wrong. The Lord sets the case before him as it is, as he is. He does not specify all his wrongs, but gives him a chance to manifest that he is a true child of God by his repentance and confession, not only of the sins specified but of those which conscience sets in order before him.
12MR	203	2	In doing this work [becoming Christlike] he reveals he has made an open rupture with Satan and with sin. He feels his weakness, he lays hold with earnest purpose and living faith upon the strength of God, and is an overcomer. Great becomes his peace, his joy, for it comes from the Lord, and there is nothing more acceptable in the sight of God than the continual humiliation of the soul before Him. These evidences are unmistakable proofs that the Lord has touched hearts by His Holy Spirit. More wonderful than miracles of physical healing is the miracle wrought in the child of God in wrestling with natural defects and overcoming them. The universe of God looks upon him with joy far greater than on any splendid outward display. The inward character is molded after the divine Pattern.
12MR	203	3	But when men in high positions of trust will, when under pressure, say that Sister White is influenced by any human being, they certainly have no more use for messages that come from such a source. This was freely spoken at the Minneapolis meeting, and it came from the lips of men who were acquainted with me, with my manner of life, and the character of my labor, men who had made the most of the testimonies in times past in correcting existing evils in the churches, who had felt no hesitancy in declaring their authenticity--that they bore the Divine credentials. Was it all contrary to the Lord's manner of working to send messages to ministers and churches? Has it not been His way of dealing with His people in the past?
12MR	204	1	Why were not these men, who knew of these things, afraid to lift their hand against me and my work for no reason except their imagination that I was not in harmony with their spirit and their course of action toward men whom they and I had reason to respect? These men were just as sincere as those who criticized, men of correct principles--but who did not harmonize with their views concerning the law in Galatians. I knew how the Lord regarded their spirit and action and if they did thus in ignorance, through perverted ideas, they have had all the opportunity God will ever give them to know He has given these men [A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner] a work to do, and a message to bear which is present truth for this time. They knew that wherever this message comes its fruits are good. A vigor and a vital energy are brought into the church, and where the message is accepted, there hope and courage and faith beam in the countenances of all those who open their eyes to see, their understanding to perceive and their hearts to receive the great treasure of truth.
12MR	204	2	Holding up Christ as our only source of strength, presenting His matchless love in having the guilt of the sins of men charged to His account and His own righteousness imputed to man, in no case does away with the law or detracts from its dignity. Rather, it places it where the correct light shines upon and glorifies it. This is done only through the light reflected from the cross of Calvary. The law is complete and full in the great plan of salvation, only as it is presented in the light shining from the crucified and risen Saviour. This can be only spiritually discerned. It kindles in the heart of the beholder ardent faith, hope, and joy that Christ is his righteousness. This joy is only for those who love and keep the words of Jesus, which are the words of God. Were my brethren in the light the words that the Lord gave me for them would find a response in the hearts of those for whom I labored.
12MR	205	1	As I saw that the hearts with which I longed to be in harmony were padlocked by prejudice and unbelief, I thought best for me to leave them. My purpose was to go from Minneapolis the first of the week. Brother Kilgore came with a request that I should speak the next day, but I said, "No, my brother, I can say nothing that many of my ministering brethren consider to be of any value to them. I must not work and exhaust my strength needlessly. I must go away and see what the Lord has for me to do elsewhere, for I know I have a message to bear to His people."
12MR	205	2	I wished to meditate, to pray, [that I might know] in what manner we could work to present the subject of sin and atonement in the Bible light before the people. They were greatly needing this kind of instruction that they might give the light to others and have the blessed privilege of being workers together with God in gathering in and bringing home the sheep of His fold. What power must we have from God that icy hearts, having only a legal religion, should see the better things provided for them--Christ and His righteousness! A life-giving message was needed to give life to the dry bones.
------------------------MR No. 962--The Value of Pictures in Educating Children
12MR	206	1	Edson, your method of instructing from pictures for the Southern school is an excellent idea. These pictures can be got up as cheaply as possible. You might talk till you were weary to get ideas into the heads of the colored [or any] children, but give them a similitude, an object, and the lesson becomes stamped upon the mind never to be forgotten. This is why the Gospel Primer has been and will continue to be effective.
------------------------MR No. 963--The Days of Noah
12MR	207	1	As they reasoned in Noah's day they reason today, when the warning message is proclaimed to fear God and keep His commandments. The wrath of God is soon to fall on all the sinful and disobedient, and they will perish in the general conflagration. Professed servants of Christ who are unfaithful, who do not reverence God and with fear prepare for the terrible future event, will lull themselves to carnal security with their fallacious reasoning, as they did in Noah's day. "God is too good and too merciful [they reason] to save just a few who keep the Sabbath and believe the message of warning. The great men and the good men, the philosophers and men of wisdom would see the Sabbath and the shortness of time, if it were true." They do not believe a merciful God who made men will consume them with fire because they do not believe the warnings given. This, they reason, is not in accordance with God....
12MR	207	2	God's love is represented in our day as being of such a character as would forbid His destroying the sinner. Men reason from their own low standard of right and justice. "Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself" (Psalm 50:21). They measure God by themselves. They reason as to how they would act under the circumstances and decide God would do as they imagine they would do.
12MR	208	1	God's goodness and long forbearance, His patience and mercy exercised to His subjects, will not hinder Him from punishing the sinner who refused to be obedient to His requirements. It is not for a man--a criminal against God's holy law, pardoned only through the great sacrifice He made in giving His Son to die for the guilty because His law was changeless--to dictate to God. After all this effort on the part of God to preserve the sacred and exalted character of His law, if men, through the sophistry of the devil, turn the mercy and condescension of God into a curse, they must suffer the penalty. Because Christ died they consider they have liberty to transgress God's holy law that condemns the transgressor, and would complain of its strictness and its penalty as severe and unlike God. They are uttering the words Satan utters to millions, to quiet their conscience in rebellion against God.
12MR	208	2	In no kingdom or government is it left to the lawbreakers to say what punishment is to be executed against those who have broken the law. All we have, all the bounties of His grace which we possess, we owe to God. The aggravating character of sin against such a God cannot be estimated any more than the heavens can be measured with a span. God is a moral governor as well as a Father. He is the Lawgiver. He makes and executes His laws. Law that has no penalty is of no force.
12MR	208	3	The plea may be made that a loving Father would not see His children suffering the punishment of God by fire while He had the power to relieve them. But God would, for the good of His subjects and for their safety, punish the transgressor. God does not work on the plan of man. He can do infinite justice that man has no right to do before his fellow man. Noah would have displeased God to have drowned one of the scoffers and mockers that harassed him, but God drowned the vast world. Lot would have had no right to inflict punishment on his sons-in-law, but God would do it in strict justice.
------------------------MR No. 964--SDA Work in England in 1887
			Healdsburg, California, December 8, 1887
12MR	210	1	Dear Brother [Haskell], I have written letters to you, but did not send them, thinking we should find someone to go to England. Thought I would wait a little longer, as no one seems to appear in this part of the world.
12MR	210	2	The decision was made to recall Brother and Sister Robinson from Africa. This, I think, is the only thing that can be done, and we hope this movement may relieve the situation.
12MR	210	3	I am sorry that Brother and Sister Ings cannot remain and have good health in England, but we did not expect they would be able to stay in England through the winter. Now the winter is about half gone, so you see how fast time flies....
12MR	210	4	I have said and done all in my power to arouse the people to act in reference to Europe. I know that I have not labored in vain. Many have given of their means, and we will trust in the Lord still.
12MR	210	5	I hoped to hear from you, my brethren, and I hope that the meetings we have had and all that we have said will counteract the impressions made upon the minds that but little firm work has been done in England, and that their means has been sent across the water for naught; that it would have been better if nothing had been done. It has cost us a tremendous effort to place the work in its true character before the people, and especially before Brother J. In the conference it was voted to send $1,000 in publications to England. Brother J opposed it, and I had to give a most decided testimony in favor of this, and the vote was carried over his head. He favored the Review and Herald giving $1,000 to the African Mission, but opposed the other.
------------------------MR No. 965--Counsels to E. J. Waggoner
			"Elmshaven" Sanitarium, California, July 7, 1902
12MR	212	1	Dear Brother Waggoner, To every man is given his work. No one mind can give a complete presentation of truth. The Lord has many servants whom He is leading and teaching, giving them wisdom and knowledge. Those who would be successful teachers of the gospel must be learners with those whom they teach.
12MR	212	2	Our teachers of wide experience must remember that their brethren and sisters cannot be expected to see at once all that they see of Bible truth. They must guard against the inclination to give them too large mouthfuls of spiritual food. Some have keen perceptive faculties and can quickly grasp the subjects presented. Others need more time. They must meditate, consider, pray, and compare scripture with scripture.
12MR	212	3	Our lesson for the present time is, How may we most clearly comprehend and present the gospel that Christ came in person to present to John on the isle of Patmos--the gospel that is termed "the Revelation of Jesus Christ"? We are to present to our people a clear explanation of Revelation. We are to give them the Word of God just as it is, with as few of our own explanations as possible. No one mind can do this work alone. Although we have in trust the grandest and most important truth ever presented to the world, we are only babes, as far as understanding truth in all its bearings is concerned. Christ is the great Teacher, and that which He revealed to John, we are to tax our minds to understand and clearly to define. We are facing the most important issues that men have ever been called upon to meet. The theme of greatest importance is the third angel's message, embracing the messages of the first and second angels. All should understand the truths contained in these messages and demonstrate them in daily life, for this is essential to salvation. We shall have to study earnestly, prayerfully, in order to understand these grand truths; and our power to learn and comprehend will be taxed to the utmost.
12MR	213	1	As to the Bible's being the textbook in our schools, we know that it is to be so. But we are not to approach people abruptly with the bare assertion. Nothing will so successfully demonstrate the truth of the statement that the Bible is to be our textbook as success in using it as such.
12MR	213	2	We are the Lord's family, His children, and by Him we are to be instructed in regard to what is and what will be in the future. Vigilant waiting and earnest looking are required in the preparation for the solemn events soon to take place. The perfect man in Christ does not spend all his time in waiting, in meditation and contemplation. While we should have quiet, prayerful hours of meditation when we leave the busy bustle and excitement to commune with God, to learn from Him His will concerning us, we are not to forget that we have a positive message of warning to bear to the world. Enoch walked with God, and he bore a message of warning to the inhabitants of the old world. His words and actions, his example of piety, were a continual witness in favor of the truth. In an age no more favorable to the development of a pure, holy character than is the present age, he lived a life of obedience. So filled had the earth become with impurity that the Lord washed it by a flood. He turned the world upside down, as it were, to empty it of its corruption.
12MR	214	1	Enoch was holy because he walked with God in God's way. In him the world had an example of what those will be who when Christ comes are caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air. As Enoch was, so are we to be. Personal piety is to be blended with the most earnest and energetic warnings and appeals. We are to point to what is, with what is to be following fast after. We are instructed to be "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11). We are to be earnest in our efforts to clear the King's highway, to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. Fervency of spirit must be brought into our service for the Lord. The lamps of the soul must be kept filled and burning.
12MR	214	2	Service for God demands the whole being--heart, mind, soul, and strength. Without reservation, we are to give ourselves to God, that we may bear the image of the heavenly instead of the image of the earthly. There must be a quickening of the sensibilities, that the mind may be fully awake to the work to be done for all classes, high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant. We are to reveal the tenderness shown by the great Shepherd as He gathers the lambs in His arms and carefully guards His flock from harm, leading it in safe paths. Christ's followers are to show His tenderness and sympathy and they must also show His intensity of desire to impart the truths which mean eternal life to the receiver.
12MR	214	3	To be good and to do good--this is our part. The heart must be right with God. The affections must be devoted to Him. To the world, to angels, and to men we are to show the blessed results of being in God's service, of conforming to His will, and bearing His sign, shown by observance of the Seventh-day Sabbath. The reverence that we show to this day is the sign that we accept Jehovah as our God.
12MR	215	1	The keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath is to be the great test in these last days. Thus is to be drawn the line of demarcation between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. By keeping this day holy we acknowledge before the universe that we worship Him who by His power created the world. We acknowledge also that life is found in obedience.
12MR	215	2	Spiritual life means full obedience to God. He who has this life possesses a knowledge of heavenly things, and with this knowledge there comes continual sanctification to God. The whole being is conformed to His will. There is a capacity to receive more and still more. There is a greater and still greater desire to obtain the knowledge that is from God. Intellectual attainments will surely be the result. As we gain Bible knowledge, it is as if we were eating of the leaves of the tree of life. Duties and privileges are perceived with the keenest relish. There comes an experimental knowledge of the pardoning love of God. There is peace and purity, conflict and victory. The heart is filled with love to God and man.
12MR	215	3	The knowledge of God comes from the doing of the things required in God's law. The experience thus gained will be proportionate to the development of the life, proportionate to the capacity to receive and to the faithfulness with which the capabilities are used to the glory of God. There is no halfway work about this. Profession and assertion are nothing. Our knowledge will surely be proportionate to our Christlikeness of character. The gaining of this knowledge will be to the receiver eternal life. No other knowledge can take the place of this. We may have all the knowledge on secular subjects that is within mental reach, but this knowledge does not communicate the mysteries of the higher life. The heavenly calling demands larger, broader, higher capacities. Words can never impart this knowledge. It comes from God. Having gained it, we have passed from spiritual death to spiritual life, knowing Him who is our life, our sanctification, our righteousness.
12MR	216	1	Those who have gained this knowledge value aright the privilege of communion with Him who is their life, Him in whom they believe, who declares that to all who receive Him, He will give power to become the sons of God. To him they have committed the keeping of the soul. Their knowledge of God and of Christ, their Redeemer, is genuine. They know that were their earthly tabernacle dissolved, they have a home not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
12MR	216	2	This is the rest that we may have in Christ. The effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever.
12MR	216	3	We must now do more than make attempts to serve God. We must show an earnestness that will convince unbelievers that we have the truth. We must show certainty of faith and action, making known what is and what is to be.
12MR	216	4	To every one of us are spoken the words of Paul to Timothy: "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:16). Self must first be brought into close connection with Christ. We are to work for Him with vigilance and solicitude, with strong, persevering effort, with self-denial and self-sacrifice, determined in word and deed to represent Him who works through human beings to achieve glorious results. As we labor thus, divine power will be revealed in our efforts. God will work through us to will and to do of His good pleasure. Divine love will be revealed in thought, word, and action.
------------------------MR No. 966--True Worship Vs. False Worship
12MR	217	1	Multiplying Machinery While Losing Love--I am afraid for you in Battle Creek. The Spirit of Christ is the missionary spirit that seeks to save that which was lost. This Spirit makes everyone who possesses it a worker together with God. The church is multiplying form and machinery, but more and more losing her first love. The church is responsible for the work of Christ, but the work as a whole which the church is doing will not bear the approval of God. It must bear the image of Christ; and unless the workers are invested with His divine attributes for the performance of that work, it is an offense to God.
12MR	217	2	Our Churches Are Too Formal--We want to live a life that will please God, one that will bear witness that we are children of God and not children of the wicked one.
12MR	217	3	This is the nature of the instruction that we are giving in the morning meetings, and we hope some good is being effected. I tell you in the fear of God, our churches are altogether too formal. The love, the tenderness of Christ is not practiced in their intercourse with one another. We must not demerit ourselves, and lightly esteem the ability given us of God, neither should we overestimate our own importance and trust to our human ability. Those who have far less ability may be doing far more for the Master because they put out to the exchangers every talent they possess. They keep up an unfaltering purpose, a brave heart, and a calm, peaceful, trusting confidence in God because they believe His Word. Heaven recognizes the loyalty of the soul that is struggling to do the will of God, and to grow into the likeness of Christ.
12MR	218	1	True Love and Sympathy Needed, With Less Form and Ceremony--I am sure if there were fewer forms and ceremonies in our churches, and a greater manifestation of that genuine simplicity, that true love and sympathy that reaches out for souls, and bears others' burdens, much more would be accomplished. All who have the work of Christ to do must have the mind of Christ. The great burden is to educate these souls by the Word of God, and adapt its teachings to all classes. It alone can purify the soul from all moral and spiritual impurity.
12MR	218	2	Union of Church and State Produces Spiritual Poverty--Earnest movements have been made here in the Parliaments to have God acknowledged in the government of this nation. [AUSTRALIA.] Earnest efforts have been made to prevent this, knowing that it meant nothing less than religious bigotry and oppression. When religion is mixed with civil government, it means much to Seventh-day Adventists. A union of church and state means a recognition of a spurious sabbath, and a failure to respect the conscientious observance of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
12MR	218	3	This movement, demanding that all observe as sacred an idol sabbath, resembles the act of Nebuchadnezzar in making a golden image, and setting it up for all to worship. In the interpretation of the king's dream, Daniel had told him, "Thou art this head of gold."
12MR	219	1	The dream was given the king to show him that earthly kingdoms were not enduring, but would pass away and be followed by the kingdom of the Prince of heaven, which should fill the whole earth. But Nebuchadnezzar determined to make an image like that which he had seen, only it was to be made all of gold. This idol of gold was to be a most imposing spectacle, and was to take the place of God and be worshiped as God.
12MR	219	2	The Sunday idol is set up as was this image. Human laws demand that it be worshiped as sacred and holy, thus putting it where God's holy Sabbath should be. Men speak great swelling words, and exalt their power, placing themselves where God should be. Sitting in the temple of God, they strive to make themselves as God, showing themselves to be God. When Pilate said of Christ, "I find no fault in Him," the priests and elders declared, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die."
12MR	219	3	As the advisers of Nebuchadnezzar hit upon the scheme of ensnaring the Hebrew captives and causing them to bow to the idol by leading the king to proclaim that every knee should bow to the image, so men will strive today to turn God's people from their allegiance. But the men who sought to destroy Shadrach, Meshech, and Abed-nego, were themselves destroyed. Those who make cruel enactments, seeking to destroy, are destroyed by the recoil of their actions.
12MR	219	4	When the power invested in kings is allied to goodness, it is because the one in responsibility is under the divine dictation. When power is allied with wickedness, it is allied to satanic agencies, and it will work to destroy those who are the Lord's property. The Protestant world has set up an idol sabbath in the place where God's Sabbath should be, and they are treading in the footsteps of the Papacy. For this reason, I see the necessity of the people of God moving out of the cities into retired country [places] where they may cultivate the land and raise their own produce. Thus they may bring their children up with simple, healthful habits. I see the necessity of making haste to get all things ready for the crisis.
12MR	220	1	Petitions signed by thousands have been sent in asking that the civil and religious interests not be blended. Those present in some of the large assemblies state that they witnessed the most disgraceful uproar and disorder. Clergymen professing to be in the service of God utter blasphemies. They care no more for the Bible and its holy teachings than do infidels. When men will lay aside a plain "Thus saith the Lord," and accept human enactments, you may be sure that they are revealing the attributes of the great apostate.
12MR	220	2	All false religions run counter to the commandments of God. Those who accept these religions have no inward purity and beauty. They depend on their position of authority to compel those who acknowledge God as their Creator and their Sovereign, to bow to human enactments without a question. They depend upon outward display, upon outward beauty, trusting to its subtle influence upon the senses.
12MR	220	3	When a church depends on parade, ceremonies, and display, be sure that inward holiness is wanting. To make up for the absence of the Spirit of God, to conceal spiritual poverty and apostasy, the outside is made attractive. Thus the Protestant churches are following in the footsteps of Rome, depending not on Christ, the divine Teacher, but upon their ornaments and shrines. Embroidered altars and magnificent architecture attract and hold the senses. Thus men become entrapped by the enemy. So the great golden image, impressive and attractive, with beautiful music to charm the senses, did honor to the prince of darkness.
12MR	221	1	Satan's Sophistry Turns Men Into Hard-spirited Religious Zealots--Every soul that believes is to connect with Christ and angels in saying, Come, whosoever will may partake of the water of life freely. But we look around us, and what do we see? Many churches erected, and worship going on in them formal and insincere. The heart is going after its idols. In the place of heart devotion, the Lord beholds apparent solemnity and formality. The attitudes and signs of devotion are performed. He hears men confessing their sins, but not repenting or forsaking them. He discerns an array of spiritual idols which engage the attention and in which men trust, supplanting God. He sees a system of maxims, customs, and false theories, which they tenaciously cherish, robbing Him of the honor due His name.
12MR	221	2	The idols of the heathen stood between them and their God, obscuring God from their vision. Thus it is today. By the cunning deception of Satan false theories are made a power to rob God. Man's spiritual understanding is darkened by Satan's sophistry. Instead of religion's making men meek and lowly in heart, it works to make them religious zealots, exacting and hard-spirited because their ideas are not met. Their religious ideas do not lead the soul to humble, fervent trust in God. False theories, wholly human, stand between them and their God. Their souls are wrapped up in their own preconceived opinions, separating them from all who differ with them, engrossing the soul in self.
12MR	222	1	Shall not Seventh-day Adventists have a record differing entirely from this? The Lord declares that He will have the whole heart; for God is a Spirit, and all who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness. My brother, you need so much to have enlarged views. Then your light will shine. You will not try to shine; you cannot help shining.
------------------------MR No. 967--Controversy Over the "Daily" to be Avoided
			Sanitarium, California, July 1, 1908.
			Elder W. W. Prescott Takoma Park.
12MR	223	1	Dear Brother, I am instructed to say to you, Let there be no questions agitated at this time in the Review that will tend to unsettle minds. Let us seek for soul work. Let us as a people humble ourselves before the Lord, and seek Him for true conversion. There is a work to be done in our hearts and in our homes that but few understand. There is need of much praying, not need of long prayers, but prayers of faith offered in humility of soul.
12MR	223	2	We have no time now to enter into unnecessary controversy, but we should earnestly consider the need of seeking the Lord for true conversion of heart and life. There should be determined efforts made to secure sanctification of soul and mind. There is a deep and earnest work to be done in every church and in every family. Fathers and mothers have a solemn work to do in bringing their children to understand the necessity of seeking the Lord for salvation from sin.
12MR	223	3	In all our schools instruction is to be given that will lead the students to put on the white robe of the righteousness of Christ. In our larger churches special personal efforts should be made for fathers and mothers, that they may understand the consecration that is required of them that they may do effectual work for the salvation of their children. Earnest prayers should be offered for the institutions established for the education and training of our children and youth, that those who receive instruction there may grow up to honor and glorify God.
12MR	224	1	It will prove to be a great mistake if you agitate at this time the question regarding the "daily," which has been occupying much of your attention of late. I have been shown that the result of your making this question a prominent issue would be that the minds of a large number will be directed to an unnecessary controversy, and that questioning and confusion will be developed in our ranks. Cannot you see that if this question is agitated now minds would be unfavorably impressed, and many who should be seeking most earnestly for the saving grace of Christ would be drawn into controversy? There are some who would make capital of this matter to turn souls away from the truth. My brother, let us be slow to raise questions that will be a source of temptation to our people.
12MR	224	2	I have had no special light on the point presented for discussion and I do not see the need of this discussion. But I am instructed to tell you that this small matter upon which you are concentrating your thought will become a great mountain unless you determine to let it alone. I have been instructed that the Lord has not placed upon you the burden you are now carrying regarding this matter, and that it is not profitable for you to spend so much time and attention in its consideration. You are not using wisely the time God is giving you by thus devoting it to such jots and tittles, when you can be speaking words that will confirm the people of God in the faith they hold. God has not placed upon any of His ministers the work of sowing seeds that will produce confusion and unbelief.
12MR	225	1	You suppose that a mistake has been made in the view that has been held by some of our brethren in regard to the sanctuary question. There have been different opinions regarding the daily, and there will continue to be. If the Lord has seen fit to let this matter rest for so many years without correcting the same, would it not be wisdom on your part to refrain from presenting your views concerning it? I advise you not to present your ideas before our churches, but to let this matter alone, because at this period of our history the enemy will be served by an attack made on us regarding our disagreement on this point if it is made prominent, and this will lead to a worse issue.
12MR	225	2	The simplicity of our faith is to be dwelt upon. Let the ministers teach the people how to give to others a knowledge of the saving truth for this time. The teachings of Christ are very simple but they are all essential. Let us heed His words, for we are exhorted to look to Him for guidance. We should ever bear in mind that we are to be taught of God. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, ... full of grace and truth. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:14, 16). The power of the gospel is to come upon the companies who are raised up to bear witness to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
12MR	225	3	Study the 78th Psalm; it is worthy of our earnest consideration. A solemn work is before us, and the people of God should be far in advance of where they now stand in an understanding of eternal realities. What we need now is fishers of men. Let us as a people arouse to our duty to explain the truths of the Word to those who know them not. Begin earnest, self-sacrificing efforts for those who are perishing in their sins. Those who sow the seeds of truth will reap a rich harvest. The amount of good done by unselfish effort no human mind can estimate.
------------------------MR No. 969--Faithfulness in Confessing Christ
12MR	227	1	"Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven" [Matthew 10:32]. Do you confess Christ in your expenditure of His entrusted means? Is He confessed when most of your income is spent on self, when the Lord's tenth is withheld, and when gifts and offerings are used for your own pleasure and benefit? It would not be out of place for you to head a column in your domestic account book "Charity." Had you done this, and had you put down all that you have spent for self, and all that you have used for charity, the list of that spent for self would make a large amount; but how would your column set apart for charity come out? Again I urge you to ask yourself, Do I confess Christ in my expenditure? Heading a column of your account book "Charity" would make a revelation to you. No other human eye may see that book but yourself, but the Lord Jesus Christ sees it, and your reward in the day of reckoning will be in accordance with your works.
12MR	227	2	When the question is asked those who have professed to be Christians, "How much owest thou unto my Lord?" many will stand silent and convicted, unprepared to answer, because they have not considered the Lord's dues and have set apart nothing for charity. Have you been forward with gifts and offerings? Would not an examination of your account book reveal that you have neglected your duty in this respect?
12MR	228	1	If Christ had that which is His own in tithes and offerings, so much would not be left for selfish outlay on nicknacks and display. Less would be spent for dress, for pleasure excursions, for entertainments, or for display in table fare. We may confess Christ by making no elaborate preparations for visitors; we may deny Him by making more than ordinary preparations, which takes time that rightly belongs to the Lord. Not only do you rob your family of the attention they need, in order to prepare an elaborate entertainment, but the practice is followed by others whom you have influenced by your example. The Lord does not judge us according to the highness and elevation of our various spheres, but according to the faithfulness with which we fill them. Before you enter into amusement for the gratification of self, ask yourself the question, Is not this God's time and money that I am expending needlessly? Open your account book and see how your account stands with God, with your household, and with the world.
12MR	228	2	Have you confessed Christ by faithfully tithing the mint, the anise, and the rue? When we give the Lord the tithe, we are only giving Him that which is His own, to withhold which is theft and robbery. When we withhold the tithe we keep back that which God designs shall sustain His work on the earth. For this work of redemption God gave the richest gift of heaven; can we not give one tenth of what we have? Many have forgotten God, and have kept back the tithe. Does your account book reveal that you have dealt faithfully with your Lord? Are you poor? Then give your little. Have you been blessed with abundance? Then be sure to lay aside that which the Lord registers as His own.
12MR	229	1	By dealing truly with God, we really deal much more benevolently with ourselves; for when the great day of reckoning comes, every man will be asked, What have you done with the goods which I lent you? As we consider this question many of us need to walk more humbly and with greater self-denial before God. All who feel it a cross not to keep up an appearance in the eyes of the world, I would point to the life and work of Christ, who for our sake became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. The fear of not keeping up an appearance need not exist; for an appropriate course of action will bring honor rather than discredit from all sensible minds. Confess Christ in this particular; for He has said, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" [Luke 9:23]. The neglect to confess Christ in your account books cuts you off from the great privilege of having your name registered in the Lamb's book of life.
12MR	229	2	Do you confess Christ by visiting the sick, the needy, and the poor? "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" [James 1:27]. Do your works testify, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me"? [Galatians 2:20].
12MR	229	3	As Christ represented the Father to the world, so we are to represent Christ; and every inducement is presented to us that we may represent Christ by keeping the way of the Lord, and faithfully living out every requirement of His Word. This is the power of the gospel. By doing this we will be as lights shining in a dark place, and will be of more value to the world than sermons or religious ceremonies. The world is watching us, and will criticize us severely. We are constantly making an impression, favorable or unfavorable, upon those with whom we associate. Through us others will look at Christ, but unless we practice the lessons of Christ, we are none of His, and cannot properly represent Him. Cheerfulness will be the fruit borne by the Christian tree, but levity and coarse, unruly conduct are as thorn berries.
12MR	230	1	The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion of practical godliness, and while the grace of God abides in the heart, the Christian will produce the fruit of industry, frugality, economy; he will not waste, but will gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost. In the lives of those who have Christ abiding in the heart will be seen no avarice, no dishonesty in trade, no overreaching, for all covetousness is pronounced idolatry, but every species of dishonesty will be put away from the character. Unkindness of disposition will be overcome; for they are made new men in Christ Jesus, and sin no longer reigns in their mortal bodies. Everyone who has thus been renewed will manifest kindness, forbearance, and generosity, in this confessing that Christ, the hope of glory, is formed within.
12MR	230	2	The cause of God should be kept in a healthful condition; the treasury should be supplied with means for carrying forward the work of God. Institutions which are established to help orphans, those who are dependent and destitute, the infirm and the aged, should be aided. Those who have the blessing of health should cooperate with Christ by helping the weak. The blessing of God rests upon those who represent Christ by doing this work. Christmas and New Year celebrations can and should be held in behalf of those who are helpless. God is glorified when we give to help those who have large families to support. But no man who can earn his own livelihood has a right to live on the produce of others. The proverb, "The world owes me a living," has in it the essence of falsehood, fraud, and robbery. The world owes no man a living who is able to work to gain a living for himself.
12MR	231	1	[2 Corinthians 8:7-15 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, quoted.]
12MR	231	2	Christ demands the entire service of the soldiers in His army. In His Word he has given the principles of action: "Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" [Romans 12:11]. These principles should govern our conduct at all times. No allowance is made for lazy, negligent work, or for want of zeal. God has a righteous claim to constant service and supreme love. Your body, your soul, your life, all your God-given capabilities should be consecrated to God for the promotion of His glory. No one can be a sincere Christian unless he is a laborer together with God, unless he belongs to the family of workers. We must ever bear in mind that we are in copartnership with God. His work and His cause demand the first consideration. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" [Matthew 6:33].
------------------------MR No. 970--Jesus--Our Righteousness, Example, and Partner
12MR	232	1	I have not been able to sleep past twelve o'clock, so have arisen, and after seeking the Lord in prayer and committing myself to the keeping of Him who careth for me, I commence my work.
12MR	232	2	[Matthew 11:28-30 quoted.]
12MR	232	3	There is a condition to the rest and peace here offered us by Christ. It is that of yoking up with Him. All who will accept the condition will find that the yoke of Christ will help them to bear every burden needful for them to carry. Without Christ at our side to bear the heaviest part of the load, we must indeed say that it is heavy. But yoked with Him to the car of duty, the burdens of life may all be lightly carried. And just in proportion as man acts in willing obedience to the requirements of God will come rest of spirit. He will give evidence of clear judgment and a steadfastness of character to redeem himself through faith in Christ.
12MR	232	4	Meekness and humility will characterize all who are obedient to the law of God, all who will wear the yoke of Christ with submission. These graces will bring the desirable result of peace in the service of God. In learning Christ's meekness and lowliness of heart, we shall submit the entire being to His control. Then the transforming grace of Christ will work upon heart and character, making human beings, fallen in sin, complete in Him.
12MR	233	1	Christ would teach this lesson to all who will follow Him. As our substitute and surety, standing at the head of humanity, He is our example. He was obedient to all of God's requirements. He, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, laid aside His royalty, His position as commander in the heavenly courts, and came to our world as a man, and became subject to the law. And all this, that man might become like his Master, obedient, not to the enemy of God, but obedient to his Father in heaven; then man might engage in the service that God requires of each of His obedient children.
12MR	233	2	This constitutes the condition of salvation. And God enjoins this condition upon every human being just as verily as He enjoined it upon Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Our first parents fell, because, when tempted by Satan, they disobeyed God. The human family with few exceptions have since been under service to Satan, doing his work, wearing his yoke, and bearing his burdens. But they have found this yoke uncomfortable and galling, these burdens disagreeable and heavy to be borne.
12MR	233	3	But Christ pledged His own life in order that the transgressor might be spared, that man might have another trial. He would Himself stand in man's place; He would clothe Himself in the garb of humanity, and live the life of man from the very beginning. He would pass through the stages of infancy, childhood, youth, and manhood, that He might show man how he should live, how he should employ his hours of probation.
12MR	233	4	Christ acknowledged Himself subject to the law. If this were not so, He could not be our Saviour, and take away our sin. And God designs that man shall live up to every specification of the law, that he may reveal a character after the pattern given him by Christ. He desires that while in the world His followers shall not be of the world, and that their experience shall find expression in the words, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" [Galatians 2:20].
12MR	234	1	The man who is niggardly, who possesses a narrow, self-serving mind, is himself responsible for those objectionable traits of character; for Christ has made it possible for him to be freed from these defects. He has placed within the reach of man the possibility of receiving Him. And He bears testimony, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" [John 1:12].
12MR	234	2	This power is not the human agent. It is the power of God. When a soul really receives Christ, he receives His righteousness. He lives the life of Christ. Then as he trains himself to behold Christ, to study His life and practice His virtues, he eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of God.
12MR	234	3	Those whose characters are marred by a passionate disposition, should be in haste to seek the Lord. From their hearts the prayer should arise, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" [Psalm 51:10]. Give me a correct estimate of Jesus Christ and His merits. Lead me by His Spirit. "Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee" [verse 13].
12MR	234	4	In His Son God has placed before the human agent the life he is to live. It is not for him to be constantly branching out in lines of his own choosing, and placing his will against the power of the will of God. Yet many are expending their God-given powers in hopeless pursuit of things they can never attain. How different are the lives of such when compared with that of their Example, who for their sakes pledged Himself to a life of self-denial, of poverty, and of suffering, unappreciated, unacknowledged, despised, and rejected. Christ was often weary and hungry, and filled with sorrow in the consciousness of unrequited love. The nation whom He came to save and bless did not realize His mission. They had departed from God, and were constantly misunderstanding and misinterpreting Him. [John 1:11; Isaiah 53:3, 5, 7, quoted.]
12MR	235	1	In view of the abundant evidence God has given of His love, His sympathy, and His benevolence, He requires our willing obedience. His love will prove a safeguard to every soul. It will bar the path to sin and selfish indulgence. In looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, in studying His life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, we are armed with the same mind to do the same service. "If any man will come after Me," says Christ, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me [Matthew 16:24]. To the true follower of Christ there is a pleasure in doing the things that Christ has done in his behalf. He considers it not an arbitrary exaction, but a clear specification of his only safety from the advances of the wily foe who is ever seeking to entangle our feet and make our path difficult.
12MR	235	2	God knows that if we were left to follow our own inclinations, to go just where our will would lead us, we would fall into Satan's lines and become possessors of his attributes. Therefore the law of God confines us to the will of One who is high and noble and elevating. He desires that we shall patiently and wisely take up the duties of service. It is for our present and eternal good to work the works of God. If His will is cheerfully and gratefully accepted, the results will be seen in the service rendered and in the character developed.
12MR	236	1	A sullen submission to the will of the Father will develop the character of a rebel. Service is looked upon by such a one in the light of drudgery. It is not rendered cheerfully and in the love of God. It is a mere mechanical performance. If he dared, such a one would disobey. His rebellion is smothered, ready to break out at any time in bitter murmurings and complaints. Such service brings no peace or quietude to the soul.
12MR	236	2	Christ assumed humanity with all its humiliation and service, that He might cut man loose from Satan's chariot car as a bond slave. He knew that the service of Satan can bring only wretchedness and misery and distress in its train. The sinner is a stranger to repose and rest. The sinner says, I want my freedom. By this he would get rid of all restraint by casting aside the law of God. But it is this desire that has made the world what it is today--corrupt as in the days of Noah, and polluted as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
12MR	236	3	God presents before us two classes. For the one--the wicked--He says, "There is no peace" [Isaiah 48:22]. Of the other, "Great peace have they that love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" [Psalm 119:165]. Of that law He says, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward" [Psalm 19:7-11]. We should deem our service for God a pleasure, and should make it the expression of our love for Him.
12MR	237	1	Law and service are a part of every true life. Idleness is sin. Money is supposed to carry its possessor above service, and because a man has money he is allowed to spend his time in idleness. But the devil engages all such in the meanest kind of work. It is the Lord who has a right to our service. The more an individual lives for himself, and the less for the good of others the less noble and pure will he be in his own life. His moral power degenerates while living for himself. Compare that idle life with the one who looks his responsibilities in the face, and takes up his life work for God and for his fellowmen.
12MR	237	2	All who sense their duty to their fellowmen will accept the offer to work in partnership with Jesus Christ, a life of obedience and service. In this way alone can they give the divine credentials to the world. These will entertain a high conception of life. It is not to them a round of worldly pleasure and amusement. This can never satisfy the hungry soul. The truth is noble, elevating, and sacred, and the wisdom and knowledge given us in it is a tree of life to all who will accept it.
12MR	237	3	In the 58th chapter of Isaiah God has placed before us the service He would have us do for our fellowmen and for Him. He says, [Isaiah 58:6-11 quoted].
12MR	238	1	Then why not try this kind of service? The Lord calls His yoke easy, and His burden light. Yet that yoke will not give us a life of ease and freedom and selfish indulgence. The life of Christ was one of self-denial and self-sacrifice at every step. And His true follower, with consistent, Christlike tenderness and love, will follow in the footsteps of his Master; and as he advances in this life, he will become inspired with the spirit and life of Christ.
------------------------MR No. 971--Counsels on Soul Winning
12MR	239	1	Every Person to Be Active in Soul Winning--Every one who believes in Christ as a personal Saviour is under bonds to God to be pure and holy, to be a spiritual worker seeking to save the lost, whether they are great or small, rich or poor, bond or free. The greatest work upon earth is to seek and to save those who are lost [those] for whom Christ has paid the infinite price of His own blood. Every one is to do active service, and if anyone who has been blessed with light does not diffuse light to others, he will lose the rich grace which has been bestowed upon him, because he neglects a sacred duty plainly marked out in the Word of God. As his light diminishes, his own soul is brought into peril, and the ones to whom he should have been a shining light, miss the labor that God intended that they should have through the human instrument. Thus the sheep unsought is not brought back to the fold.
12MR	239	2	God depends upon you, the human agent, to fulfill your duty to the best of your ability, and He Himself will give the increase. If human agents would but cooperate with the divine intelligences, thousands of souls would be rescued. The Holy Spirit would give devoted workers glimpses of Jesus that would brace them for every conflict, that would elevate and strengthen them and make them more than conquerors.
12MR	240	1	When two or three are met together to unite their counsel, and to send up their petitions, the promise is for them, "Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you" [Luke 11:9]. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him" [verse 13]. The Lord has promised that where two or three are met together in His name, there will He be in the midst. Those who meet together for prayer will receive an unction from the Holy One. There is great need of secret prayer, but there is also need of several Christians' meeting together, to unite with earnestness their petitions to God. In these small companies Jesus is present, and the love of souls is deepened in the heart and the Spirit puts forth His mighty energies, that human agents may be exercised in regard to saving those who are lost. Jesus ever sought to show how worthless were formal ceremonies, and strove to impress upon His disciples that the Holy Spirit must enlighten, renew, and sanctify the soul.
12MR	240	2	Small Groups to Unite in Prayer for Souls--We are laborers together with God. Spiritual workers are needed not only to labor in the pulpit but to do personal work among the people. Too much time is devoted to the churches in preaching. This is not attended with the best results. The work of the Lord's ambassadors is to organize companies of workers to hunt for the souls who need help. Hours are spent in preaching that might better be devoted to house-to house labor. In the spirit of Christ, with a heart all aglow with His love, seek to win the hearts of those in the families you visit. Give faithful admonitions and instruction from the Word of God. There are appropriate and applicable lessons from the Scripture that need to be presented in the spirit of Christ and in love for the souls for whom He has died. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" [2 Timothy 3:16, 17].
12MR	241	1	But there are many who have had no personal labor. Words of kindly instruction have not been spoken to them. It is time that unselfish, consecrated workers entered families who have accepted the truth but who have not worked for its advancement. It is time that our preaching brethren ministered not only to the congregation but to families.
12MR	241	2	Power to Be Obtained Through Prayer--My mind has been dwelling upon the subject of prayer. Little groups should gather and seek the Lord earnestly. We are, as a people, sadly neglecting this means of grace. Christ declares--and the words were spoken after His resurrection--"All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." And because of this power, He adds the great gospel commission: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" [Matthew 28:18-20].
------------------------MR No. 972--Counsel to a Husband
12MR	242	1	Dear Brother B, I have been instructed that you need to view matters in an altogether different light, else those on both sides of the question that you are considering will be wronged. I believe that both you and your wife desire to do the will of God. Sister B must not become discouraged. In the past she has not been properly situated in many respects. When she left her home to become your wife, she was not to withdraw her love from her mother. The relationship between mother and daughter is a most tender one, and is ever to be cherished. It is not at all strange, but the most natural thing in the world, that Sister B's mother should wish her daughter to remain with her instead of marrying you. The daughter that ignores the tender relationship that should exist between parent and child should not claim to be a Christian. Children owe certain obligations to their parents, and these obligations are to be fulfilled. A daughter owes her mother a debt that is binding upon her at all times and in all places.
12MR	242	2	And while the marriage vow is to be sacredly fulfilled, there is to be no transgression of the fifth commandment. God says to children, "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee"; and He has set no time when this obligation ceases to be binding.
12MR	243	1	Brother B, you have no idea of how the discord that has existed between you and your wife has worn upon her mind. When you leave her free to act toward her mother as her conscience tells her that she should act, a terrible strain will be removed from her. In the past she has not been free. She has had little opportunity to be with her mother, and at the same time you have been a great deal away from her, engaged as you have been in the canvassing work. She has been placed where she could not help her mother as she desired to. She had a right to expect that her marriage with you would give her mother a son who would be a help and blessing to the family.
12MR	243	2	Your opinions in regard to your wife's association with her mother have been a cause of constant depression to her. She is a woman of capability. In some respects her abilities are superior to yours. Your opinions in regard to her association with her relatives are unnatural, and she cannot make herself see things as you see them.
12MR	243	3	There is a good reason why your wife is with her mother now. Her aged grandfather, in his feebleness, needs care, and who but his grandchildren could be expected to help their mother give him this care? You have not viewed this matter in a right light. The impression that your wife has had in regard to this matter is in accordance with Bible truth, and she can no more rid herself of this impression than she can give up the truth.
12MR	243	4	You must both study how you can assimilate, instead of differing, with one another. You must not exercise a masterly influence over your wife's mind, for often her judgment is superior to yours. You must not try to cramp your wife's mind to make it fit your own. She has an individuality that is not to be submerged in the individuality of another. You have a very strong mind, but it is not always correctly balanced. You see things in a way in which your wife cannot see them.
12MR	244	1	I have something more written in regard to your case, which I will send you when I find it. You have not practiced economy in the use of means. Sometimes when you have wished to help certain ones, you have brought them things which struck your fancy, but which they were unable to use. In such matters your judgment has often been quite defective. It would have been better for you to have given them the money you spent for them. They could have purchased that which would have been of use to them. Our money is the Lord's and is not to be used with prodigality.
12MR	244	2	The Lord cannot endorse your course. Give your wife a share of the money that you receive. Let her have this as her own and let her use it as she desires. She should have been allowed to use the means that she earned as she in her judgment deemed best. If she had had a certain sum to use as her own without being criticized, a great weight would have been lifted from her mind.
12MR	244	3	From the light that is given me, I know that you should secure a little home for yourself and your wife. A small, modest home would not cost very much. Then assure your wife that if she wishes she may have her mother live with her. If you could harmonize with your mother-in-law, her advice and counsel would in many respects be a great blessing to you. Your will is very strong, and you are inclined to be egotistical. You need a counselor.
12MR	244	4	Matters between you and your wife may be satisfactorily adjusted if you will not take a hard, stern position. You will find that the use of mild, gentle methods will make a surprising difference in your lives. Do not treat your wife as if she understands no more than a child. Show her consideration and respect. Give her a home. I can assure you that she has never spoken one disparaging word of you to me.
12MR	245	1	I am your friend, and as such I write to you. I will send this letter to you today, and will write more fully as soon as I can. But this will give you something to work on. You can be a blessing to your wife, and she can be a blessing to you.
------------------------MR No. 973--Need for Unity Among Spiritual Shepherds
12MR	246	1	A vision the Lord gave me at Sutton, Vermont, September, 1850. I saw the loveliness of Jesus and the love that the angels have for one another. Said the angel, Can ye not behold their love? Follow it. Just so God's people must love one another. Rather let blame fall on thyself than on a brother. I was then pointed back to western New York and saw that Brother Bates did not give the message.--"Sell that ye have and give alms"--in its clear light. It caused some to follow for the loaves and fishes, and now they are ready to be purged out. Falsehoods have been in their mouths. I saw that Brother Bates's holding up "sell that ye have" in a wrong light had caused those who had been coveting others' property to take lenity from it and to rejoice and triumph, and had also caused those who had property to hold on to it. Those who had been coveting were zealous to attend conference with their families, not to glorify God but for the loaves and the fishes. They had better have remained at home and worked with their hands to supply the wants of their families and to have something to give to sustain the cause of truth.
12MR	247	1	I saw that Brother Bates erred again in praying for the sick before unbelievers. I saw if any among us were sick and called for the elders of the church to pray over them, we should follow the example of Jesus. He went into an inner chamber, and we should go into a room by ourselves separate entirely from unbelievers, and then the atmosphere would not be polluted by them. By faith we could take hold on God and draw down the blessing. I saw that God's cause was dishonored and reproached in western New York at the general conference by praying for the sick in the midst of unbelievers. I also saw that Brother Bates erred in attending the washing of saints' feet and the communion among unbelievers. It only caused reproach to come on the cause of God. I saw that the example of Jesus should be followed. He took His disciples away alone, separate from the wicked, and first washed their feet, and then gave them to eat of the broken bread to represent His broken body and gave them to drink of the juice of the vine to represent His spilled blood.
12MR	247	2	I saw that Brother Bates and all the shepherds should be careful in these things, and move understandingly, and follow the example of Jesus in these things. I saw that a Judas might be among us from time to time, that would appear to be with us, but they would eat and drink to their own damnation, but God would make them manifest quickly, and they would be purged out from among Israel. I saw that the above named errors of Brother Bates and others more dangerous brought confusion and had destroyed James's confidence in Brother Bates; I saw that James at first had godly jealousy for the truth, then other jealousy crept in until he was jealous of most every move Brother Bates would make. These wrongs I saw must be taken out of the way.
12MR	248	1	Then I saw Brother Bates. Said the angel, Be not quick to receive error, nor too slow to receive the truth. I saw that the women of Revelation 18:4 meant the churches and that we were bid to "come out of her" that we be not defiled, partake of her sins, and receive of her plagues. I saw that Brother Bates had not applied Revelation 18:4 correctly, and his error had caused confusion.
12MR	248	2	Then I saw that after Jesus leaves the sanctuary the plagues will be poured out. Said the angel, It is the wrath of God and the Lamb that causes the destruction or death of the wicked. I saw that at the voice of God the saints will be mighty and terrible as an army with banners, but they will not then execute the judgment written. But after they are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [1 Corinthians 15:52], and are caught up with the sleeping saints [1 Thessalonians 4:17], and receive their harps, crowns, etc., and enter the city, Jesus and the saints sit in judgment, the books are opened, the book of life and the book of death.
12MR	248	3	The book of life contains the good deeds of the saints, and the book of death contains the evil deeds of the wicked. These books were compared with the statute book--the Bible--and according to that they were judged. The saints in unison with Jesus passed their judgment upon the wicked dead. "Behold ye," said the angel, "the saints sit in unison with Jesus and mete out to each of the wicked according to the deeds done in the body [2 Corinthians 5:10. 2 Corinthians 5:10], and it is set off against their names what they must receive at the execution of the judgment." This I saw was the work of the saints with Jesus through the 1,000 years.
12MR	249	1	At the end of the 1,000 years Jesus, with the holy angels and all the saints, leaves the city, and while He is descending with them the wicked dead are raised, and then the very men that pierced Him [Revelation 1:7] will see Him afar off in all His glory, and all the holy angels and the saints with Him. They will see the prints of the nails in His hands and in His feet, and where they thrust the spear into His side, and they will wail because of Him. I saw that the prints of the nails and of the spear were His glory.
12MR	249	2	Then it is that Jesus stands upon the Mount of Olives and the Mount parts asunder and becomes a plain, and the city comes down from God out of heaven and settles on the plain. Then Satan imbues the wicked that have been raised, with his spirit and he flatters them that the army in the city is small and that his army is large and that they can overcome them and take the city.
12MR	249	3	While Satan is rallying his army the saints are in the city beholding the beauty and glory of the paradise of God. Jesus was at their head leading them. All at once the lovely Jesus was gone from our company, but soon we heard His lovely voice saying, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." [Matthew 25:34.] We gathered about Jesus and just as He closed the gates of the city the curse from God was pronounced upon the wicked. The gates are shut. Then the saints use their wings and fly to the top of the wall of the city. Jesus is also with them. His crown looked brilliant and glorious. It was a crown within a crown, seven in number.
12MR	250	1	The crowns of the saints were of the purest gold, and were decked with stars, and shone like the sun, as they moved all together to the top of the city. Their faces shone with glory, for they were in the express image of Jesus. Then the wicked saw what they had lost. And fire was breathed from God upon them and consumed them. Then was the execution of the judgment. The wicked received according as the saints, in unison with Jesus, had meted out to them through the 1,000 years. The same fire from God that consumed the wicked purified the whole earth. The mountains melted with fervent heat, the atmosphere also, and all the stubble was consumed. Then our inheritance opened before us glorious and beautiful. Then we inherited the whole earth made new. We shouted with a loud voice, Glory Alleluia.
12MR	250	2	Then I saw that God had not given to Brother Bates the gift of discernment; but his gift was to talk the Word. None had a gift like his. He could talk to a small company when there were no more than two present, as well as to a large company. This gift is greatly needed in the church. I saw that he had prepared the way in many places for the Lord to speak through visions. The angel then pointed to Brother Bates and said, Be careful how thou treadest, lest the flock be torn. Draw near to God. Thou hast been in danger. Can ye not see it? That must be healed every whit. This people must be humble.
12MR	250	3	I begged of Jesus to forbid that there should be any discord among the shepherds, for then the flock would be scattered as sheep without a shepherd. I prayed Jesus to encircle them now in His lovely arms. I saw that the disunion between the shepherds had affected the flock. Then I saw that in the scattering time when paper after paper was dying, Brother Bates wrote for them until the last, and now in the gathering time when precious souls that have been hid beneath the rubbish and have not had the privilege of hearing the truth, need light from different ones, his testimony has been withheld. I saw that if ever the saints could be benefited by comforting words and the truth made clear in the paper, it is now in the gathering. God wanted the papers to cease in the scattering time, but now the truth should be sung, preached, prayed, and published. Then I saw we must drink deep, deep from the water of the fountain. Said the angel, Ye must reflect the lovely image of Jesus more and more. I saw that we were almost home, to rest in the city 1,000 years. Said the angel, "Ye must love one another as Jesus hath loved you."
12MR	251	1	I saw that Brother Bates's heart must be open, ready to yield up a dear point when the clear light shines. I saw that we must be more like Jesus. Everything in heaven is in perfect order, and the events of the judgment will come in perfect order. Then I saw James and Brother Bates. Said the angel, "Press together, press together, press together, press together, ye shepherds, lest the sheep be scattered. Love one another as I have loved you. Swim, swim, swim, plunge deep, deep, deep in the ocean of God's love. Come into a nearness with God." I saw that we must overcome perfectly and get the victory over the powers of darkness.
12MR	251	2	I saw that Brother Bates with the other shepherds should consult those in whom they have reason to have confidence, and who have been in all the messages, and are firm in all the present truth, and have not wavered upon it, before they receive and advocate any new point of importance which they think the Bible sustains. Then I saw that all the shepherds would be perfectly united and the church would feel that union and the shepherds would be strong; and each one would know just what work the other was doing, and thereby they could hold up each other's hands, and the church would be benefited, and then there would be but little danger of any of the shepherds receiving dangerous error with which to divide the precious flock.
------------------------MR No. 974--The Results of Selfishness
12MR	253	1	The spirit that leavened you at Minneapolis was with you during your service in the Office [The review and herald was often referred to as "The office."] at Battle Creek; it was the confederacy formed with the very men you now condemn which led you to do many things contrary to the principles of the commandments of God. Selfishness was inwrought in your course of action, and this is why you are not connected with the Office today. The Lord's hand was in the whole matter.
------------------------MR No. 975--The Value of Bible Study
12MR	254	1	The Bible is the most precious lesson book that you can study. In studying it, you hold communion with God. If you are an earnest Bible student, you will, when standing before a congregation, speak with power and assurance.
------------------------MR No. 976--God the Source of All Wisdom
12MR	255	1	Thinking for Oneself--Many are changed by every current. They wait to hear what someone else thinks, and his opinion is accepted as altogether true. If they would lean wholly upon God, they would grow strong in His strength; but they do not say to the Lord, "I cannot make any decision until I know Thy will." Their natural inclination is to allow another to be conscience for them and think for them, and they speak after he has spoken, saying what he says and acting as he acts. When these persons are placed in circumstances where they must think and act for themselves, they dare not express any settled opinion. God pity such weaklings; and yet often, like Aaron, they have much ability.
12MR	255	2	Seek Wisdom From God--The Lord invites us to ask of Him. Shall we turn from God's wisdom, to ask of man? They may advise us to do what is best, but unless they receive their light from heaven, finite men can have no certain light to give us. The Lord is acquainted with our ignorance and darkness, and He bids us come unto Him, the Source of all light and all wisdom....
12MR	256	1	As a people we have become weak and dwarfed in religious growth, because we have sought the strength of finite, erring men, when we might have had the strength of an unerring, infinite God. The displeasure of God is upon the churches in every conference, because they do not come to Jesus and learn of Him, seeking for that wisdom which He alone can give. Ministers who have labored zealously in the work have gone prematurely to the grave, because church members have clung to them, making them responsible for the work which God alone could do. They have not been able to do all that should have been done to teach the people the way of the Lord, to point them to Him who is man's sure Helper. Why do we not go to the mighty Helper, instead of to weak, erring man? Why do we place man where God should be? Let every church member closely examine his own heart, and see if he really has confidence in the promises of God....
12MR	256	2	It is the absence of the grace of Christ in the heart that causes men to make wrong decisions. It leads those who have had light and rejected it to regard light as darkness. They call error truth and truth error, because they walk in the sparks of their own kindling. God declares that such shall lie down in sorrow. The reception of the Word of God in sincerity and simplicity will renew the mind and awaken it to understand clearly the Word of God. The blindness passes away, the darkness is removed, and the true light shines forth.
------------------------MR No. 977--The Power of the Holy Spirit
12MR	257	1	The Holy Spirit Necessary to Make Word Understood--Of the disciples of Christ we read that they understood not His disclosures in regard to His humiliation, His rejection, and His crucifixion. But when Christ was risen from the dead, they understood. When the Holy Spirit came upon them at the day of Pentecost, they understood. Look at the change wrought under the Holy Spirit's guidance in the faltering, stumbling, erring, misinterpreting, misunderstanding ones! Passages from the living oracles are seen in a new light. No comparison can be made with the disciple before the reception of the Holy Spirit, and the disciple renewed, converted, baptized by the Spirit of God.
12MR	257	2	Men may study and try to learn the living words of God, but unless the Holy Spirit shall unite with the human understanding, and the human unite with the divine by becoming partakers of the divine nature, they are blind and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins. But the touch of the Holy Spirit upon the human mind makes decided changes.
12MR	257	3	Behold those disciples, hidden in that upper chamber for fear of the priests and rulers. They were to go everywhere to preach the Word. They were to speak with new tongues, not a foreign language, but words eloquent from lips which had been touched with a live coal from off the altar. After the disciples had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the priests and rulers marveled at the words which they spake, for they knew them as unlearned and ignorant men. But they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.
12MR	258	1	Their teaching was a second edition of the teachings of Christ, the utterance of simple, grand truths that flashed light into darkened minds, and converted thousands in a day. The disciples began to understand that Christ was their advocate in the heavenly courts, and that He was glorified. They could speak because the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. "The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" [Psalm 119:130].
12MR	258	2	Bible truth spoken by sanctified lips is eloquence and power. The disciples had a saving understanding of the words of Christ. Because they were united with Christ, eating His flesh and drinking His blood, the inspired book was to them spirit and life. We may understand the Bible as we understand other books, but it is not thus taken into our minds and hearts as the living bread from heaven.
12MR	258	3	"Greater Works" to Be Done in Power of the Holy Spirit--"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father" [John 14:12]. Christ's work was largely confined to Judea. But though His personal ministry did not extend to other lands, people from all nations listened to His preaching, and carried the message to all parts of the world. Many heard of Jesus by hearing of the wonderful miracles He performed.
12MR	259	1	When Christ said that His disciples should do greater works than He had done, He did not mean that they would make any more exalted exertion of their powers; He meant that their work should have greater magnitude. He did not refer merely to miracle working, but to all that would transpire under the working of the Holy Spirit. The scenes of His suffering and death, to be witnessed by the large numbers in attendance at the Passover, would be spread from Jerusalem to all parts of the world. The apostles, used as His representatives, would make a decided impression on all minds. Being humble men would not diminish their influence, but increase it. The minds of their hearers would be carried from the men to the Majesty of heaven who, though unseen, was still working and performing miracles upon the suffering and diseased.
12MR	259	2	The teaching of the apostles, the special doctrines taught, their words of trust, would assure all that it was not by their own power that they did their works, but that they were continuing the same line carried forward by the Lord Jesus when He was with them. Humbling themselves, the apostles would declare that the Man the Jews had crucified was the Prince of Life, the Son of the living God, and that in His name they did the works He had done.
12MR	259	3	"Greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." He would then intercede for them, and would send His own representative, the Holy Spirit, who would attend them in their work. This representative would not appear in human form, but by faith would be seen and recognized by all who believe in Christ....
12MR	260	1	Christ Present With Believers by the Holy Spirit--"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" [John 14:16, 17]. Christ was about to depart to His home in the heavenly courts. But He assured His disciples that He would send them another Comforter, who would abide with them forever. To the guidance of this Comforter all who believe in Christ may implicitly trust. He is the Spirit of truth, but this truth the world can neither discern nor receive.
12MR	260	2	Before He left them, Christ gave His followers a positive promise that after His ascension He would send them the Holy Spirit. "Go ye therefore," He said, "and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father [a personal God] and of the Son [a personal Saviour], and of the Holy Ghost [sent from heaven to represent Christ]: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" [Matthew 28:19, 20].
12MR	260	3	[John 14:26-28 quoted.] This positive assurance was given to the disciples, to be given to all who should believe on Him to the close of this earth's history.
12MR	260	4	Christ desired His disciples to understand that He would not leave them orphans. "I will not leave you comfortless," He declared; "I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me: because I live, ye shall live also" [verses 18, 19]. A precious, glorious assurance of eternal life! Even though He was to be absent, their relation to Him was to be that of a child to its parent.
12MR	261	1	The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul. We do not see Christ and speak to Him, but His Holy Spirit is just as near us in one place as in another. He works in and through every one who receives Christ. Those who know the indwelling of the Spirit reveal the fruits of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
------------------------MR No. 978--A Trip to Lake County, California
12MR	262	1	Lakeport a Good Place to Escape Pressures--I have recently made a journey to Lake County, and I stood it much better than I expected. I will enclose with this an account of our trip. If it were possible I would like to secure a little place where I can go at times from the pressure of the work here. Especially would I enjoy such a place in the hot season of the year. I was much pleased with the scenery on the way to Lakeport.
12MR	262	2	Beautiful Scenery and Visits to the Hurlbutt and Workman Homes--Last Sunday morning, between four and five o'clock, we started on our journey to Lake County. We first drove to Calistoga, which is nine miles from St. Helena, and after passing through the town began the ascent of a mountain road so narrow that it seemed impossible for two teams to pass on it. For a number of miles we traveled up this steep ascent, turning constantly to the left, on which side huge rocks towered above us. On our right lay a deep ravine. I had seen something of these great rocks on the journey from California to Michigan.
12MR	263	1	W. C. White drove with me in the single buggy, Brother James leading the way in the platform wagon, in which were Professor E. A. Sutherland and Sara McEnterfer and the luggage.
12MR	263	2	After traveling many miles we came to a watering trough. Here we took out our provisions, laid rugs on the earth, spread our tablecloth, and ate breakfast.
12MR	263	3	For some weeks previous to this, I had been unable to ride for more than two hours at a time, and we doubted if I could endure so long a journey as this to Lake County, but I stood it wonderfully well. I was surprised to find that as I journeyed I seemed to gather strength. We had thought that we might have to put up at a hotel on my account; but this was not necessary. The fragrance of the pine and fir trees, and the breath of the pure atmosphere seemed to give me new strength.
12MR	263	4	I was surprised to see the enormous height to which some of the pines and firs reached. The madrona and live-oak trees were not so tall, but they spread their branches and leaves over a wide circumference. They too seemed to breathe out life-giving properties.
12MR	263	5	The last ten miles of our journey was less mountainous and rocky; but most of the way the wood scenery was delightful. By this time I began to feel quite weary; nevertheless I was able to reach our destination, which was the home of Brother and Sister Hurlbutt. Here we received a hearty welcome, and were very thankful to rest. We retired early, for we had eaten our meals on the way, and had rested and fed our horses.
12MR	264	1	We were sorry to find that Mr. Hurlbutt is afflicted with partial paralysis, and is obliged to walk on crutches. He promised that he would come to the St. Helena Sanitarium, where he can be prescribed for by Dr. Rand.
12MR	264	2	On the next day, Monday, we looked around the farm of Brother and Sister Hurlbutt. They have a large tract of land, on which are two houses and fine orchards. The lake is only a short drive from the house. On Tuesday we drove to the lake. On Monday we drove about twenty miles in all.
12MR	264	3	In the past Brother and Sister Hurlbutt have given a home to cast-out and orphan children; but this work has been broken up by the illness of the husband. These people have thought that they might establish an orphanage at their home, but they cannot without efficient help carry on such an enterprise. The Lord understands better than we do how to manage such important matters as the education and training of the youth. Wherever such schools are located, whether they be for white or colored people, they should always have connected with them wise, strong managers.
12MR	264	4	We could hope that sometime this place among the fir and hemlock, the birch and pines, might become a place of resort for the sick and suffering. But if such should ever be, great changes would have to be made. With its beautiful lake, its pure atmosphere, and healthful altitude this would make an excellent health resort.
12MR	264	5	On Tuesday morning, before we left the home, two of the workers on the Hurlbutt place, Brother D. R. McMains and Miss E. H. Batterson, were married, W. C. White performing the marriage ceremony. The newly married people will now take charge of the place.
12MR	265	1	I wish, my children, that you could have had the privilege of being with us on this journey. The blessing to be found in the invigorating atmosphere is better realized than described. All along the journey our eyes were greeted with the sight of beautiful trees laden with blossoms. It was a great delight to me to look upon the lilac-colored flowers growing in such profusion, and to see the pure, clear streams flowing from the mountain ravines. The young pines were just putting out their beautiful new foliage. Oh, it was so inspiring, so full of health, so free from the spoliation of man's devisings. I could not help wishing that a camp meeting might be held in these forests among the towering trees and massive rocks.
12MR	265	2	On our way home we stopped for a few hours at the home of Brother Workman. We found everything about the house very neat and clean. Brother Workman has been in ill health for some time. For a while he took treatment at the St. Helena Sanitarium, but is now at home with his family. His wife is a very pleasant woman. There is one daughter about 29 years old working as a nurse at the sanitarium; another daughter of about 18 helps the mother in the home. There is a son about 15 years old and a little girl of 11. Mabel, Willie White's second daughter, is married to the eldest son of the family, and another is bookkeeper at Healdsburg College.
12MR	265	3	Mabel and her husband are at Washington, where he is attending school and educating himself for a teacher and builder.
12MR	265	4	We would be pleased to have Emma with us this summer, and you also, Edson, whenever this is possible. With our horses we can drive wherever we please. In the heat of summer I shall go, with Sara to accompany me, to Lake View, and then I hope you will be able to go with me. There is a fine hotel soon to be opened a few miles from the house where we made our home. With the horses and carriages we have we could make the journey in comfort, and you could be delighted with such scenery as I think you have never before seen. This is all I need to say on this subject, except to repeat that we have plenty of house room. If Emma's sister should accompany you, we will welcome her also.
12MR	266	1	I am planning to attend the camp meeting at Lodi. We shall find rooms off the ground, so that I may not be wearied by many visitors. I shall remain at this meeting as long a time as my health will permit. I wish you also could be present. I am sure you could be made comfortable.
12MR	266	2	I learn from several that there is a great deal of sickness in Battle Creek just now. I feel that it is not a healthful place to live.
12MR	266	3	I will not write any more, for I expect to see you soon. And to a great degree my writing must be laid aside for a time, and I must rest.
12MR	266	4	We are nearing the close of this earth's history, and we need to place ourselves in right relation to our dear Saviour, who gave His life for us. We have not a moment to lose. We are fitting our characters for eternity, preparing for habitation in that city that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him. I do not want to miss gaining an entrance into the New Jerusalem, and I want Edson and Emma and Emma's sister to be there. All who will form characters after the divine similitude will receive a welcome to that holy place.
12MR	266	5	I hope you will think about what I have told you in this letter about my journey to Lake County. I feel that the trip has done me good.
------------------------MR No. 979--More Counsel to Frederick Griggs
12MR	267	1	Men plan after their own selfish methods. Over and over again God has given messages of reproof in His Word, but they disregard the Word if by so doing they can obtain an advantage over others. That which is common and forbidden is brought into the work.
12MR	267	2	God says, "I hate robbery for burnt offering" [Isaiah 61:8]. The Lord will work for those who are pure in heart. "The pure in heart ... shall see God" [Matthew 5:8], and they will see in Him no corrupting principles. When all selfishness and covetousness is cleansed from the church and from our institutions, we shall see the Lord in His ways and in His works, and great good will be done. His righteousness will go before us. It is Christ our righteousness who leads the way for our feet in the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in.
12MR	267	3	If we are worked by the Holy Spirit, we shall seek for the conversion of souls. Everything possible should be done to draw them to Christ--by religious instruction, by a right training in the home and school life. Everything that will prove a hindrance to their conversion should be kept from them. Instruction is needed. The fullest education should be obtained. The character must be formed for the future eternal life, if we would be conquerors over the difficulties which all must meet....
12MR	268	1	Christ died for them [the youth] that they might have every opportunity of becoming partakers of the divine nature. Every youth should be properly instructed, for this means a great deal. Will they perpetuate the attributes of character received? The will of one is not to be violently forced by the will of another.
12MR	268	2	The love of God in the heart of the teacher is valuable in the home, in the church, and in schoolwork in all its lines. The work is to be entered into with earnestness. The children and youth are to understand that their rule of action is the Word of God, and not human inventions. There must be obedience to what God has enjoined. An instructor is not prepared to mold minds or fashion characters unless Christ is abiding in his heart, unless he is learning Christ's ways and walking in His footsteps.
------------------------MR No. 980--The Need for Insurance
12MR	269	1	Brother Palmer says he has written to you in regard to the insurance. If the house is not insured, it should be at once. He says you have all the papers, and you have not answered his letter at all. If you have the insurance, they can get pay for the damage done to the house. Please attend to this immediately. Write something at once so that we may know what to do.
------------------------MR No. 981--Ellen White's Sixty-Eighth Birthday
12MR	270	1	I received your letters today, two of them. We left Armadale, Tuesday, November 26, on my 68th birthday, and I knew it not until past. Another year of my life has passed into eternity. Another year of my life has commenced. God grant me more largely of His Holy Spirit, and lead and guide me. I fear and tremble before God as I see the perils of the last days upon us. What is before us we know not.
------------------------MR No. 982--Conforming to God's Will in Tithe Paying, Soul Winning, and Unity
12MR	271	1	Dear Sister, A long time ago I received your letter enclosing a draft for $100; $25 of this you say is a thank offering, to be used in carrying forward the work in some needy place. As you have requested, I shall use it where, according to my best judgment, it is most needed. The reward of whole-souled liberality is the leading of mind and soul and heart to a closer fellowship with the Spirit.
12MR	271	2	You ask if I will accept tithe from you and use it in the cause of God where most needed. In reply, I will say that I shall not refuse to do this, but at the same time I will tell you that there is a better way.
12MR	271	3	It is better to put confidence in the ministers of the conference where you live, and in the officers of the church where you worship. Draw nigh to your brethren. Love them with a true heart fervently, and encourage them to bear their responsibilities faithfully in the fear of God. "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" [1 Timothy 4:12]. Read Philippians 2:1-16.
12MR	271	4	There are many things that I am bidden to bring before our people. There is a great work yet to be done, a work that calls for the sanctification of all our powers. This message must be preached in the highways and the byways. The efforts put forth for the recovery of souls must be greatly increased. Justice and the love of God should mark the lives of His workers. We are too far advanced in this world's history to indulge in ease and idleness. And none should think to hoard their means for future years, but let them invest their means to create new interests in places where the need of truth is felt.
12MR	272	1	If all the professed followers of Christ had followed this course, great changes would have been wrought in our cities. If they had been in earnest, and had worked as laborers together with God, many souls would have been convicted and converted who now are ensnared by the wiles of the enemy. The wickedness of the wicked is increasing; Satan's efforts are not lessening. But the love of many believers is growing less, when it should be increasingly revealed in untiring labor for lost souls.
12MR	272	2	My brother and sister, we need to keep before us the example of Christ's perfection. When we allow our minds to dwell upon the imperfections of others, our own souls become filled with the leaven of evil. In our endeavors to represent the truth for this time to the world, we shall meet with many difficulties, but if we will keep heart and mind fixed upon the precious Saviour, if we talk of His love and power, the perplexities will pass away, and we shall become happy in the assurance of a Saviour's love. We are not dependent upon the world and its changeableness. He in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, is our joy and crown of rejoicing, our peace, our power, our satisfaction. Then let us rejoice, whatever may happen, within and without.
12MR	273	1	We must obtain that measure of the grace of Christ that will enable us to dwell together in love and unity in this life, else we can never dwell together in the life to come. I am trying to show our people the need of the unity for which Christ prayed. The soul must fully own the power and authority of the Word of God. Christ, the perfect example, is ever before us. To Him we may look for grace and power to overcome every fault. We are to get ready for the great day of God by carrying out in the daily life the perfect principles presented to us in the life of Christ. We are called by Him to be His representatives. We are God's children. By spiritual adoption we become His sons and daughters. We are to live in conformity to His will, representing Him in life and character.
12MR	273	2	Perfect conformity to the will of God is the condition on which eternal life is given. The apostle Peter writes: [2 Peter 1:5-11, quoted].
12MR	273	3	May the Lord bless you, my brother and sister, and lead you, through a knowledge of His Word, to a perfect understanding of His will concerning you.
------------------------MR No. 983--Counsel on Solving Church Difficulties
12MR	274	1	In the vision given me one year ago last fall I was shown many things in regard to the churches in Indiana, in reference to ministers and people; but now I have time to refer to only one church, the church at Ligonier. I saw them in trouble; they were a spectacle to the world, angels, and to men. They professed to be the repositories of God's law, but difficulties and dissensions made them a weak church; and because of their lack of union, they were bringing the precious, sacred truth of God into disrepute.
12MR	274	2	There were some who did not meet the minds of others in the church. These were not all as they should be, and as God would have them to be; and some leading spirits in the church had a controlling influence, which they exercised unwisely. It would have been better for the cause of God had these zealous ones sought most earnestly for the Spirit of the Lord to soften, subdue, elevate, and ennoble their characters, that they should be correct representatives of Jesus Christ.
12MR	274	3	But those who had a ruling influence in the church were not right in heart themselves, notwithstanding they made high profession of faith. The outside was apparently right, as far as belief and profession were concerned, while the inward work of the heart--the grace of God in the life developing characters--was very much at fault. They had not the Spirit of Christ, and they labored with another spirit, exhibiting self. Strong feelings would rise up under contradiction, or if others differed with them in their ideas or opinions, their own hearts being controlled by selfishness, they sought to exalt themselves and censure and judge their brethren--a work God had not given them at all.
12MR	275	1	They had left the anxious work of taking care lest they should "fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up [trouble you], and thereby many be defiled" [Hebrews 12:15]. They turned their eyes outward to watch lest others' characters should not be right, when their eyes should have been turned inward to close searching of their own motives, scanning and criticizing their own characters, their own feelings; and emptying from the heart love of self, envy, evil surmisings, jealousy, malice, unkindness, and self-esteem.
12MR	275	2	When they do this, they will esteem others better than themselves, and will not be climbing upon the judgment seat to pronounce sentence upon others. This has caused all the difficulties in the church. Young churches may have leaders in elders and deacons chosen to have a burden and care for the prosperity of the church, yet these men should not feel at liberty in their own judgment and responsibility to cut off names from the church. They should not have so much zeal as to make decisive moves of so grave a character.
12MR	275	3	They should communicate with the one who has been appointed as president of their conference, and confer with him. At some appointed time have the matter particularly considered, and with great wisdom and in the fear of God, with much humility and earnest, humble prayer, should erring ones be dealt with.
12MR	276	1	The matter should be thoroughly investigated. What is the charge brought against the erring one? Has he willfully transgressed the law of God? Has the offender been dishonest in his deal or trade with his brethren or the world? Has he been untruthful? Has he practiced deception? Has he been licentious? Has he been severe, overbearing, and abusive in his family, with his neighbors, with his brethren, or worldlings? Has he shown a spirit of penuriousness, selfishness, covetousness; of questioning doubts, of faultfinding, of talebearing, of talking of his brethren's faults; magnifying their wrongs, having a spirit of bitterness against them? All these things are grave matters, and deserving of consideration.
12MR	276	2	But the next question is, what course has been pursued toward the erring? Have the Bible rules been followed to the letter? Read before them the rules given by their Captain. Have they obeyed orders like faithful soldiers in the army? To go contrary to the positive orders of the Captain of our salvation is deserving of severest censure.
12MR	276	3	[Matthew 18:15-18, quoted.]
12MR	276	4	Jesus is united to His people by a love far greater and more enduring, than ever bound human kindred hearts together; and this love, so deep, so unchanging, is a continual assurance, a guarantee of this faithfulness to you. O wondrous love that should lead the Son of God in order to secure us to Himself, and ensure our eternal salvation, to yield up His honor, His glory, His royal throne and royal court; and for our sakes to become poor, that we, through His poverty, might be made rich.
12MR	277	1	He gave all that He had--His riches and His glory--and then gave His own precious life. For us He endured the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, where the mysterious cup trembled in His hand, and His anguished soul cried out: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me." Three times from His pale and quivering lips came this agonizing prayer, and then--"Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, O God, be done." An angel from heaven strengthened the royal Sufferer to tread His bloodstained path to Calvary, and to drink the cup of suffering to its very dregs.
12MR	277	2	Oh! why was all this suffering, this agonizing, and torturing agony? It was that by the sacrifice of Himself His love might stand revealed and move men from their ways of transgression.
12MR	277	3	His arms are outstretched to clasp the repentant, believing ones to His heart of love, with all the tenderness of divine affection. And after man had cost so much, will He leave him now? Oh! no! no! He is faithful that hath promised.
12MR	277	4	In Jesus we have an enduring, unchanging Friend; and though all worldly prospects fail, and every earthly friend prove unfaithful and treacherous, yet He is faithful still. His servants are as dear to Him as the apple of the eye. In trial, in want, in perplexity and distress, we are not alone; at every step, in tones of assurance, He bids you, "Follow Me, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." But this blessed assurance is given only on condition of your obedience and faithfulness to Him.
12MR	278	1	After man has cost such an infinite price as the Son of God, that He might make him a being of His throne, how tenderly should man deal with his fellow men. How fearful should brethren and sisters in the church feel lest they shall hurt the oil and the wine, and push and destroy one of God's little ones. How patiently, kindly, and affectionately should they deal with the purchase of the blood of Christ. How faithfully should they labor, and how earnestly, to lift up the desponding, the discouraged, and those whose surroundings may not be as favorable as their own. How tenderly should they treat those who, while seeking to obey the truth, have no encouragement at home, but have constantly to breathe the atmosphere of unbelief.
12MR	278	2	Jesus' eye is constantly upon these little ones of His fold, and those who are trying to leave all to follow Him. If a brother or sister is supposed [i.e., presumed] to err, do not whisper among yourselves, commenting upon, magnifying, and exaggerating supposed errors of others. Do not backbite with your tongue. A great deal of this is done in our churches and the result is the displeasure of God and exulting of Satan that he can weaken and annoy those who might be strong in God. The world sees their weakness; the world judges the truth they profess to love, by the fruits they see manifested by these who claim to believe the truth.
12MR	278	3	[Psalm 15 quoted.]
12MR	278	4	Here the backbiter is excluded from abiding in the tabernacle of God, and from dwelling in the holy hill of Zion. He that "taketh up a reproach against his neighbour" cannot receive the approval of God, and abide in His tabernacle.
12MR	279	1	How many ministers, while laboring in a good work amid a precious interest, are summoned from their work while souls are being converted, to help in some church trial. Satan instigated and originated it all for the purpose of distracting and confusing minds, and throwing souls off the track.
12MR	279	2	Ministers, after repeated urgent calls, are called from a profitable field of labor to let the interests waver and die, in order to settle some matters in the church, among brethren, which they have manufactured by disregarding the orders of their Captain. While in this divided state of feeling, their hearts are unimpressible, and the minister's efforts are like blows upon cold iron; each party is more firmly set in its own way, and will, after making so much of little matters that might have been adjusted at the outset by following the rule Christ has given them, refuse to make any concession.
12MR	279	3	The minister makes his home with one of the brethren, but some are watching lest the minister shall receive impressions unfavorable to themselves. If the minister gives counsel, some will say, There! such a one has been talking with him; and his words have no weight with them. Thus the souls are armed with prejudice and distrust and evil surmisings; and the minister is made the sport of their prejudices and their jealousies. He generally leaves the matter much worse than he found it. The dye has set the colors, and the impressions are almost indelible.
12MR	279	4	Had the minister given words of advice in accordance with the Bible rule, and stated like Nehemiah, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down," that church would be in a far better condition. This has been acted over and over again, and many souls have been lost as the result. Satan knew just how to work upon unconsecrated, unconverted men and women, who thought more of maintaining their dignity and their own opinions than the salvation of souls; therefore he worked upon hearts and minds to get up something to call the minister away from his labors just at the time when souls are interested and leaning in favor of the truth. And should the minister leave, he knows that that interest will never be revived again. Satan then secures souls in his toils who cannot again so easily break his fetters off them.
12MR	280	1	In such cases a minister is placed in a most miserable position. He may decide ever so wisely, [but] if his decision is not in favor of certain ones, they think less of him, and a party spirit is strengthened. Had he refused to leave his work, his influence would have been preserved, for his decisions must displease some who have a mind of their own and who are not willing to yield to any man's judgment.
12MR	280	2	Ministers and lay members of the church displease God when they allow individuals to tell them of the errors and faults of their brethren. They should not open their ears to these reports. They should inquire, "Have you strictly followed the injunction of your Saviour? Have you told him his faults between you and him alone? And then if he refused to hear, have you carefully and prayerfully taken two or three others and labored with him in tenderness, in humility, in meekness, your heart throbbing in love for his soul?" If you failed here, there was only one more step you could take--tell it to the church, and let action be taken in the case according to the Scriptures. Then it is that heaven will ratify the decision made by the church in cutting off the offending member.
12MR	281	1	If these steps have not been taken, do not listen to a word, close the ears, and refuse to take up a reproach against your neighbor; listening to the reports of evil is lifting or taking up the reproach. If there were no brethren and sisters to take up the reproach against their neighbors, evil tongues would not find so fruitful a field in which to labor, backbiting and devouring one another.
12MR	281	2	This is the great wrong existing in the church at Ligonier. There have been tale-bearing, gossiping ones, seeking spots and stains in the characters of others, while their own souls were open to Satan's temptations and closed to the compassion, pity, and love of Christ.
12MR	281	3	Instead of cherishing the spirit of the truth, they were glorifying themselves [by saying], "We are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," while they are "miserable, poor, blind, and naked." The gold which is love, they do not possess. Says the true Witness, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold ... that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that ... thy nakedness do not appear; and ... eyesalve, that thou mayest see."
12MR	281	4	This is what the church in Ligonier wants [lacks], and must have, or it would [be] better [if it had] never been raised up; for they are a curse to the truth they profess. They need to seek white raiment, which is a pure and spotless character; they need eyesalve, that they may clearly see their own defects of character, the lack of the grace and Spirit of God.
12MR	281	5	There has been a decided wrong with those who have carried their strong spirit into the church, and ruled it. Women have had this strong, untamable spirit, which has been thought by some to be zeal for truth and for God. It is their own natural self-sufficient, unyielding spirit, that would never endure control or contradiction. They exalt themselves, but God sees their wicked ways and His curse is resting upon them.
12MR	282	1	This spirit has ruled in the family, in the neighborhood, and in the church. This spirit is threatening the ruin of the church at Ligonier. One, only one, such element, if countenanced in the church, will destroy its peace, its unity, and its prosperity; but where there are relatives near and distant connected with this element, the danger is increased to just that degree of the number of connections and the sympathy given this ruling influence. The leader in the church is not the man for the place. Paul writes to Titus: [Titus 1:5-9 quoted.]
12MR	282	2	It would be well for all of our ministers to take heed to these words, and not hurry men into office without due consideration, without much prayer that God would designate by His Spirit whom He would accept. The families of those who are suggested as officers, are to be considered. If the father has had a good influence at home, if he has shown piety in his family, and has brought up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, they will show reverence for sacred things. They will be kind, obedient, respectful, and courteous.
12MR	282	3	If the father has felt no special burden for the conversion of his children, and has not brought them up to be peaceable, kind, pure, and respectful, it is enough to show that the same influence he has had at home will be exerted in the church. He will not show an entirely different phase of character in the church from that which he has manifested at home.
12MR	282	4	This influence is read in the manner in which the family conduct themselves. Here the Bible has been disregarded, and in consequence, much, very much, trouble has been brought upon the church.
12MR	283	1	The leader at Wolfe Lake has not the right qualification to build up and create that interest which the members of the church shall need to become laborers. There is not tact and judgment used to preserve the life and vital interest in the church. Old habits have been dragged into the church. A living connection with God would give a living, fresh experience. Old stereotyped prayers and exhortations; dry, prosy hymns and labors are not in place at all.
12MR	283	2	The leaders of churches in every place should be earnest, full of zeal and unselfish interest. They should make their request to God in faith; pray short and to the point; speak short and interestingly. Long prayers and exhortations are all uncalled for. If the brethren and sisters have something to say that will edify and refresh others, they will be men and women connected with God, drawing their supplies from His exhaustless storehouse. They will bring from the storehouse of God things new and old. If their own souls have been sanctified by the Spirit of God, they will cheer, strengthen, and encourage others. If they themselves have not drunk at the fountain of salvation, they will not know how to lead others to the fountain.
12MR	283	3	God has precious souls in these churches who would become ministers if they grow in the knowledge of the truth, and teach others the way of salvation, and lead them to righteousness. Satan will use every device in leading young men to form marriage connections which will defeat the purpose of God. He will seek to lower the standard of spirituality and holiness, so that the church will not be a living, working church, and its members be fitting themselves to work in the cause of God. Oh! how careful should be those who take the leading position in the church that their lives and deportment shall not scatter from Christ instead of gathering with Him.
12MR	284	1	Experimental religion must be urged upon those who embrace the theory of the truth. Ministers must not neglect to keep their own souls in the love of the truth and of God, and then impress upon the people the necessity of an individual consecration, a personal conversion, and a living experience to be obtained for themselves; or the profession of faith is of no value. It is, indeed, worse than if they had never embraced the truth, for they are as salt without the savor.
12MR	284	2	Unless Christ is enshrined in the soul, His Spirit controlling the affections, the profession of truth is useless.
12MR	284	3	"Lay hands," said the inspired apostle,"suddenly on no man" [1 Timothy 5:22]. Do not be in such haste to manufacture leaders, ordaining men that have never been tested or proved. Let the church be conducted in this manner: alternating with several, one leading one week and choosing another for the next week or two, thus keeping individuals at work in the church; and after a suitable trial select by the voice of the church someone to be the acknowledged leader, for never more than a year at a time; then elect again a new one, or the same one if he has been a blessing to the church.
12MR	284	4	There are many who run risks, doing things at a venture, and do not move with proper discernment and wisdom in these important matters in which vital interests are involved.
12MR	284	5	The church must not be entrusted to inefficient, unsanctified men, for Satan works through them to ruin the church. There have been some professing the truth who have not been dealt with considerately, because the men in responsible positions have not known how to treat such cases, as they themselves were not right with God. There has been such a course pursued toward men whom they should respect even if they were erring.
12MR	285	1	Dr. Osborn is a man of intelligence, a man who loves the truth but one who will need to be dealt with considerately for his years and for his position as a man of influence. Those who have had no authority and who should not feel that it developed upon them to handle such men have felt free to move and act in a most unwise manner. Their course has made the doctor regard them with contempt. The course pursued toward Doctor Osborn has been all wrong. Had this man been handled judiciously he would have been a blessing to the church. He has used tobacco to a greater or less degree, but this habit was not as offensive in the sight of God as the defects in the character of those who might judge him, for God weighs the motives.
12MR	285	2	The ruling, driving, storming spirits need to take their hands off and turn their attention to themselves. Their own destitution of the Spirit of God is the reason of their unquiet, censorious, condemning spirit. Could the doctor have been dealt with in a kindly manner, in a spirit of tenderness; had respect been shown to his years and to his position, then his heart would have been impressed. God has His eye upon him and will deal with him in a very different manner from that in which his brethren have dealt with him.
12MR	285	3	The doctor has character molded and habits confirmed, and to take the truth at his age and be transformed is a great work. This may not be expected in a day or a week or a month. The indulgence of tobacco is an evil which God would have him overcome. He can do this in the name and strength of Jesus. He can be conqueror and wear finally the victor's crown.
12MR	285	4	He has not submitted to the treatment which he has received with a good grace. He has been harsh, severe, and unyielding. He has been excited and has manifested strong feelings. His human nature could not bear the unintelligent, unreasonable, unchristian, course pursued by men and women who had more zeal than knowledge. God has been displeased with, and dishonored by, them.
12MR	286	1	Some have taken a position that those who use tobacco should be dealt with and turned out of the church. In all of our experience for many years not a case of this kind has thus been treated by us. We have borne with them and labored with and prayed with them for years, and if after a time they did not reform they became lax in other things, and causes of a grievous character occurred which required an action on the part of the church. But then the responsibility was not assumed by merely the resident elder, the deacon, or any church member, but the church waited in patience for help, for wise counselors, and then moved with the greatest caution. These hasty movements in such cases tend to ruin a church. It shows a self-sufficient, self-important, bigoted spirit which if indulged will ruin any church.
12MR	286	2	God loves the soul of Doctor Osborn. He is a man who, if converted soul and body to God, would do good. The Master has entrusted him with talents of influence and means. He has made him His steward and He will ere long require him to give an account of his stewardship. Many souls will come to the knowledge of the truth through his efforts to spread the publications. There are a large circle of his acquaintances and relatives to whom he can be the means of presenting the truth, some of whom will receive it.
12MR	286	3	He may be an instrument in the hands of God of great good, but narrow minds and self-important, self-righteous ones do not discern this. They are too much shut up to themselves, too far separated from God to see the great good that one such man may do if he is indeed converted, heart and soul, to God. They would push off such a soul: they would pursue a course which would result in his being lost to the cause, for the sake of carrying out their own spirit and will. Doctor Osborn has not pursued that meek and Christian course which the Bible requires, but those who have condemned him have pursued a course far more objectionable in the sight of God than that pursued by him, and they are answerable for their influence upon the doctor.
12MR	287	1	God calls upon Doctor Osborn to come near to Him by faith and obedience. The grace of God can subdue, sanctify, and refine, and make him an honor to the cause and a chosen vessel fit for the Master's use. The natural heart may be transformed by the grace of God.
12MR	287	2	I was shown that the same injudicious treatment has been exercised toward others. Some precious souls that could not justify the unchristian course pursued toward the doctor were crowded until they have separated from the church, and others have been cut off. Such a spirit has taken possession of those who have ever carried things by storm that Satan, instead of the Spirit of Christ, has triumphed. Some of those who have been deprived of the fellowship of the church have been more worthy of a place in the church than those by whom they were cut off. God calls upon these to repent, and learn of Christ the spirit of meekness, of self-denial, and love.
12MR	287	3	Those persons who have been so officious need to become acquainted with the dear Saviour. He is the eternal and universal guardian of justice. You can never exclude Him from any matter in which the rights of His offspring are concerned. He takes the part of His children against all who would wrong them. His hand is spread over them as a buckler. No man or woman can wound them without smiting that hand.
12MR	287	4	Sister Graham, see that you smite it not, for that right hand holds the sword of justice. It is in your organization to hurt, to mar, and to wound the feelings of others while you exalt yourself. If you could see yourself as God sees you, you would take up the duties neglected at home and would correct, in the fear of God, your own ways, and have a subdued, meek, and quiet spirit, that you might work the works of God.
12MR	288	1	You need unbending integrity. Unless you are a thoroughly converted woman, you will never enter the city of God. You should deal with the precious souls under your charge with gentleness, with kindly consideration, with affection, with love, for you will then reveal the Christ side of your character instead of the repulsive, satanic side. Practice the highest standard of moral integrity. Show your children that you love them and want them happy. This will be of more value than all of your teachings in reference to religion and truth. Practical godliness goes a great ways in influencing others to come to Christ. You make high claims of godliness while your influence is to corrupt and deceive souls.
12MR	288	2	A harsh manner, a repulsive spirit, a cold, unsympathizing, unlovely bearing toward our children, is molding and fashioning the character, and this spirit is brought into the church to be acted over there and to sow discord and malice and strife.
12MR	288	3	The only safe course to pursue is to search the heart, try the motives by the Word of God, and test the spirit, and see what is the influence of words and actions. Conversion is needed. A transforming influence of the Spirit of God upon the character must be felt and demonstrated in the words and actions. There are very many who are copying the spirit of Sister Graham. This spirit is certainly not the Spirit of Christ. If her eyes could be turned inwardly and she could see how offensive is this spirit in the sight of God, she would make determined efforts to sit at the feet of Jesus and, like Mary, learn of the Master meekness and lowliness of mind. She would be a learner in the school of Christ rather than a teacher. We cannot with safety look away from our Saviour for one moment, for a dart of Satan will be hurled at our weakest points. In the exercise of a living faith in the merits of Christ alone are we safe. The helpless soul of the sinner must hang on Jesus. If he lets go his hold for one moment, he is in imminent peril of hurting his own soul and of imperiling the souls of others.
12MR	289	1	The commission of any known sin, the neglect of the duties of life at home or abroad, will destroy faith and disconnect the soul from God. Sin is a heinous and offensive thing. It is highly offensive to God. There is a sad history in the life of Peter, which should be a lesson to all. He had been warned by his Master of approaching danger, but, self-confident and presumptuous, he affirmed a constant fidelity and zeal superior to the other disciples and declared himself willing to follow his Master to prison and to death. The test came for Peter when the storm of opposition came upon the followers in the humiliation of their Master. Mournful words traced by the pen of inspiration, "They all forsook Him and fled." And Peter, the ardent, self-confident, zealous Peter, repeatedly denied his Lord. He afterwards bitterly repented, but this example should admonish all to beware of self-confidence and self-righteousness. Mark the lesson of Christ upon humility and of the tenderness and care which should be manifested for the erring and those who need sympathy and love.
12MR	289	2	[Matthew 8:1-14, quoted.] There are those who have not honored the cause of God but have the deformity of sin revealed in their lives and in their character; but even these must be borne with, remembering how Jesus bears with us and how wicked and sinful we have been and yet He bears with us still.
12MR	290	1	[Matthew 18:23-35, quoted.] Here we are to take home the lessons of Christ in regard to the Spirit which we should manifest toward each other. We should not be severe and exacting with the erring; it is all out of place. Christ has been merciful to us, forgiving our sins and transgressions. He paid an infinite price to redeem us from hopeless despair, and with the same tenderness, forbearance, and love, and with hearts filled with gratitude to God, we should exercise the same spirit.
12MR	290	2	When we need grace constantly and forgiveness daily, and mercy and compassion every moment of our existence, how unbecoming and out of place for Christians to be so ready to criticize, censure, and condemn their brethren of like passions with themselves. The reproof is here given by our Redeemer for all such conduct. Much of this spirit is the result of self-esteem and of self-exaltation, striving for the supremacy lest others shall come in and fill a place higher than ourselves. But the lessons given on these points are marked, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Meekness and humility must be cultivated continually in order to preserve the true spirit of Christianity.
12MR	290	3	Here again is presented the lost sheep. The ninety and nine are left while search is made for the one, lost, perishing sheep. When the sheep was found, the shepherd elevated it to his shoulder and returned with rejoicing. He did not reprimand the straying sheep. He did not say, Let him go, if he will. But he goes forth mid frost and cold, storm and tempest, to save the one lost sheep; and patiently he continues his labor until the object of his search is found.
12MR	291	1	In this very manner we are to treat the erring and the wandering. We are to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice. Ease and comfort are not to be considered when a soul for whom Christ died is in peril. Said Christ, "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." As joy was manifested over the recovery of the lost sheep, so will thankfulness and exceeding joy be manifested by the true servants of Christ when one soul is saved from death.
12MR	291	2	There has been a reckless disregard manifested for the souls of men and women in Ligonier. There has been a spirit of push and crowd and thrust out from the church. In this there has not been exercised the spirit of the true Shepherd who has an interest for the souls for whom Christ died. The spirit of the self-righteous Pharisees has been cherished by men and women who profess to believe the truth. They were working to be first in everything. They loved the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in synagogues, but shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, neither going in themselves nor permitting others to enter; and who, for a pretense made long prayers, but secretly devoured widows' houses; who paid tithe of mint and anise and cummin, but neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and the love of God; who externally appeared to love the truth and to be very zealous for the cause of God, while the heart was left unsubdued, unsanctified, unhumbled, open to jealousy, hatred, and malice.
12MR	291	3	The Christian reformer should be first to reform himself, to obtain the spirit of the Master, willing, like Him, to suffer reproach and practice self-denial to consummate the great purpose which brought Him into the world.
12MR	292	1	Christ teaches all who profess His name to humble themselves and bear the cross, walking in His footsteps. Instead of sparing themselves and seeking their own glory, they should continually have a just appreciation of the value of one soul. The whole world sinks into insignificance when compared with the value of one soul.
12MR	292	2	A spirit to rule and exercise authority, lording it over God's heritage, is a work which will do great harm and result in the loss of souls.
12MR	292	3	Those who really love Jesus will seek to labor in His spirit and strive to conform their own lives and characters to the great Pattern. In reforms, the Spirit of Christ must continually abide with the reformer. Men may be attracted and won into the ranks of Christ and reform; but they cannot be forced or driven by censure, reproach, or harsh measures. A course of Christian forbearance, of candor, and of consideration and courteousness toward all who do not see the truth as we do, will be a power for good.
12MR	292	4	Order must be preserved in every change. We must learn not to be too fast and require too much of men. It is impossible to exert a proper influence unless the heart of the believer is in connection with God. Souls that were precious in the sight of God have been oppressed, censured, abused, and severed from the church. The body of Christ is, as it were, bleeding from these terrible movements. The most thrilling appeals may be made from the pulpit; logic and eloquence may fail to move men to see the truth and accept it; but meekness and piety exhibited in the daily life, in the management and right training of families, have power which even disarms infidelity.
12MR	292	5	It is truth seen in the words, in the conduct; it is the word of God burning in the heart, shining upon the countenance, expressed from the lips; it is the humble prayer of the lowly and contrite, which moves the arm of Omnipotence.
12MR	293	1	Christ prayed to His Father just prior to His crucifixion: [John 17:17-26, quoted.]
12MR	293	2	We profess to be the repositories of God's law, and as a people professing [to have] greater light, and to live up to a higher standard than any other people upon earth, we should show greater perfection of character and a deeper devotion, exalting sacred and eternal things. A most solemn message has been entrusted to those who have received the light of truth, and our light should shine forth in clear beams to brighten the pathway of those who are in darkness, and thus daily glorify God in our lives.
12MR	293	3	Every member of the church has an individual responsibility as a member of the visible church, and a worker in the vineyard of the Lord, and should do his utmost to preserve harmony, union, and love in the church. Mark the prayer of Christ, "that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."
12MR	293	4	The evidence that the world cannot withstand and controvert, that God has sent Jesus into the world as its Redeemer, is in the oneness of the church. Their unity and harmony is the convincing argument. Satan is therefore constantly at work to prevent this harmony and union, that in witnessing the bickerings, strifes, and dissension, unbelievers shall become disgusted with Christianity and fastened in unbelief and infidelity. God is dishonored by those who profess the truth while they are at variance with one another.
12MR	293	5	If our profession [to have] greater truths than other denominations does not lead to deeper consecration, and purer and holier lives, of what advantage is this truth to us? It would be better for us if we had never seen the light of truth, than to profess to accept it, and not be sanctified by it.
12MR	294	1	To determine how great a matter is involved in the conversion of a soul from error to truth, we must appreciate the value of immortality, we must sense the pains of the second death. We must comprehend the honors and glory awaiting the ransomed, and understand what it is to live in the presence of Him who died that He might elevate, ennoble, and give to the overcomer a royal diadem.
12MR	294	2	The worth of a soul cannot be fully estimated. How gratefully will the ransomed and glorified ones remember those who were instrumental in their salvation. Not one will forget his self-denying labors, his persevering efforts, his patience, perseverance, and earnest heart yearning for these souls who might have been lost to Jesus Christ, had he neglected his duty or became weary in well doing.
12MR	294	3	Now these white-robed ones are gathered within the fold of the great Shepherd. The faithful instrument and souls saved by his labors are greeted by the Lamb which is seated in the midst of the throne, and led to the tree of life and to the fountain of living waters. With what joy does he behold these redeemed ones, who are made sharers of the Redeemer's throne! How much more precious is heaven to those who have been faithful in the work of saving others. "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
12MR	294	4	I have written these lines with feelings of deep concern for my brethren and sisters. I would plead with you as one who is deeply interested in your salvation to heed the words of reproof and warning here given. Do not delay to seek the Lord, each making a personal application to his own case of the lessons Jesus would have him learn. If each one now seeks the Lord; [if] each one now humbles himself before God, He will accept you. Make diligent, earnest work to set your hearts in order. The consecration must be complete; you must be willing to do and to suffer cheerfully for Christ's sake. Hide yourself in Jesus. Jesus loves you; He can be honored by you if you will abide in Him.
12MR	295	1	Cultivate kindness, gentleness, and love in your heart and in the hearts of your families, at home and in the church of God. The channels of thought, desire, and action must be refined, purified, and ennobled. Rich blessings are in store for the church if they will come into a position to receive them. Look to Jesus constantly, not at the faults of your brethren. Purify the soul temple that has become defiled. Heaven is rich in blessings. Our heavenly Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than parents to give good gifts to their children.
12MR	295	2	Ask in faith, earnestly in humility; ask in faith, steady, constant faith, and He will answer. Remember, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
12MR	295	3	Let no man or woman, whether his name be on the church book or not, presume to cherish the idea that he is a child of God, an heir of heaven, whatever his profession may be or experience he may have, unless these evidences are in his heart and developed in his character.
12MR	295	4	These clusters of Christian graces will grow upon the Christian tree. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
------------------------MR No. 984--The Matchless Christ Offers His Spirit to the Humble and Contrite
12MR	296	1	We ask of Paul, the great apostle, and he answers, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" [1 Timothy 3:16].
12MR	296	2	Again we ask John, What of Christ? [John 1:9-14, 29, quoted]. We hear the testimony of Isaiah: [Isaiah 62:1-3; 63:1-4, quoted]. We ask John what he saw and heard in the vision at Patmos, and he answers: [Revelation 5:1-3, quoted].
12MR	296	3	There in His open hand lay the book, the roll of the history of God's providences, the prophetic history of nations and the church. Herein was contained the divine utterances, His authority, His commandments, His laws, the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal, and the history of all ruling powers in the nations. In symbolic language was contained in that roll the influence of every nation, tongue, and people from the beginning of earth's history to its close.
12MR	296	4	This roll was written within and without. John says: "I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon" [verse 4]. The vision as presented to John made its impression upon his mind. The destiny of every nation was contained in that book. John was distressed at the utter inability of any human being or angelic intelligence to read the words, or even to look thereon. His soul was wrought up to such a point of agony and suspense that one of the strong angels had compassion on him, and laying his hand on him assuringly, said, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" [verse 5].
12MR	297	1	John continues: [verses 6, 7, quoted]. As the book was unrolled, all who looked upon it were filled with awe. There were no blanks in the book. There was space for no more writing. [Revelation 5:8-14; 6:8-11; Revelation 8:1-4, quoted.]
12MR	297	2	The psalmist prayed: [Psalm 141:1-3, quoted]. We have every evidence that the humble, contrite prayer offered to God is regarded as precious in His sight. Not one is lost. The promise is: [Luke 11:9-13, quoted].
12MR	297	3	This invitation is for all. The Saviour seeks to impress the truth by an illustration. Will the father whose child asks for bread, give him a stone? If he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? This is presented as an impossibility. Drawing the contrast between the heavenly and earthly parent, Christ adds, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?"
12MR	297	4	Let us ask Isaiah what he has from the Lord in regard to this matter: [Isaiah 57:15-21; 66:1, 2, quoted].
12MR	297	5	The Lord hears the prayers of all who come to Him in their necessity, all who are humble and contrite in heart. The Lord hears, and He will manifest Himself unto them, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones....
12MR	298	1	[Revelation 3:15-18, quoted.]
12MR	298	2	There are precious experiences for the youth to gain, if they will die to self, but if they cherish and exalt self, Christ will not work with or for them. He will permit them to exhibit how little there is of them in their pride and haughtiness and spiritual poverty. Christ says, [Revelation 3:4, 5, quoted.]
12MR	298	3	I have a word of warning to my brethren in this country. [verses 6-11; 2 Peter 1:2-11, quoted.]
------------------------MR No. 986--Comments About Dr. Caro, A New Zealand Dentist
12MR	299	1	I have had so much trouble with these teeth and [have] expended on them no less than $150 or $200. I found Mrs. Dr. Caro a superior dentist of high repute. She had special interest in, and love for, Sister White. The matter was decided as far back as the conference in Napier, to have this done at once after the conference.
12MR	299	2	I leave Wellington in two months to go to Napier where Dr. Caro and Mrs. Dr. Dentist Caro live. Her dentist rooms are in their own house. I am glad the job that is the most disagreeable is done.
12MR	299	3	The 60 pounds that went to Sister Caro to help bear the load she was carrying, I meant to invest in the meetinghouse in Melbourne. But there seem to be more than six ways to expend every shilling in the work that needs to be done.
------------------------MR No. 987--Definitions of Righteousness and Iniquity
12MR	300	1	In Hebrews it is stated of Christ that He was exalted above His associates because He loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Righteousness is simply loving and doing that which is just and right to every soul with whom we have to do. Iniquity means perverting the right. Crooked practices, selfish plans, are instituted, that self and certain ones may be benefited while, in order to secure these ends, others are oppressed. All this is robbery toward God and toward man. True principles are forsaken; things are twisted out of God's line in order to gratify selfishness. Wrong means turning things out of the straight lines in which God designs they should go. Fraud is a transgression of God's commandments, and all who profess to be Christians and do not obey the commandments of God, misrepresent the character of Jesus. Those who believe the truth for this time will practice it voluntarily, at any cost to themselves. Sound doctrines will be represented by sound practice.
------------------------MR No. 988--Christ in Both Old and New Testaments
12MR	301	1	The instruction given in the Old Testament Scriptures is as verily the word of Christ as the instruction in the New Testament. Christ was as verily man's Redeemer in the days when the Old Testament was written as He was when He appeared in the form of humanity. He gave those of ancient Israel just as favorable an opportunity of working out their own salvation as He did those who listened to His words.
------------------------MR No. 989--Jesus, Comforter of the Afflicted
12MR	302	1	We are sorry to learn of your affliction. If we were anywhere within reach, we would visit you. Your daughter has been with us, more or less, for a few weeks. It seems like being at home [having] your daughter and Brother Farnsworth, Elders Haskell and Starr [with us]. Your daughter has told us of your protracted sickness. We can sympathize with you, and pray for you, and this is all that it is in our power to do. Christ said to Nathanael, in answer to his question, "How knowest Thou me?" "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee" [John 1:45]. We see here that Christ saw Nathanael before Nathanael saw Christ.
12MR	302	2	So it is now. Christ sees His children before they see Him. He calls them before they answer Him. He has them in His mind before they notice Jesus. How cheerful it is to realize that we have a sympathizing Redeemer, who identifies His interests with those of suffering humanity. You may consider Him as your physician. He will, and does, give you grace. He will never leave nor forsake you. He will carry you from grace to grace. You need not be anxious. Simply rely upon Jesus Christ, your righteousness and your sufficiency.
12MR	302	3	Your mind may often be clouded because of pain. Then do not try to think; but just rest, and show that you have committed your soul to God as unto a faithful Creator. It is your privilege to show in your weakness and suffering that you do not doubt the love of God toward you, that you know that He is faithful who has promised, and that you trust soul and body in His hands, that He will keep that which is committed to His trust.
12MR	303	1	Let your mind dwell upon the goodness of God, upon the great love wherewith He has loved us, as evidenced in the work of redemption. If He did not love us, and consider us of value, then this great sacrifice would not have been made. He is beneficent in mercy and in grace. Let your heart and mind be at rest, like a tired child in the arms of its mother. His everlasting arms are beneath you. In all your afflictions Jesus is afflicted. What a privilege it is for you, now afflicted, to find a refuge in Jesus.
12MR	303	2	The gospel armor seems too weighty to be borne. Well, Jesus Christ is your armor. Hide in Him, and the wicked one will not harass or confuse your faith. Jesus has bequeathed His peace to you.
			"Strong in the strength which God supplies Through His eternal Son."
12MR	303	3	Praise the Lord that you have felt the cleansing efficacy of the Saviour's blood. Upon your soul the Son of Righteousness hath arisen with healing in His wings. How empty and unsatisfying is every earthly thing. But Jesus, the precious Saviour, is your spiritual sustenance. He has linked your life with His life. The word of His grace is manna to the believing soul. The precious promises of the Word are life, sweetness, and peace.
12MR	304	1	Do not be troubled. Jesus loves you, and will care for and bless you. The active, aggressive battle you can no more fight, but you can let Jesus fight it for you. He says to you, Give your case entirely into My hands. "Be still, and know that I am God."
12MR	304	2	Dear Sister Cady, we hope and pray that the Lord will give you help and strength under the severe taxation that is upon you. That God that saw Nathanael under the fig tree sees you, and understands all your griefs and all your sorrows. The Lord Jesus will be your strength in this day of your affliction.
12MR	304	3	These words are very precious unto me, "He that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.... Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" [John 6:35, 54]. Christ explains His meaning: "The flesh profiteth not; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" [verse 6]. Yes, the Word is the living bread. Eat of it daily. It will be a sustaining power to do all that you must do. It will infuse immortal vigor into your soul, perfect your experience, and bring to you those joys which are real, and which abide forever.
12MR	304	4	It would be a comfort to you to have your children near you; but if this cannot be, never forget that you have Jesus. In your weariness, in the anxiety you feel as you see your loved one suffering, and [you] cannot relieve him, be assured that Jesus Christ is your ever-present agency in the Holy Spirit, to cheer, to sustain, to bless in the varied experience that day by day you are passing through.
12MR	305	1	Bear in mind that Jesus is afflicted in all our afflictions. He became in our behalf a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You are being brought into profound sympathy with the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ as you are partaking of His sufferings. You will be sharers of His glory, which will be revealed. Let the grasp of your faith become more firm, and the measure of your love for Jesus deeper and more abiding.
12MR	305	2	The Lord permits great trials to come upon His loved ones. He tries them as gold. Now is your opportunity to show that you do trust in your Redeemer, even though in the crucible of affliction. Be cheerful. Let your cheerfulness be seen in your countenance, because you have Jesus by your side, to watch with you. You may converse with Jesus. You may say, "The Lord is my helper. I shall not be moved." You may find blessed opportunities to speak to some soul words of courage, and sow seed that will spring up and bear fruit. Let all see in whom you place your trust.
12MR	305	3	Our period of toil, my brother, my sister, will soon be at an end. We shall see Jesus, and be made like Him. "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. And they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of water: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" [Revelation 7:13-17]. We shall surely see and realize all these blessings. Trust in the Lord and He will strengthen thy faith.
------------------------MR No. 990--Heaven Cooperates in Fulfilling the Gospel Commission
12MR	307	1	Christ's Messengers to Act in His Stead--Christ came to our world to teach all who believe in Him the way in which to work. It is not to be in vain that God has given the Bible to the world. The disciples were to begin their work by publishing the great truths of Christianity in the metropolis of Palestine, and from Jerusalem they were to go to all parts of the world.
12MR	307	2	As Christ sent His disciples forth He gave them their commission: "When He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease" [Matthew 10:1]. This is just as verily a part of the work of those who proclaim the gospel message as is ministering to the spiritual needs of the being. Christ's messengers are to act in His stead in behalf of their fellow-men. In this age of the world, when Satan is stirred by a power from beneath to work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, the Saviour is waiting to cooperate with His servants.
12MR	307	3	Christ met with the greatest success among the poor. Thus every human being, learned and unlearned, may find abundance to do. In doing this work they will fulfill their commission. This is the highest credential of the gospel ministry. If the gospel had been of men, it would have been popular with the rich and mighty. But it pours contempt upon human greatness, and calls upon all who accept it to work the works of Christ, helping those who are destitute, despised, forsaken, afflicted.
12MR	308	1	Eternal Consequences of Words and Works of Christians--We need to understand better than we do the work of these angel visitants. It would be well for all who claim to be children of God to consider that the words they speak are in the hearing of heavenly beings, and that they behold the works they do. Who would think that heavenly angels are cooperating with us in our work? But so it is, and thus earth is connected with heaven....
12MR	308	2	Too well do the unprepared inhabitants of earth know what to expect. Satan cannot pay a ransom for their souls, and poor, deluded, professed Christians, who have been content to let the ministers do their searching of the Scriptures, see that they will receive as their works have been. Those, too, who have wrested the Scriptures and taught for doctrine the commandments of men, see that they must answer for the souls of those whom they have led into error and apostasy. A wail of despair and agony reaches heavenward, but it is echoed back to earth. Louder, far louder, than any human cry is the last trumpet's sound, and far above all is heard the voice of Omnipotence: "Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."
------------------------MR No. 991--At Times Jesus Spoke Cutting Truths
12MR	309	1	The Lord Jesus was the light of the world, the greatest witness for truth the world has ever seen. When necessary He spoke truths which were keen and cutting as a two-edged sword, and sent them home to the conscience so forcibly that the priests and rulers could not bear His words, and planned again and again to put Him to death. But when they sought to take His life, He departed to other places.
------------------------MR No. 992--Importance of Medical Missionary Work
12MR	310	1	Orlando To Be a Training Center for Medical Missionaries--I have just read your article in the Review, and also your letter of June 18 to my son, regarding a place which you have found near Orlando, where there is land and buildings that seem to be suitable for a sanitarium.
12MR	310	2	I have no hesitancy in saying that I believe the time has come for Florida to have a sanitarium, so that the light which our sanitariums are established to reflect, may shine forth to the people of Florida, and to the many health seekers who come from the northern States.
12MR	310	3	Our time is short in which to do the important work of giving the last gospel message to the world. Therefore, if there is opportunity to purchase at a moderate price, buildings suitably located and well adapted to the work we wish to do, let us improve the opportunity, and save ourselves the time, care, and anxiety that would be required in the work of erecting the buildings ourselves.
12MR	310	4	I hope that this property which you have described, and which seems to have been brought within your reach by the providence of God, will become the means of strengthening the work in Florida, and that it will become an important center of influence from which many well-trained medical missionaries shall go forth with the message of mercy to the unworked parts of the Master's great harvest field.
12MR	311	1	Not long ago I wrote a letter to our people in Indiana, regarding their effort to establish a sanitarium in LaFayette. I will send a copy to you, because I desire our people in Florida to have the same encouragement and counsel.
12MR	311	2	Medical Missionary Work Is the Right Hand of the Gospel--I have a message for our people in Indiana, and trust that it will be read to our brethren and sisters in every church in the conference. My heart is made glad as I hear of the efforts being made by our people in Indiana to establish a sanitarium at LaFayette. The circumstances connected with the beginning of this work at LaFayette are certainly very encouraging. If the churches in Indiana will unite heartily to carry to completion this good work that has been begun, very many will be benefited thereby.
12MR	311	3	The blessing of the Lord will come to His people as they perform acts of self-denial and self-sacrifice in order to establish a place where the sick may be healed and where they may also become acquainted with the principles of health reform. The Lord would have these suffering ones have every advantage of learning the truths concerning the question of health reform.
12MR	312	1	The message given to all our people regarding the "Extent of the Work," as published in the Testimonies for the Church 7:51-59, I here repeat to you; also a few words from page 62. [Excerpts quoted from Testimonies for the Church 7:51-59; 62.]
12MR	312	2	Erroneous opinions, arrived at because of faulty education in the home, have been handed down by children to children's children, and habits of indulgence have been fostered which have resulted in ruined health to thousands. Our sanitariums are to be places where correct education can be given to many on matters that pertain to life and health. The habits of eating should be carefully guarded, that none shall make themselves sick by indulgence of appetite. The Lord is not pleased when His people, bought by the sacrifice of His beloved Son, thoughtlessly injure themselves by wrong habits of living. As we pass through this world, we should seek to instruct all who will be taught, how to avoid and how to overcome self-indulgent practices.
12MR	312	3	If we are believers in Jesus Christ, we shall seek to become intelligent as to how to keep the brain clear and active, that not a tittle of our influence shall be lost. We should seek to become laborers together with God by keeping the system in such a condition that it can render perfect service. It is poor policy indeed, to ill-treat the digestive organs, upon which the happiness of the whole being so largely depends. When the stomach is disturbed, the mind is disturbed, and the brain-nerve power is weakened. It therefore becomes a religious duty with every soul to learn the science of healthful living, to keep the question of diet in mind, and to treat the matter conscientiously.
12MR	313	1	The apostle Paul declares to us that we are not our own, that we are bought with a price. If we truly love the One who gave His life for us, we shall feel under solemn obligation to avoid disease. There is a solemn responsibility resting upon all, and especially upon our ministers and their families, to set a right example in the matter of healthful living. If our ministers would combine physical labor with their mental efforts, they would find great improvement in health and mental clearness.
12MR	313	2	The strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite can be measured only by the longsuffering of Christ in His long fast in the wilderness. Christ knew that in order to carry out the plan of salvation, He must begin the work of redemption just where the ruin began. Adam fell on the point of appetite. Christ took up the work of redemption just where the ruin began. The same is true of our experience. We are to begin the work of reform just where the work of degeneracy is so keenly felt.
12MR	313	3	To teach us how to overcome the temptings of appetite, Christ has given us the record of His own experience of nearly six weeks of fasting, followed by His wonderful victory over the powers of Satan. In this experience Christ broke the power of appetite for all who will accept the aid of the divine power on which He relied. He made it impossible for Satan to destroy the human race through indulged appetite, and made it possible for men and women in His strength to live a Christian life. Those who believe in Christ must, like Him, guard the appetite.
12MR	314	1	Study again and again the counsel given in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, regarding "God's Design in Our Sanitariums." [Two paragraphs quoted from Testimonies for the Church 6:224, 225.]
------------------------MR No. 993--A Visit to the Veterans' Home at Yountville, California
12MR	315	1	Yesterday we drove to the Veterans' Home at Yountville--a distance of thirteen miles--where I spoke in the chapel, according to previous announcement. The State has erected several large buildings at Yountville, as a home and a hospital for aged and disabled soldiers. Nearly a thousand soldiers are cared for in this institution.
12MR	315	2	For several months services have been held regularly at the Veterans' Home. A company of workers from this vicinity has visited the soldiers every other Sabbath, conducting a song service, speaking to them, and distributing reading matter among them.
12MR	315	3	Yesterday I visited the Home for the first time. To the soldiers gathered in the chapel, I spoke from the fourteenth chapter of John. As I stood before them I saw many men of fine appearance. All seemed to be deeply interested, and paid good attention. I spoke for thirty-five minutes. After the service was closed, several expressed themselves as being much pleased with my remarks. One old man said to me, "You spoke to us the words of life. It was good to hear them."
12MR	315	4	One man was there in whom I feel a deep interest. In the early days of the message, in 1843 and 1844, Brother and Sister Foy of Brunswick, Maine, accepted the message of Christ's soon coming. A few years later our people held meetings in Brunswick and in Topsham, a city near Brunswick. As a result, a few accepted the Sabbath truth, among whom were Brother and Sister Stockbridge Howland and their two daughters of Topsham, and Brother Foy and his family of Brunswick. I was well acquainted with both families.
12MR	316	1	Brother and Sister Howland and Brother and Sister Foy are sleeping in Jesus. They died true to the faith. Brother Howland's daughters are still living. John, a son of Brother and Sister Foy, has for years been connected with the Battle Creek Sanitarium as gardener. A few weeks ago I learned, to my surprise, that the other son, Stephen, is at the Veterans' Home in Yountville. I last saw him--then a lad of seven years--in Brunswick, Maine. Yesterday we renewed our acquaintance. He is now 50 years old. It was a most interesting meeting to us both.
12MR	316	2	In the Soldiers' Home at Yountville is an open door for service whereby we may reach needy souls. To labor for the salvation of the men in this home is as important missionary work as any to be found in India or China. I have sent down several copies of Desire of Ages and other of my books to be lent to the soldiers. Mr. Foy takes charge of them and circulates them among those who desire to read them.
12MR	316	3	Good results are being seen from the efforts that are being put forth at Yountville. One man tells us that as a result of the services held by our people, his life has been changed. He used to spend most of his time in drinking and carousing with his companions, but he is now trying to live a Christian life. Some time ago a copy of Desire of Ages was lent to him, and he has read it over and over again. At last, thinking that he must soon return the book, he began to copy portions of it. Hearing of this, we presented him with a copy, and he seemed much pleased. During the week, a little company of soldiers meets together in the grove for prayer and Bible study. One man at the home is observing the Sabbath.
------------------------MR No. 994--An Appeal to Live the Truth and Share It
12MR	318	1	For weeks I have not been able to sleep after half past three o'clock. My mind is deeply exercised in regard to our condition as a people. We ought to be far in advance of any other people on the earth because we have greater light and greater knowledge of the truth, which lays us under increased accountability to advance that light and not only profess to believe the truth but to practice it. When we do practice the truth we are then following Jesus, who is the light of the world; and if we as a people are not constantly elevating, becoming more and more spiritually minded, we are becoming like the Pharisees--self-righteous--while we do not the will of God.
12MR	318	2	We must have a greater nearness to God. Much less of self and much more of Jesus Christ and His grace must be brought into our everyday life. We are living in an important period of this world's history. The end of all things is at hand; the sands of time are fast running out; soon in heaven it will be said: "It is done." "He that is holy, let him be holy still," "he which is filthy, let him be filthy still" [Revelation 21:6; 22:11].
12MR	318	3	Let our testimonies be sharpened up; let us have a firmer hold on God. I cannot refrain from prayer at one, two, and three o'clock in the morning for the Lord to work upon the hearts of the people. I think of all heaven being interested in the work that is going on upon the earth. Ministering angels are waiting about the throne to instantly obey the mandate of Jesus Christ to answer every prayer offered in earnest living faith. I think of how many who profess the truth are keeping it apart from their lives. They do not bring its sanctifying, refining, spiritualizing power into their hearts. I think how this grieves Jesus.
12MR	319	1	I think of His great sorrow as He wept over Jerusalem, exclaiming, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not" [Luke 13:34]! God forbid that these words shall apply to those who have great light and blessings. In the rejecting of Jerusalem it was because great privileges were abused, which brought the denunciation upon all who lightly regarded the great opportunities and precious light that were entrusted to their keeping. Privileges do not commend us to God, but they commend God to us. No people are saved because they have great light and special advantages, for these high and heavenly favors only increase their responsibility.
12MR	319	2	The more and increased light God has given makes the receiver more responsible. It does not place the receiver in any safer position unless the privileges are wisely improved, prized, and used to advance God's glory. Christ said, "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" [Matthew 11:21].
12MR	319	3	When Jerusalem was divorced from God it was because of her sins. She fell from an exalted height that Tyre and Sidon had never reached. And when an angel falls he becomes a fiend. The depth of our ruin is measured by the exalted light to which God has raised us in His great goodness and unspeakable mercy. Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not His people that He loved, because they refused to walk in the light, how can He spare the people whom He has blessed with the light of heaven in having opened to them the most exalted truth ever entrusted to mortal man to give to the world?
12MR	320	1	We are far from being the people God would have us to be, because we do not elevate the soul and refine the character in harmony with the wonderful unfolding of God's truth and His purposes. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" [Proverbs 14:34]. Sin is a disorganizer. Wherever it is cherished--in the individual heart, in the household, in the church--there is disorder, strife, variance, enmity, envy, jealousy, because the enemy of man and of God has the controlling power over the mind. But let the truth be loved and brought into the life, as well as advocated, and that man or woman will hate sin and will be a living representative of Jesus Christ to the world.
12MR	320	2	The people claiming to believe the truth will not be condemned because they had not the light, but because they had great light and did not bring their hearts to the test of God's great moral standard of righteousness. The people who claim to believe the truth must be elevated by living it out. Real Bible religion must leaven the life, refine and ennoble the character, making it more and more like the divine model. Then will the home be vocal with prayer, with thanksgiving and praise to God. Angels will minister in the home and accompany the worshiper to the house of prayer.
12MR	320	3	Let the churches who claim to believe the truth, who are advocating the law of God, keep that law and depart from all iniquity. Let the individual members of the church resist the temptations to practice evils and indulge in sin. Let the church commence the work of purification before God by repentance, humiliation, deep heart searching, for we are in the antitypical day of atonement--solemn hour fraught with eternal results.
12MR	321	1	Let those who teach the truth present it as it is in Jesus. Under the subduing, sanctifying, refining, influence of the truth of God they are as clean vessels. Let them be leavened with Bible religion, and what an influence would go forth from them to the world! Let the individual members of the church be pure, steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the love of Jesus, and they will then be a light to the world. Let the men standing as watchmen and as shepherds of the flock proclaim the solemn truth, sound the notes of warning to all people, nations and tongues. Let them be living representatives of the truth they advocate, and honor God's law by strict and holy compliance with its requirements, walking before the Lord in purity, in holiness, and a power will attend the proclamation of the truth that will reflect light everywhere.
12MR	321	2	God never forsakes people or individuals until they forsake Him. Outward opposition will not cause the faith of God's people, who are keeping His commandments, to become dim. The neglect to bring purity and truth into practice will grieve the Spirit of God and weaken them because God is not in their midst to bless. Internal corruption will bring the denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem. Oh, let pleading voices, let earnest prayer be heard, that those who preach to others shall not themselves be castaways. My brethren, we know not what is before us, and our only safety is in following the Light of the world. God will work with us and for us if the sins which brought His wrath upon the old world, upon Sodom and Gomorrah and upon ancient Jerusalem, do not become our crime.
12MR	322	1	The least transgression of God's law brings guilt upon the transgressor, and without earnest repentance and forsaking of sin he will surely become an apostate. You inquire in regard to the course which should be pursued to secure the rights of our people to worship according to the dictates of our own conscience. This has been a burden on my soul for some time, whether it would be a denial of our faith and an evidence that our trust was not fully in God. But I call to mind many things God has shown me in the past in regard to things of a similar character, as the draft and other things. I can speak in the fear of God, it is right we should use every power we can to avert the pressure that is being brought to bear upon our people. I know that were our people spiritualized by the truth the greatest love would be maintained.
12MR	322	2	[We are] not to provoke those who have accepted this spurious sabbath, an institution of the Papacy, in the place of God's holy Sabbath. Their not having the Bible arguments in their favor makes them all the more angry and determined to supply the place of arguments that are wanting in the Word of God, by the power of their might. The force of persecution follows the steps of the dragon. Therefore great care should be exercised to give no provocation. And again let us as a people, as far as possible, cleanse the camp of moral defilement and aggravating sins. When sin is making its march upon the people who claim to be elevating the moral standard of righteousness, how can we expect God to turn His power in our behalf and save us as a people that did righteousness?
12MR	323	1	All the policy in the world cannot save us from a terrible sifting, and all the efforts made with high authorities will not lift from us the scourging of God, just because sin is cherished. If as a people we do not keep ourselves in the faith and not only advocate with pen and voice the commandments of God, but keep them every one, not violating a single precept knowingly, then weakness and ruin will come upon us. It is a work that we must attend to in every one of our churches. Each man must be a Christian.
12MR	323	2	Let the sin of pride be put away, let all superfluities of dress be overcome, and repentance toward God be exercised for the highhanded robbery toward Him, which has withheld money that should flow into the treasury to sustain the work of God in its mission fields. Let the work of reformation, of true conversion, be set before and urged upon the people. Let our works, our deportment, correspond with the work for this time, that we may say, "Follow me as I follow Christ." Let us humble our souls before God by humiliation, fasting and prayer, repentance of sin, and putting it away.
12MR	323	3	The voice of the true watchman needs now to be heard all along the line, "The morning cometh, and also the night" [Isaiah 21:12]. The trumpet must give a certain sound, for we are in the great day of the Lord's preparation. All the struggles to carry our appeals to the highest authorities in our land, however earnest and strong and eloquent may be the pleas in our favor, will not bring about that which we desire unless the Lord works by His Holy Spirit in the heart of those who claim to believe the truth. We may struggle as a mighty man in swimming against the current of Niagara, but we shall fail unless the Lord pleads in our behalf. God will be honored among His people. They must be pure, they must be divested of self, steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. The Lord will elevate the humblest soul that trusts in Him. He will unite His power with human effort if that man will honor Him as did Daniel. But as a people we need the beauty of righteousness, holiness, and truth. The most harmonious theory will not save us. The God that ruled in Babylon is the same God that rules now.
12MR	324	1	There are many doctrines current in our world. There is many a religion current that numbers its thousands and tens of thousands, but there is but one that bears the superscription and the stamp of God. There is a religion of man and a religion of God. We must have our souls riveted to the eternal Rock. Everything in God's world, both men and doctrines and nature itself, is fulfilling God's sure word of prophecy and accomplishing His grand and closing work in this world's history.
12MR	324	2	We are to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God's only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decrees of the national councils and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God's holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast.
12MR	324	3	Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.
12MR	325	1	The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these, He says, "I have graven ... upon the palms of my hands" [Isaiah 49:16]. They are held in everlasting, imperishable remembrance. We want faith now, living faith. We want to have a living testimony that shall cut to the heart of the sinner. There is too much sermonizing and too little ministering. We want the holy unction. We need the spirit and fervor of the truth. Many of the ministers are half paralyzed by their own defects of character. They need the converting power of God.
12MR	325	2	That which God required of Adam before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without shortcoming in His sight. God help us to render to Him all His law requires. We cannot do this without that faith that brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice.
12MR	325	3	Dear brethren, the Lord is coming. Lift up your thoughts and heads and rejoice. Oh, we would think that those who hear the joyful news, who claim to love Jesus, would be filled with joy unutterable and full of glory. This is the good, the joyful news which should electrify every soul, which should be repeated in our homes, and told to those whom we meet on the street. What more joyful news can be communicated! Caviling and contention with believers or unbelievers is not the work God has given us to do.
12MR	326	1	If Christ is my Saviour, my sacrifice, my atonement, then I shall never perish. Believing on Him, I have life forevermore. Oh, that all who believe the truth would believe in Jesus as their own Saviour. I do not mean that cheap faith unsupported by works, but that earnest, living, constant, abiding faith, that eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of God. I want not only to be pardoned for the transgression of God's holy law, but I want to be lifted into the sunshine of God's countenance. Not simply to be admitted to heaven, but to have an abundant entrance.
12MR	326	2	Are we so insensible as a peculiar people, a holy nation, to the inexpressible love that God has manifested for us? Salvation is not to be baptized, not to have our names upon the church books, not to preach the truth. But it is a living union with Jesus Christ, to be renewed in heart, doing the works of Christ in faith and labor of love, in patience, meekness, and hope. Every soul united to Christ will be a living missionary to all around him. He will labor for those near and those afar off. He will have no sectional feeling, no interest merely to build up one branch of the work over which he presides and there let his zeal end. All will work with interest to make every branch strong. There will be no self-love, no selfish interest. The cause is one, the truth a great whole.
12MR	326	3	Well may the question be asked with earnest, anxious heart, "Is envy cherished, is jealousy permitted to find a place in my heart?" If so, Christ is not there. "Do I love the law of God, is the love of Jesus Christ in my heart?" If we love one another as Christ has loved us, then we are getting ready for the blessed heaven of peace and rest. There is no struggling there to be first, to have the supremacy; all will love their neighbor as themselves. Oh, that God would open the understanding and speak to the hearts of our churches by arousing the individual members.
12MR	327	1	The Lord appoints and sends forth ministers not only to preach, for this is a small part of His work, but to minister, to educate the people not to be fighters but to be examples of piety. There are workers in every department appointed to do their work. When Jesus ascended on high He gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Some have entered the work with a human commission rather than the divine. They have educated themselves as debaters, and the churches under their care show the character of their work. They were not ready, they were not fitted for the work. Their hearts are not right with God. In short, they have a theory but not true conversion and sanctification through the truth. The great issue so near at hand will weed out those whom God has not appointed, and He will have a pure, true, sanctified ministry prepared for the latter rain.
12MR	327	2	Our prayer should ascend to the throne of grace with fervor for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His vineyard. My heart aches as I look around upon the mission fields and see so feeble efforts to get the truth before the people. No censure can be attached to our leading men. I believe, brethren, you are one with me in heart, in sentiment, in regard to our great need, and in the earnest desire and earnest efforts to meet the mind of the Spirit of God in these things.
12MR	327	3	Those who are at ease in Zion need to be aroused. Great is their accountability who bear the truth and yet feel no weight or burden for souls. Oh, for men and women professing the truth to arouse, to take on the yoke of Christ, to lift His burdens. There are wanted those who will not have merely a nominal interest but a Christlike interest, unselfish--an intense ardor that will not flag under difficulties or cool because iniquity abounds.
12MR	328	1	I want to speak to the ears of our people in America in every church. Awake from the dead, and Christ will give you life. Souls are perishing for the light of truth as it is in Jesus. We are standing upon the very borders of the eternal world. Fair-weather Christians will not be wanted for this work. The sentimental and tasteful religion is not needed for this time. There must be intensity brought into our faith and in the proclamation of truth. I tell you, a new life is proceeding from satanic agencies to work with a power we have not hitherto realized. And shall not a new power from above take possession of God's people? The truth, sanctifying in its influence, must be urged upon the people. There must be earnest supplications offered to God, agonizing prayer to Him, that our hopes as a people may not be founded on suppositions, but on eternal realities. We must know for ourselves, by the evidence of God's Word, whether we are in the faith, going to heaven or not. The moral standard of character is God's law. Do we meet its requirements? Are the Lord's people bringing their property, their time, their talents, and all their influence into the work for this time? Let us arouse. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" [Colossians 3:1].
------------------------MR No. 995--Greater Concern and Zeal Needed for Soul Winning
12MR	329	1	I find, after our American mail is closed up and gone, a letter written to you. Well, I am sorry, but will put it in the mail for the next steamer to convey to America.
12MR	329	2	My mind is exercised day and night in regard to our missionary work. I am alarmed because there is so little genuine burden for perishing souls. The church knows her duty well, if she would only contemplate the situation. There is work to be done in home missionary efforts. There is work to be done in far-off lands. Why are there not hundreds giving themselves to the performance of the work, where [now] there is [but] one? The truth of God which they profess to believe should sanctify the soul, stirring every power that God has given them--the deep and living fountains of motives and sympathies, that they will cooperate with the heavenly intelligences. It is the Holy Spirit that accomplishes the work. [Said Jesus], "Without Me, ye can do nothing" [John 15:5]. Keep this before every congregation, that it is earnestness, wholeness of purpose, that God will accept.
12MR	329	3	But what is the matter, that the church does not arouse and seek with earnest prayer and determined effort to set their people in the church to work? Are elders of these churches carrying any burden? Do they feel any love for the souls of the sheep of God's pasture? Do they humble their hearts before God and by faith lay hold on the grace of Christ and put away their sins, and believe their repentance is accepted of God? Have they piety? Have they devotion to God? Will the elders of the church--the officers of the church--draw nigh to God? Will they now, in probationary time, learn the lessons of Jesus Christ and practice them, until they shall ascend the high places of faith and command a clearer, more spiritual view of the situation?
12MR	330	1	There has been an abundance of slipshod work done. The only conclusion the world can come to is that those who profess to believe the end of all things is at hand do not really believe the tremendous truth that Christ is at the door. Do they believe the mission of Christ was to save the lost and perishing, that Christ is the only remedy for sin, and that the world's Redeemer came to the world, all seared and marred with the curse, to lift up fallen man, to reveal to the perishing the love of the Father and bring them to look and live and thereby bring many sons and daughters to glory? But everyone must strive lawfully to win the crown of everlasting life. They must believe the only name "given among men, whereby we must be saved" [Acts 4:12] is Jesus Christ. And this must be no pretentious faith, but that faith that makes Christ a personal Saviour.
12MR	330	2	There has been very little deep piety and wholeness to God. When the spirit of Christ takes possession of the heart, then there is a missionary for God. The most grievous sin of idolatry exists in the church. And he who interposes between the professed Christian and his wholehearted service to God, takes the form of an idol, and the most grievous sin of idolatry is idolatry itself.
12MR	330	3	The testimonies of God's word are plain and clear in regard to the snares of the devil. Yet there are not only church members on the devil's ground, but those who are opening the Scriptures to others practice evil and defile the soul and body. They are guilty before God because they are unholy. Were the church living by faith, had the oil of faith been in their vessels with their lamps, their guilty repose would end. They who believe the sacred, elevating truths for this time cannot sleep over them. A burden is upon them to reiterate the words of Christ, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" [Revelation 22:17].
12MR	331	1	I look over the large fields here in Australia and New Zealand, destitute of laborers, calling for laborers, and this is an English-speaking people, and our brethren in these places are disappointed because no laborers are sent to them.
12MR	331	2	Many in America who can, might move their families into different towns and cities and there lift the standard of truth. From the light given me of God, there is need of workers, and there has been existing the same need for years even from the commencement of the work in Australia and New Zealand. There can be persons, lay members of the church, who can for Christ's sake move to these places and raise the standard of truth in the islands of the sea.
12MR	331	3	"Ye are the light of the world." Is this addressed exclusively to a few men who have been ordained to the ministry? No! but to every Christian, young or old, rich or poor. If Christ has forgiven them of their sins, if the truth has made them free, have they not a work to do for the Master? If they are Christians, they will present the truth to others. They will not consider that all that they have to do is to serve themselves--to please themselves and glorify themselves. They will have a sense that they are Christ's, bought with a price, and will concentrate their energies to the work of building up a kingdom of God by raising souls that are ready to perish, seeking to save the lost. When believers are rejoicing in God because they see the beauty there is in Jesus, because they see He is Chief among ten thousand, the One altogether lovely, do they consider how many know nothing of the saving grace of Christ? Many have not the joy and happiness of anticipating the heaven of bliss awaiting the faithful. While the church is indolent, not doing the work God has given it to do, men are sickening and dying without a ray of saving light, without being pardoned of their sins.
12MR	332	1	And what are we as a people doing, to whom Christ has entrusted precious light and a knowledge of the truth? Jesus has made us the depositories of sacred truth, but so many are burying their talents in the earth, and point not out the antidote for sin. If they thus neglect their duty, God will pronounce them slothful servants, and will not, cannot, commend them. They will not receive the benediction, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
12MR	332	2	Elder Haskell, our testimony must be clear cut--there must be no daubing with untempered mortar. Sins of a grave character are cherished in our borders, and unless there is an awakening such as we have not seen for some time, which will convict and convert professed Sabbathkeepers, they will die in their sins. The punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah will be light in comparison with that of those who have had great light and precious opportunities, and have been earthly-minded, corrupt in thoughts and practices, and have not purified their souls by obeying the truth.
12MR	332	3	Now we see [the] need of workers in the opening fields before us, but where are the men that can be trusted? Where are the men who year by year have been growing into a better knowledge of God and His ways and the movings of His providence? I want to sound in the ears of these sleepy, half-paralyzed souls the words spoken to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" [John 3:5]. There is need to seek God with all the heart. Elevate the standard. The commonness, the cheapness of conversation, reveal the measure of the spirituality of members of the church.
12MR	333	1	Now, those who have had years in this same experience, know not God nor Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and should such go forth as representatives of Jesus Christ? These men will never give the right mold to other minds; they have not grown up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. They simply have the name of Christians but are not fitted for the work of God, and never will be until they are born again, and learn the A.B.C. in true religion of Jesus Christ. There is a little hope in one direction: Take the young men and women, and place them where they will come as little in contact with our churches as possible, that the low grade of piety which is current in this day shall not leaven their ideas of what it means to be a Christian.
12MR	333	2	The worshipers of God are in need of transforming grace to subordinate the world to religion. In the place of making the temporal interests first, exhausting soul, body, and spirit to secure temporal advantages, Jesus points us to the heavenly treasure, and tells us to lay not up treasures in this earth, which will perish, but "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," which will not perish, "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
12MR	333	3	Jesus would have all who profess to believe in Him deal in the currency of heaven, handling those things upon which God has stamped His image and superscription. These He presents before us as of infinite value. We see the need of a deep and thorough work in our churches but the Lord alone can by His Spirit make the hearts that are as steel, soft and sympathetic and true to the service of Christ. We are far behind because the churches have folded their hands in a peace-and-safety attitude, and are at ease in Zion, doing almost nothing.
12MR	334	1	When the living zeal should be in their hearts, now as before, Satan is stirring the powers from beneath to make one last desperate effort to convert the world to his principles. He has his plans laid with satanic subtlety, and destruction cometh suddenly, while those who have the light, the warnings that such a crisis is before us, are almost unmoved.
12MR	334	2	I can but feel deeply over the indifference of those who claim to be the repositories of sacred truth. They seem to be blinded in the way they view sin. They cannot see afar off, and have forgotten they were purged from their old sins. Why? Because they did not advance in the knowledge of the truth. They did not practice the truth; they were not sanctified through the truth. The Pattern was before them but they did not copy the Pattern. So perfect was the example and life of Christ, that not the least jot of inconsistency existed between His instructions and His life. Now, what a marked contrast is seen to exist in the truth we profess to believe as a people, and the life and character!
12MR	334	3	Then there is not a vigilant supervision over self. There is not felt a necessity of placing self under the control of the Spirit of God, and of shunning as they would a serpent all facilities and temptations to evil. The Holy Spirit alone can be the positive remedial agent. We can put no confidence in humanity. Perfect humanity without Christ does not exist in human society. Watch it, and degeneracy will be revealed. Active agencies are at work to pollute and stain the soul. The cross, the cross of Calvary, presented again and again and plainly dwelt upon in every discourse, will prove the life-healing balm; [it] will reveal the beauty and excellence of virtue.
12MR	335	1	Those who quibble over the authenticity of the Scriptures and question the authority of revelation, will not be influenced. Their hearts are not sound. They are not at enmity with Satan. The heart is the treasure house of sin. Not being expelled, sin is hidden until an hour of opportunity, and then it is revealed and springs into action. The first work is with the heart. Truth--the love of Jesus--must supply the vacuum. Said Christ, "Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good" [see Matthew 12:33].
12MR	335	2	Elder Haskell, the Lord is waiting to do great things for His people. But they must be pure in heart before they can see God or know Him as a pure and holy God. Jesus led His disciples into the audience chamber of the Most High; He impressed upon their minds what was to be the burden of their prayer. They were to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which would supply every need of the soul, for it would work by love and purify the soul. The Spirit taking His abode in the heart, will transform the entire being, conforming it to the likeness of Christ. Let us humble our hearts before God and believe He has pardoned all our transgressions and forgiven all our sins. We cannot honor God unless we do believe this, and make Jesus our personal Saviour. We must as a people rise up from our formality. We must enter the strait gate.
12MR	336	1	Satan has placed his active agents along the passage to dispute the way of every soul. Christ has encouraged His followers not to be intimidated. Press on; urge your way through. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able" (Matthew 13:24). Darling, cherished idols will have to be given up, and the sins that have been indulged, even if it comes as close as the plucking out of the right eye or cutting off the right arm. Agonize! Force your way through the very armies of hell that oppose your passage.
12MR	336	2	Oh! we must be terribly in earnest to impress upon every soul that there is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. Every energy of the soul must be aroused to force their passage, and seize the kingdom by force. Satan is active, and we must be active too. Satan is untiring and persevering, and we must be the same. There is no time to make excuses and blame others for our backslidings; no time now to flatter the soul [that] if circumstances had only been more favorable, how much better, how much easier [it would be] for us to work the works of God. We must tell even those who profess to believe in Christ, that they must cease to offend God by sinful excuses.
12MR	336	3	Jesus has provided for every emergency. If they will walk where He leads the way, He will make rough places plain. He, with His experience, will create an atmosphere for the soul. He closes the door and brings the soul into seclusion with God, and the needy soul is to forget everyone and everything, but God. Satan will talk with him, but speak aloud to God and He will drive back the hellish shadow of Satan. With humble, subdued, thankful hearts they will come forth saying, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." The sincere seeker comes forth from the alliance with God, rich in the assurance of His love, to go forth to distill a heavenly prayer wherever he goes. He can talk of the righteousness of Christ; he can talk [of] the love of God with sincerity. He has trusted and he knows the Lord is good.
12MR	337	1	Thus, work is to be done in all our churches. Christ--His love, His forgiveness, His purity--is to be the theme upon which we are to dwell.
12MR	337	2	The charms of Jesus are to be kept ever before our minds. Charged with the elevated character of the True Model every soul must copy, let us turn our eyes from everything that would dishearten or discourage.
12MR	337	3	Satan will work to distort everything to our vision, and make a mountain of a molehill. Our eyes must be steadfastly fixed upon Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our leader; we must follow where He leads the way. We are not to commence to plan for the second step. We are not to say, "Lord, after I take that step, then what shall I do? for I shall meet with difficulties." But by faith we must take that one step, come what will, and trust in Jesus.
12MR	337	4	Elder Haskell, the reason our ministers are so inefficient is because they go to their work and come from their labors, if they have any success, full of themselves. The disciples of Christ did this when they said, "Even the spirits are subject unto us." Jesus could discern their danger, and He said, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile." Come out of the din of battle, away from the conflict, and hold communion with God. Thus it is with many workers. They are too strong, too full of self. The Lord cannot lead them or teach them or use them to His glory, for they are wise in their own conceits, and vainly imagine that the Lord cannot do without them. Self must be buried. We must educate the people to seek the Lord. We must speak plain words to ministers who are walking in the sparks of their own kindling.
12MR	338	1	Praise of men and flattery makes ministers hungry for more until they think, as did Elder [E. P.] Daniels, that the praise of man is of more value than the approval of God. We must, if saved, imbibe the Spirit and power of Christ. Self must be hidden in Christ, and Christ alone appear. Our work is to elevate, not by praising anyone, but by upholding Jesus. Bring the mind to Jesus; lift Him up, the Man of Calvary, before the people and He can do all things for the humble, trusting believer.
12MR	338	2	P.S. I enclose this matter to you. Will you please send copy of the general matter in [the] letter to you, as Marian wants to make note of some things in it.
------------------------MR No. 996--The Far-Reaching Influence of Wives
12MR	339	1	It is with sadness that I learn of your affliction. I sympathize with you in your daughter's illness, and we all pray for you. But, my brother and sister, there is a work that must be done for yourselves, as well as for your child, and I have hope that this work will be done. But let me tell you that unless you are willing to learn, you will not, cannot, obtain that Christian experience which it is so essential for every one of us to have.
12MR	339	2	I have been much pained as I have thought of your family; my heart aches every time I think of you. Sister McCullagh, you have not that Christian experience which is obtained by walking daily in the footsteps of Jesus. All your life you have followed your own will and way, and you have not strength of character that comes only by perseveringly acting from principle. You have right impulses, and can speak those words that are right, but often you lose your hold of Christ, because you are not led and guided by the Spirit of God. Your Christian experience is fitful, for your own impulses have been brought into your religious life, and the atmosphere that surrounds your soul is more earthly than heavenly.
12MR	339	3	You have a controlling influence over your husband, and if your heart were a treasure house filled with the word of God, if your mind were a channel through which God could work, you could be a great blessing to him. But this is not so, neither has it been. You have not obtained those qualifications which it is essential that the wife of a chosen servant of God should have; and therefore you are unable to give spiritual help and wise counsel to your husband. By your words you have planted suspicion in his mind. You have suggested thoughts to him in reference to his brethren in the faith, which he never would have had, had you not suggested them to him. Thus seeds have been planted which were ready to spring into life at any favorable opportunity.
12MR	340	1	My sister, the transforming grace of Christ must be brought into your heart and mind. When the influence of this grace is seen in your life, you will no longer be a hindrance and a cause of temptation to your husband by bringing to his notice things which others have said and done, and which you think reflect upon his work in the ministry. Your pettish complaints of your brethren and sisters, the suggestions you make concerning them, are not of that character which encourages the Holy Spirit to preside with you. They do not stimulate the mind to right actions, but have a depressing influence upon it, and tend to pull it downward.
12MR	340	2	At times Brother McCullagh thinks that he will no longer entertain the wrong views he has received, but your words are as poison to his mind. The enemy continues to present your views of different matters, and Brother McCullagh decides, It is as my wife says. In turn, he thinks and talks evil of others; and by so doing eats fruit which has been plucked from the tree of knowledge forbidden by God.
12MR	341	1	The wife of one of our ministers kept her husband, who was a very sensitive-minded man, tortured by suggestions similar to those you have uttered. Upon the words and actions of others she cast untruthful suspicions, and presented her views in such a strong light that her husband thought that she possessed superior insight into character. The Lord gave me a message for this brother and sister, but neither of them received it. He thought that he was right in his belief that his wife possessed superior discernment, and he believed that her suggestions were perfectly true. Any effort made to enlighten him, or to remove the wrong impressions he had received, were looked upon as a design to deceive him. And the unruly tongue of his wife was constantly at work. Any endeavor to save him from a breakdown was interpreted by her as a desire to put someone else in his place. His brethren worked with all their power to save him, but their plans were construed as deep-laid schemes set on foot to hurt his influence. Thus the work of God was counteracted by home influence.
12MR	341	2	I saw that God would take this matter into His hands, for nothing but the judgment of God could save the man or remove the blindness brought upon others by the wrong impressions given. All unexpectedly, Sister ________ was paralyzed. Her tongue was forever silenced; she was unable to speak more than a word or two. Today she is a helpless invalid, obliged to be lifted from place to place. She lives, but is as one dead, save that she is a burden and a care to those around her. Her mind, once active in creating distrust, is as the mind of a child. Thus a talent, which if rightly employed would have done good to the church and to the world, was laid in ruins. Both husband and wife are almost useless in the work of the Lord.
12MR	342	1	I write you these things to show you what one person may do when under the enemy's training. We needed Brother ________'s experience in the cause and work of God, and if he had allowed the Holy Spirit to influence him, he would have been a powerful instrument in God's hand. But Satan triumphed, and his wife remains as a monument of God's displeasure.
12MR	342	2	The spiritual and mental powers of Brother _________ should have been strong and vigorous. But they were not, for a cancer was eating away his spiritual life. When advice was given him by his brethren, advice which ought to have helped him, his suspicions were at once aroused; the leaven of distrust began to work. Suspecting that a design was on foot to damage his influence and to supplant him, he rejected counsel which should have been gratefully received. Those trying to help him were looked upon with distrust that has not a vestige of truth for foundation. The plans made to preserve him for the work and cause of God were criticized and looked upon as contrivances to keep him down.
12MR	342	3	Neither he nor his wife accepted the principles of health reform, chiefly because of her insinuations and misinterpretations. Fully armed to resist light, he took open issue with Dr. Kellogg on the health question, turning to ridicule the reform diet. And both he and his wife used food which could not but bring disease to them.
12MR	342	4	It was decided that at a certain camp meeting, cheese should not be sold to those on the ground; but on coming to the ground, Dr. Kellogg found to his surprise that a large quantity of cheese had been purchased for sale at the grocery. He and some others objected to this, but those in charge of the grocery said that the cheese had been bought with the consent of Brother ______, and that they could not afford to lose the money invested in it. Upon this, Dr. Kellogg asked the price of the cheese, and bought the whole of it from them. He had traced the matter from cause to effect, and knew that some foods generally thought to be wholesome, were very injurious. But imagine the surprise of those who had studied the question of healthful living, to find their brethren working counter to right principles. Thus it was till the time of the General Conference at Minneapolis. We stood on the field of battle for nearly three years, but at that time decided changes took place among our people, and through the grace of God we gained decided victories.
12MR	343	1	While in California, we went over the same ground with Elder E. P. Daniells. He was a powerful speaker, and to all appearances had a wonderful control over his congregations. His wife possessed unusual ability and influence, and both were in the employ of the conference, for her influence was fully equal to his. But their course of action was not in harmony with the principles of truth. At times Elder Daniells took his position strongly on the subject of health reform. But he was of a very nervous temperament, and when once he lost his hold of the right principles, he broke down every barrier and by his practice went contrary to that which he had strongly advocated in his teaching. His wife might have helped him much on this point, but she did not.
12MR	343	2	Reproofs and warnings were sent to both of them, and he always received them. His wife received them too, apparently, but still she continued to set her table as she chose, irrespective of principle. Their children grew up around them and they saw that their parents' practice of truth was not in accordance with their profession. The mother furnished the table with food which gratified the appetite but which did not properly sustain life. The father was very liberal, too much so in some things, but he did not seem to realize that he must be governed by principle.
12MR	344	1	This indulgence and mismanagement led to sad results. For a time the father tried to maintain correct discipline, but the mother counteracted his work by acting contrary to his expressed requirements. Her children were indulged, with the excuse that their father was too strict, too particular, and they were charged that he must know nothing about it. Thus the children were educated to deceive, in order that discipline might be prevented.
12MR	344	2	Today this family have no connection with the truth. Because of mismanagement, father, mother, and children are lost to the cause of God. With them, the reaping meant the sowing.
------------------------MR No. 997--Ellen White and the Stanmore Church in Sydney, Australia
12MR	345	1	Soul Winning at Stanmore--I feel very grateful to my heavenly Father for the strength He has given me to reach this place. At Morisset we got into a ladies' compartment, in which were three women, one young girl, and one well-behaved baby. The seat was hard, and I had to sit up, but I was not tired. When we reached Gosford, we changed into a second-class compartment, and the seats were in every way as good as in the first-class car.
12MR	345	2	The change of trains at Strathfield was rather hard for Sara, but she got all fixed up nicely. After the change was made, we had to wait about three-quarters of an hour for a train to Stanmore; and at Stanmore we could find no conveyance to take us the short distance up the hill to the home for the workers. Sara had to find a cart that would take all our luggage, and then I took her arm and walked slowly up the hill.
12MR	345	3	Oh, how pleased I was to enter the room that was waiting for us. It is a very pleasant room, with two windows and two doors, one opening into the hall, the other onto the piazza. I lay down at once, and then heard a little about the meetings here. I have written a few words to Brother Wilson, which I wish you and the family to see.
12MR	345	4	Last Sunday the tent was not only crowded, but the people stood ten feet deep on the outside. From what little I have heard, the interest seems to me to resemble that which was manifested in 1844. The work of the Spirit of God upon hearts has indeed begun. All the heavenly intelligences are waiting for channels through which they can communicate the light of truth, and to help in the work to be done in human hearts. The whole community is stirred.
12MR	346	1	Mrs. Gorick is keeping the Sabbath. One of her neighbors, a member of the High Church, wished her to meet Cardinal Moran at her house, and she consented to do so. When he came in, the lady of the house fell on her knees before him, and kissed first one hand and then the other. This both astonished and disgusted Mrs. Gorick. She was then introduced to him. He began questioning her, and entered into conversation with her, giving a lengthy talk in regard to the church and its delegated power and authority. He then spoke of a very desirable piece of land they were anxious to purchase, telling her that he thought Mr. Gorick could in some way secure this land for them without letting the owners know for what purpose it was to be used. He asked her if they could not help them. She told him that they were deciding to unite with the Seventh-day Adventists, and would help them build a church. She had accepted the Seventh-day Sabbath, she said, which was the Sabbath of the Bible. The first day was not the Sabbath.
12MR	346	2	Cardinal Moran told her that all Protestants should keep the seventh day, that they had no reason for keeping Sunday as a holy day. The Roman Catholics, he said, had a right to keep Sunday; but Protestants had nothing to base their faith upon in their observance of that day. She told him that she had been considering this matter very thoroughly, and had come to the true church.
12MR	347	1	They had, I believe, a very earnest talk, but Mrs. Gorick is more firm and decided than before this interview. She can see plainly that the authorities of the Catholic Church set themselves above God, assuming the place of God, and speaking with the authority of God. This interview will not only enlighten her eyes, but, through her, the Lord can enlighten the eyes of many others.
12MR	347	2	The people act as if they had never read their Bibles. Many are thoroughly aroused. Sister Haskell has just come in, and tells us that another lady has been found keeping the Sabbath. This lady begged that her husband might be visited. She wants him to be converted, as she has been. They promised to visit him. Every day new Sabbathkeepers are found. Some have been keeping the Sabbath since before the camp meeting closed.
12MR	347	3	I will tell you more when I learn more. This is a wonderful interest. The Holy Spirit is working on human hearts. The people are apparently greedy for the truth. They appreciate the Word of God; it seems so wonderful to them.
12MR	347	4	I can see more clearly now why the light was given me to give to our people in regard to advertising the camp meeting. Elder Daniells wrote to Brother Baker saying a company of workers should begin labor in Sydney and its suburbs some weeks before the opening of the camp meeting. He wrote me in regard to the matter. That night, after receiving Brother Baker's letter enclosing a copy of the letter from Brother Daniells, the Lord gave me light. I saw that it was not the best thing to do to make our plans known, and advertise the meeting to be held; for in doing this we would prepare the way for the ministers of the churches to arm themselves with all their implements of warfare, and by their falsehoods in their publications make the people bitter opponents to the truth. I was shown that the best plan on this occasion was to come on the people as a surprise, and let them have an opportunity to hear for themselves before the ministers of all denominations should rally their forces to misinterpret our work and pour in their false reports.
12MR	348	1	Well, Brother Baker carried out this instruction to the letter. The cautions given were heeded. The light given was, When the seed of truth has been sown in the hearts of the people by the laborers at the camp meeting, then those who remain to follow up the work will, through the Spirit's power, be prepared to ripen off the work and gather in the harvest. The means used before the camp meeting would not be one-third as successful as the same expense and labor put forth after the influence of the meeting had been felt. In many cases such large advertising and distribution of publications hedges up the way instead of preparing it. Now we see a large, deep interest, and if the working forces will walk softly before God, if they will walk humbly, and pray, and watch unto prayer, they will have the cooperation of heavenly angels. Christ will work by His Holy Spirit upon human hearts.
12MR	348	2	The work is advancing, and all are of excellent courage in the Lord. I am so glad, so thankful to God for all His benefits and blessings. I felt the peace of God in my heart in coming to this place. Now in my weakness I speak to the people on the morrow (Sabbath). After three weeks of sickness, I go forth in the name of the Lord. He has given me a message to bear to the people, and He will give me strength to bear it. My heart cries out after the living God. I shall pray, I shall believe and praise God, because I believe He will help me.
12MR	349	1	I have been thinking that it would be a good thing to send down all those little books by Brother Haughey on the coming of the Lord. I have saved some to carry to different places, but will now have them sent down here. Then there are our papers, Present Truth, the Signs of the Times, Youth's Instructor, and our church papers. Gather up what you can find in my room, and send them down. We will try to get subscribers for some of these papers. I want to see those who are interested furnished with reading matter.
12MR	349	2	Now comes the donation of perhaps fifty or one hundred of my books, just as necessity demands. I have brought some with me, and have several others in mind. I must have Patriarchs and Prophets and The Great Controversy. I do so want that book on temperance. I need also books on the life of Christ. I want to get these things in the hands of those who do not have them. Will you see if there are some of the best-bound books in my stock? Let there be quite a box of books--a variety of what I have on hand--sent. This is the time I can show liberality to some purpose, to help establish souls in the truth.
12MR	349	3	But the Sabbath is drawing on, and I must close and mail this. Believers and unbelievers are all deeply interested. They say, You are going to build a meetinghouse, are you not? and they are all ready for the proposition. Next Sunday night the matter of building will be laid before the people. All will be given an opportunity to donate. The time has come to "arise and build." We need much more faith to stir us up to zeal and good works. Now the time has fully come for a house to be built for the Lord. God will help all those who are pushing forward and not holding back. The Lord has a great work to be done in the city of Sydney. We will advance as long as we hear the word, "Go forward." May the Lord bless you all.
12MR	350	1	Church Building Needed in Stanmore--I have been meaning to write to you for some time, but other things have crowded upon me, and now I can write only a short letter for Maggie to copy.
12MR	350	2	My health has not been good this summer. I have been very much exhausted for some time, but I am now improving, and I feel very grateful to God for this.
12MR	350	3	I learn that your health is not as good as it has been. My sister, look to the Lord. He would have you live, I believe, to care for your family. Take right hold of the power of the mighty Healer. Whatever may be your affliction, the Lord would have you come to Him in faith, believing in Him as the One who can heal both soul and body by His mighty power.
12MR	350	4	I point you to the great Physician. He will, I believe, undertake your case. Only believe, and you will see the salvation of God. After you have done all on your part, you may rest in God, feeling that you have committed the keeping of soul and body to Him. You are His property and His child. He loves you, and He can make you well if it is for His name's glory.
12MR	351	1	Come to the Lord just as you are. Cast your helpless soul and body upon the mercy and care of the tender Shepherd; and believe, believe, believe. You will indeed see the salvation of God. Let your trust in God be unwavering. Present the promise, and then rely upon the Word that says, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Read the fifth chapter of James, and follow the directions as best you can, and if it is for the Lord's glory He will raise you up. But act your part faithfully, and cling to the mighty One.
12MR	351	2	There is a large interest in Stanmore since the camp meeting. The tent has been crowded most of the time. Meetings have been held every night with the exception of Monday evenings. Now and then they have dropped out the evening after the Sabbath, for so many calls come in for visiting that they have to give up that evening to holding Bible readings. Brother and Sister Haskell, Brother and Sister Starr, and Brother and Sister Wilson are the chief workers. Brother and Sister Haskell have charge of the mission, where quite a number are being educated as Bible workers, and others are being educated to sell papers and tracts, that the work may be made as far as possible self-sustaining.
12MR	351	3	All day long there is but one person in the home, the girl that does the cooking. Visits are made, and Bible readings given from house to house, for invitations are constantly coming in, and the different families invite their neighbors in to hear. The people seem to be of a better class intellectually than is usually the case, and they will be able to teach the truth to others. Much praying is being done.
12MR	352	1	Quite a stir is now being made among those newly come to the faith in regard to erecting a meetinghouse. Forty souls have already come to the faith, and my soul grasps no less than one hundred, for the interest is wide and deep and is constantly increasing.
12MR	352	2	Two weeks ago I spoke in the tent on Sabbath and Sunday. I also spoke last Sabbath and Sunday. The tent was well filled with interested listeners. I have an appointment for next Sabbath and Sunday.
12MR	352	3	It now becomes necessary to build a house of worship for the Stanmore believers. This will serve also for the Sabbathkeepers in Newtown, who now meet in a hall. We see that the land is going to cost us as much as the meetinghouse, 600 pounds. If this house could be erected now, the new believers would have a place where they could worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. Some of the most reliable families are now hanging in the balances, uncertain whether to obey the light and risk the consequences. We greatly desire that these souls shall venture everything for the truth's sake.
12MR	352	4	We now purpose to arise and build, and if any of our people can donate something toward this object, we shall be very thankful to God. We want the standard raised very near Sydney. We desire that the last message of mercy shall be sounded in these suburbs. We ask if there are any who will [come] up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty power of darkness.
12MR	352	5	Every device possible is being set in operation to hinder the work, but those newly come to the faith move right forward, and say what they will do. Some have already pledged ten pounds and others five pounds, and as yet no pledges have been asked. It is a great undertaking. Brother Shannan, a builder in Sydney, says that he will be responsible for half the brick. He says that it is nearly as cheap to build with brick as with wood. The matter of location is being discussed. There are some beautiful places there, if the price is not too high. We are praying and waiting and watching. We expect to arise and build; for there is nothing else we can do; and may the Lord help us, is my most earnest prayer. If any of you can help us, do so, and the Lord will bless you.
12MR	353	1	Successful Evangelism in Stanmore--I have commenced letters to you several times, but have not been able to finish them before something else came in that must have immediate attention. I would be much pleased could I have a long talk with you face to face. This may be some time. I was seventy years old last November. I am still engaged in writing.
12MR	353	2	We are now in the midst of the hot weather. Fruit is being canned vigorously. We have been at work canning for quite a while. I often think of the time when you and I first came here, when we used to hire a horse and carriage, and drive around. As I drive over these roads now, I often think of you. We have a very thrifty orchard, which bore a considerable number of beautiful peaches last year. I think I never saw such beautifully tinted peaches. No artist could have so blended the darker and lighter shades of red with the green. Some of these peaches weighed half a pound each, and they were delicious.
12MR	354	1	I would have said to you, Come to me again, but I knew that it would not answer for you to work the typewriter. I can get persons to keep my books, and although I have missed you very much I could not ask you to join me in my work, fearing that your health would suffer by thus doing.
12MR	354	2	The amount of writing that I have been compelled to do has been greater than at any former period of my life. Maggie Hare and Minnie Hawkins are doing good work. I feel so thankful that Fannie is not with me. She has not known what manner of spirit she is of, and I do not think she ever will, for she is deluded by the enemy in regard to her own talents. If she would be converted and remain transformed in character, no one would be more happy than I. But even then I would say to her, Remain in America; never come across the water again. But I have no such thought or feeling in regard to you. I would be very glad to have you with me, but I do not think it best, for reasons which I have written.
12MR	354	3	A very precious work has been going on in Stanmore, a suburb of Sydney a few stations from Ashfield. Forty have embraced the truth since the camp meeting. Twenty-seven have been baptized, and still others are to go forward in baptism next week. The interest continues to be good. Brother and Sister Haskell, Brother and Sister Starr, and Brother and Sister Wilson are at work. Meetings have been held in the tent on Sabbaths and Sundays, and every evening in the week except Monday.
12MR	354	4	The workers visit from house to house, laboring personally with the people. They have so many calls that the three married couples separate, one going to one place and the other to another, to hold readings with those who are interested. New families, one after another, are soliciting help, and the workers say that ten or twenty more could be employed to good advantage. In the mission there is a company of twelve. Two classes are held everyday, that the workers may receive instruction from the Bible, and know how to work to enlighten others. Many calls have been made by sick people, and the young ladies at the mission, who are receiving their education, are visiting the sick and doing what they can to relieve their sufferings. This opens the way to gain access to still others.
12MR	355	1	Now there must be a meetinghouse built in or near Stanmore. This will cost quite a sum. The believers who assemble in a hall at Newtown, called the Sydney church, will meet with the church at Stanmore as soon as ground can be procured on which to erect a house of worship.
12MR	355	2	Brother Humphries is re-converted. He has pledged 25 pounds to help in building the church, and loaned Brother Starr 100 pounds more, which he proposes to use in building the church. He hopes to get this back in donations. Several who have newly come to the faith [have] donated, some 25 pounds, some 20 pounds, others ten pounds. A beginning has been made, and when the new ones see that the land is purchased, they will be led to donate further. We see that we must all strain every nerve and muscle to do our level best.
12MR	355	3	Our people have long talked of building a house of worship in Sydney. Now Brother Humphries and his wife are aroused to do something. Brother Shannan is all interested to act his part. We feel courage in the Lord to advance. The house is to be built of brick, and Brother Shannan says that he will furnish half the brick. I hope we shall not be unbelieving, for the Lord has a location for us, and He will clear the way.
12MR	356	1	Those who have already embraced the truth are in better circumstances than those who embraced the truth after the Ashfield camp meeting. Already several have commenced to pay their tithes. The work in Melbourne is just as promising as it is in Sydney. Since the camp meeting held there, 43 have decided to keep the Sabbath. Brother A. T. Robinson and his wife are the main workers, and Brother Herbert Lacey and his wife are also engaged in the work. I have no doubt but that no less than 100 souls will be added to the church in Melbourne, and 100 souls in Sydney. The Lord will help us.
12MR	356	2	As those who profess to believe the truth, we are called, not only in these cities, Melbourne and Sydney, but everywhere, to rise up in the spirit and mind of Christ, and with a firm purpose of heart separate from all worldly influences, break every worldly link, laying aside every weight in order to wear the armor of righteousness and be co-workers with Jesus Christ. We are to be absolutely and completely for Him in this world, as He is for us in the presence of God. If Christ abides in the heart, the work will go forward; but if there is a reserve--an undercurrent in the soul, any secondary object, any worldly motive, any selfish aims or ends--the work that the Lord means should be done, will not be done. We must make the kingdom of heaven and the glory of God our best and whole interest. We want to see the work advancing.
12MR	356	3	I often think that if those who are church members in Battle Creek would do their best, and realize that the work of saving souls is of the utmost importance, the work would move more rapidly. The banner of truth must be held firmly, and in the spirit of Christ. Open the Word, and present from it the lines of truth that concern the salvation of souls. The truth is to be presented as it is in Jesus. We need hearts filled with love and tender compassion. Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. If all in Battle Creek would stand firm, separating from the world, and drinking from the water of life, they could refresh thirsty souls.
12MR	357	1	Progress and Trials at Stanmore--We have been in Stanmore since Thursday evening. Your brother Willie came down Monday, January 31. Sabbath, January 29, I spoke to the congregation assembled under the tent. The Lord gives me His Spirit as I stand before the people. The attendance is not decreasing, but is increasing. But, Edson, it is a hard pull.
12MR	357	2	Sunday I spoke again. There was a good attendance. The Lord gave me a message for the people, and I spoke in a decided manner. After I had finished speaking, we made a revival effort in the old American style. We know that many were on the eve of deciding, but did not have moral courage to take the step. A break was made, some came forward, and we had a precious season of prayer. Several decided to obey the truth.
12MR	357	3	There are now no less than 50 who have taken their position; but we have strange elements to deal with. One man who took his position on Sunday has held the position of postmaster in Stanmore for, I think, 18 years. He owns several houses. His wife has been baptized. A lady--for this she is in every sense of the word--was brought to the tent in a carriage, and then carried inside and placed in a chair. She is soon to be baptized. Several of her children have become interested, and in a week or so one will be baptized with her mother.
12MR	358	1	The interest here is broadening and deepening. The men in government employ who are interested are afraid to come out and say to the authorities, I will keep the Sabbath; but two have taken their stand, and they are both enjoying the blessing of the Lord. One, Brother Sharp, lost his position and was out of work for one week only. He was then employed by another firm at the same wages he had been receiving, and was much more comfortably situated. The other, Brother Stuckey, was baptized. He then told his employer that he could not work on the Sabbath, and the Sabbath was given him. Others who have good positions are interested, but the cross seems heavy. Those who have taken their stand are sharp, intelligent business men, and if all their talents are cultivated they will be a great blessing to the church....
12MR	358	2	We have had great trials in securing a lot on which to build a church. We decided on one, but were not able to pay the large sum asked--600 pounds for a 100-foot lot--and therefore had to give it up. We have found another lot, and are going to take it if it can be secured for 500 pounds. It is 200 feet by 90 feet. The owner, a woman, lives at quite a distance from Stanmore, but we hope to receive an answer in a few days. The building itself will cost 700 pounds, but a meetinghouse must be built. When wind and rain come, the tent is not a proper place for meeting.
12MR	359	1	Last Sabbath, before I rose to speak, the tent master told Brother Haskell that there had been a breakage in the gearing of the tent, and that two slender ropes were all that were keeping the tent from falling. He said that these ropes might snap at any minute. Brother Haskell kept praying that the Lord would keep us from harm and danger, and the Lord did hold the tent up by His own power. We felt thankful that no one was hurt. Just as soon as the Sabbath closed, the tent was quickly lowered, and the rope mended.
12MR	359	2	Finding a Building Site in Stanmore--Our brethren are working very hard to secure a lot for a meetinghouse in Stanmore, a suburb of Sydney. These lots cannot be obtained for less than six or seven hundred pounds sterling. We really need help, and if you can help us we would be very grateful; and if you can get help from any others, please do so. I expect to have to visit Sydney and Melbourne soon. There will be a general rally then and meetings will be held over two Sabbaths and Sundays. The weather is extremely hot in both these places.
12MR	359	3	There is a great work being done in Melbourne--forty or fifty have embraced the truth. Brother Robinson has been very anxious that I should come to Melbourne but I have not dared to leave the interest in Stanmore, as Sydney is a large center. We must have small houses of worship built in the suburbs, and we are now in selection of land seeking to get as near Sydney as possible. We are to commence labor in Sydney proper if we can get a suitable place for a tent to be pitched and if the Lord opens the way for the standard to be raised.
12MR	360	1	The Stanmore Church Dedicated--Since the camp meeting held at Stanmore last November, a meetinghouse, so constructed that it will hold 600 people, has been erected in that suburb. As a fruit of the work done in that place, 75 souls have taken their position to obey the commandments of God. A few weeks after the camp meeting, some of these interested ones introduced the subject of a meetinghouse, and stated what they would give toward it. Afterward, when we had decided that we must build, several of these doubled their donation.
12MR	360	2	In the providence of God, land was secured in a beautiful locality, and the workmen began to prepare the material for the building. Again, for this enterprise, the help of our American brethren was solicited, and they gave of their means, even when a financial pressure was crippling their resources, We thank every liberal soul who came to our assistance in the time of our great necessity.
12MR	360	3	During the erection of this building, we were favored by God, for not for one day were the workmen hindered by rain. April 24 and 25 the dedicatory services were held. The auditorium was full, and the heavenly Guest was present. His blessing rested on the worshipers. We thank the Lord for the precious privilege of presenting to Him a house in which His people can assemble to worship Him in spirit and truth and in the beauty of holiness. This house will stand as a living testimony, a memorial of the Sabbath given at Creation. After the Lord had spent six days in creating the world, He rested on the seventh, and was refreshed. Then He blessed the day on which He had rested; and while the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, He gave it to man as a rest day, to be kept holy throughout all time.
12MR	361	1	The hearts of all who had carried the burden of this work were filled with thanksgiving and joy. The tent had been used for a tabernacle for nearly six months. Several times, on account of the weather, they had been unable to hold services in it; and for nearly a week now, we have had both rain and wind every day. When the last meeting was held in the tent, many expressed regret at leaving a place where the blessing of God had often rested so signally upon them. But had they been compelled to leave the tent standing for two more Sabbaths, it would have been of no more service to them.
12MR	361	2	I feel grateful to my heavenly Father that we have in Stanmore a neat, comfortable chapel, that the people could leave the tent, so long used as a tabernacle, where many souls had heard the truth for the first time, and where they had felt the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining into the chambers of the mind and into the soul temple.
12MR	361	3	The building of this meetinghouse has drawn largely upon many, and some of the means invested have had to be withdrawn from the school. But we knew that the Lord was in the work of building the Stanmore meetinghouse.
------------------------MR No. 998--Warnings Against Jealousy and Misjudging; A Defense of Dr. Kellogg
			Warnings Against Jealousy and Misjudging; A Defense of Dr. Kellogg
12MR	364	1	I have read your letter with surprise, and yet I am not altogether in the dark in regard to your feelings. I fail to discover in your letter the right ring. I do not see in your expressions in regard to others the love and respect that should exist between brethren. If you think you can indulge in feelings of contempt for men whom God has been raising up to fill important places in His work for this time because you are the president of the General Conference, you do not understand your true position. We all need, rather, to encourage these men who are evidencing that they are bearing burdens in the work--even if they are younger men in years and in experience, even if they were mere children when we were active in the work--and standing in the forefront of the battle.
12MR	364	2	I tremble for you and Elder Smith, for I know from the light God has been giving me from time to time for the last 45 years that you are working upon principles that are not altogether after God's order. Your understanding has become confused upon some things. You must not think that the Lord has placed you in the position that you now occupy as the only men who are to decide as to whether any more light and truth shall come to God's people. The spirit and influence of the ministers generally who have come to this meeting is to discard light. I am sorry that the enemy has power upon your minds to lead you to take such positions. They will be a snare to you and a great hindrance to the work of God, if God has ever spoken by me. I do not hesitate to speak to you decidedly, because the position you occupy is a responsible one and your relation to the cause and work of God makes it important that you be entirely clear and correct in your ideas of what is truth and what is light. While many are looking to you to lead the way, be very careful that you do not lead in the wrong direction.
12MR	365	1	There is not the least need, my brethren, of disunion and variance among us. No such thing should exist among Christians. When you speak let your words savor of unity and love. We are Christians; how can we be in the least perplexed in regard to the course we should pursue toward each other? Christ has given the plainest rules for us to follow in Matthew 5:23, 24: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
12MR	365	2	Why is it that our personal feelings are stirred up so easily? Why do we cherish suspicion toward each other? One of the terrible fruits of sin is that it separates very [close] friends, puts brother at variance against brother, and neighbor against neighbor. Those who have enjoyed sweet union and love become cold and indifferent toward each other because they do not hold, in all points, ideas alike. Our blessed Lord came into the world to bring peace and good will to men, and prayed that His disciples might be one as He was one with the Father. He prayed for His immediate disciples and said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me" [John 17:20-23]. It is the absence of Christ in the soul, and the cherishing of self-sufficiency, that leads to dissension.
12MR	366	1	I have felt so grateful to God that He was qualifying men to carry the heavy burdens which have tested with crushing weight upon a few men who have been the standard bearers. Shall not we, my brother, acknowledge that God in mercy has been raising up other workmen besides ourselves to devise, and plan, and gain experience? And shall we regard them lightly because they may differ with us, honestly and conscientiously, upon the interpretation of some points of Scripture? Are we infallible? The spirit that controls the attitude of a large number at this meeting evidences that they are led by another spirit. The church at Battle Creek, which is the great center, will either be advancing to greater light, or it will be retrograding.
12MR	366	2	How men claiming to be led of God can feel at ease when the church is so destitute of the grace of Christ, is a marvel to me. The truths of God's Word are elevating and stirring if really acted upon. They are truths of eternal moment. The application of scriptural truths to the heart and conscience by the Holy Spirit must have a power upon the life, and work a transformation of character, else the truth is no truth to us. The fruit we bear should testify that the truth has sanctified the soul, that the receiver is ever learning in the school of Christ to be more and more like the divine Teacher, and that the grace of God has fallen upon the soul like the warm, bright rays of the sun upon the earth. And God gives the weary wrestler rest.
12MR	367	1	I cannot be pleased with your spirit, Brother Butler; it is not Christ-like. I am sorry for you that you have not kept pace with the opening providence of God. You have mingled your own natural traits of character with your work. Sometimes your spirit has been softened and melted with tenderness, but false ideas of what belonged to your position in the work has turned your mind into wrong channels. There have been continuous mistakes made in devising and planning. If one man has been deemed capable to stand in a position of trust, manifold responsibilities have been laid upon him, so that nothing was done with thoroughness. This was not wise. The Lord did not move upon you by His Holy Spirit to write upon inspiration. That was not your work. While you may regard it as light, it will lead many souls astray, and will be a savor of death to some.
12MR	367	2	You have special union with those who consider your work and your way of doing it all right. They seek your favor, confide in, and work to sustain you, while there are many who are far more acceptable than these men in the sight of One who is infinite in wisdom and who never makes a mistake, but upon whom you look with suspicion because they do not feel obliged to receive their impressions and ideas from human beings [who] act only as they act, talk only as they talk, think only as they think and, in fact, make themselves little less than machines.
12MR	368	1	God wants both pupils and teachers to look to Him for light and knowledge. Christ is always sending fresh and profitable messages to those whose minds and hearts are open to receive them. It is not for the Lord's delegated ministers to look to other minds to plan and devise for them. They must use the ability God has given them, and make God the center and source of all their wisdom.
12MR	368	2	Has God given these light? Has He given them knowledge? Go yourself to the same source from whence they received that light. In God is strength, and power, and all blessing. We must carry the minds of all away from poor, defective self, and present Jesus as the fountain of all grace and all wisdom. We must teach young and old to search the Scriptures and obtain an experience for themselves, that they may be rooted and grounded in the truth. They are not to copy any man's peculiarities of speech, or of spirit, or his ways and manners of working, but are to be their own simple selves, looking to God to put His divine impress upon the character. We are pained to see the defects existing in men entrusted with weighty responsibilities being copied as virtues by those who look up to them. This makes us afraid. We say, Go to God for your own selves, and obtain His mold upon you.
12MR	368	3	The Lord has presented some things before me in regard to the prejudice and jealousy which has existed in your mind, and which you have communicated to others both by hints and in plainly expressed words, showing that you were not seeking to promote harmony and unity with the workers upon the Pacific coast. Just as precious are they in the sight of the Lord as are the workers on this side of the Rocky Mountains. Unsanctified ambition is always abhorrent to God. It reveals itself in seeking to be first, because they have borne burdens and, unwisely, too many responsibilities. Let these things be corrected, and let each man bear his part in thinking and in planning, and gain an experience.
12MR	369	1	You are not doing God's will in depreciating those who are fellow workers in the same cause and for the same purpose as yourself. Give them the same chance to obtain an experience and to act, as you have had. God enjoins upon us to guard the reputation of our fellow believers in the harvest field as we desire our own reputation to be guarded. If carnal ambition holds the supremacy, God is displeased, for His name is dishonored where it should be magnified. A man may be looked upon as under the controlling influence of the Spirit of God, while he may be deceived, for it is his own natural tendencies that control his judgment and bear sway, so that a look, a hint, a mean smile, a word from him, though he may be apparently suppressing his own feelings, goes a long way in suggesting doubts and suspicion to other minds when, in order to meet the approval of God, his every word, his whole soul, should be thrown in an opposite direction from that to which he gives it.
12MR	369	2	Now, God notes all this human sinful ambition, and it is an offense to Him. One will express a hint, or make an assertion unadvisedly, another repeats the impression made upon his mind, and another gathers it up and adds a little more of his human imaginings, and before any of them are aware of what they are doing they have built up strong barriers between God's workmen. They make it very unpleasant for themselves, for Satan enters into, and figures largely in, this kind of work. He leads these deluded ones to think their own convictions are true beyond a question or doubt. Now, against Satan's schemes of this kind there is but one safeguard--that is to have truth as it is in Jesus planted in the heart of every man engaged in the work of God, not merely in theory but by the Spirit of God. They should feel the truth in its power and know by experience its sanctifying and elevating influence upon the soul.
12MR	370	1	You speak of the affliction that came upon you because of the "way this matter (the question of the law in Galatians) has been pushed and urged by responsible men in the cause, and by your seeming attitude, which has brought me to my present condition more than any other one thing." I have no knowledge of taking any position in this matter. I have not with me the light God had given me on this subject, and which had been written, and I dared not make any rash statement in relation to it till I could see what I had written upon it. My attitude therefore could not be helped. I had not read Dr. [E. J.] Waggoner's articles in the Signs, and I did not know what his views were.
12MR	370	2	You speak, dear brother, of that terrible conference, the last held in Battle Creek, while I was in Switzerland. That conference was presented to me in the night season. My guide said, "Follow me; I have some things to show you." He led me where I was a spectator of the scenes that transpired at that meeting. I was shown the attitude of some of the ministers, yourself in particular, at that meeting, and I can say with you, my brother, it was a terrible conference.
12MR	371	1	My guide then had many things to say which left an indelible impression upon my mind. His words were solemn and earnest. He opened before me the condition of the church at Battle Creek, I can only give here a meager portion of what was said to me. He stated that the church needed the "energy of Christ"--that all must cling close to the Bible, for it alone can give a correct knowledge of God's will. A time of trial was before us, and great evils would be the result of the Phariseeism which has in a large degree taken possession of those who occupy important positions in the work of God.
12MR	371	2	He said that the work of Christ upon the earth was to undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke; and the work of His people must correspond with the work of Christ. He stretched out his arms toward Dr. Waggoner, and to you, Elder Butler, and said in substance as follows: "Neither have all the light upon the law; neither position is perfect." "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart" [Psalm 97:11]. There are hundreds that know not why they believe the doctrines they do.
12MR	371	3	Let all search the Scriptures diligently for themselves, and not be satisfied to have the leaders do it for them, else we shall be as a people in a position similar to that of the Jews in Christ's time--having plenty of machinery, forms, and customs, but bearing little fruit to God's glory. It is time for the church to realize her solemn privileges and sacred trust, and to learn from the great Teacher.
12MR	372	1	The spirit which has prevailed at this meeting is not of Christ. There is not love, there is not sympathy or tender compassion one toward another. Dark suspicions have been suggested by Satan to cause dissension. Roots of bitterness have sprung up whereby many will be defiled. Christians should harbor no jealousies or evil surmisings, for this spirit is of Satan. There must be no strife between brethren. God has made this people the repository of sacred truths. Ye are one in faith, one in Christ Jesus. Let there be no lording it over God's heritage. Let there be no such oppression of conscience as is revealed in these meetings. It is God that scrutinizes every talent, and it is He who will judge every man's work. He has not laid this work of judging upon any man; they have mistaken their calling. There must be no exalting one's self above others.
12MR	372	2	God has not committed to any finite man the work of judging others, for man's judgment would be biased by his peculiar traits of character. Neither had He laid it upon any man to bind the conscience of another, or to pass judgment upon His holy Word, defining what is inspired and what is human. Unless sanctified, soul, body, and spirit, man will be in danger of manifesting an unkindly spirit toward his brother who does not agree with his ideas. There is no such narrowness with God.
12MR	372	3	The enemy of God and man is here on the ground where important interests are centered, at the heart of the work, to misrepresent, to create suspicion and misapprehensions. From this night's work there will arise false imaginings, cruel and unjust misunderstandings, that will work like leaven in every church, and close hearts to the strivings of the Spirit of God. Unless the Lord in His mercy shall lift up a standard for us against the enemy, kindness will be requited with suspicions and insult; faithful warnings and admonitions sent from God will be scorned by some, unheeded by others, and the influence of this meeting will be as far-reaching as eternity.
12MR	373	1	The spirit manifested is not of Christ. The outgrowth of this will be that some will turn away from light and others will come to a standstill in spiritual growth, because from this hour blindness of mind and self-righteousness will take the place in their experience of justice, mercy, and the love of God. The seeds of disaffection and disunion will be scattered broadcast, and all because men allow their own spirit to control them and make them unsympathetic and unimpressible, like moral icebergs, cold, sunless, dark, and forbidding. The result will be ruin to souls. The church at Battle Creek has been blessed with great privileges, but the work that should have been done in it to make these privileges and opportunities tend to spiritual health and growth, has been neglected.
12MR	373	2	The Lord is willing to bestow great light upon those who open their hearts to its divine rays. Those who have marked out a certain course in which the light must come will fail to receive it, for God works in His own appointed way. It will be said of some here, unless they quickly change their present attitude, "Ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in, ye hindered" [Luke 11:52]. The church needs earnest and persevering labor.
12MR	374	1	If those who are placed in responsible positions are faithful, living in daily communion with Christ, they will learn to place the same estimate upon man that God does. Personal preferences manifested for a few will give way to a true spirit of charity toward all. You know not whom God may have chosen to be heirs of His kingdom. They may be the very ones you would not think at all qualified for the work. The great Shepherd will call His own sheep by name, [and] one by one will lead them out. The men upon whom you place so low an estimate may be those whom God will choose to do a special work for Him, notwithstanding your judgment to the contrary.
12MR	374	2	The churches have been cherishing a spirit which God cannot approve; and unless they humble their souls before God and possess a different spirit, they will reject God's light and follow spurious light to the ruin of their own and many other souls. They must have the converting power of God to transform them. This power needs to come into your heart, my brother, and mold you over anew. You are passing a crisis in your experience, and are in great danger of self-deception.
12MR	374	3	You have made grave charges against me in your letter sent to me at this place, but as yet I do not see their justice. I wrote to you from Switzerland in the fear of God. I was doing a work in this matter that was not pleasant to me, but I felt it my duty to do this work. If my letter caused so great consequences to you as five months' illness, I shall not be held accountable for it; for if you had received it in the right spirit, it would have had no such results. I wrote in the anguish of my soul in regard to the course you pursued in the [1886] General Conference [session] two years since. The Lord was not pleased with that meeting. Your spirit, my brother, was not right. The manner in which you treated the case of Dr. Waggoner was perhaps after your own order, but not after God's order. The course you took was not excusable, even if his views were questionable. We must not crowd and push one another because others do not see just as we see. We must treat others with Christlike courtesy, even if they differ with us. Matthew 5:43-48; 1 John 2:9-11; 3:16-18; 1 John 4:7, 8.
12MR	375	1	You refer to your office as president of the General Conference, as if this justifies your course of action, which you deemed wholly right, but which, from the light the Lord has been pleased to give me, I deem to be wrong in some respects. The very fact that you are standing in a position of responsibility I urge upon you as the reason why you should show a forbearing, courteous, Christlike spirit at all times and under all circumstances. Your brethren in the ministry, who respect you and your office, will be very apt to follow your example in the treatment of such cases. You are to be an example to your brethren, worthy of imitation. Your words, your spirit, your deportment, even the manner in which you treat your brethren, are sowing seeds for good or evil. It is both your privilege and duty, especially in your position of trust, to be like-minded with God, then you will be strong in His strength, and meek and humble as a little child.
12MR	375	2	Cling close to your Bible, for its sacred truths can purify, ennoble, and sanctify the soul. You must hold the truth and teach it as it is in Jesus, else it is of no value to you. Before the light of God's truth let human opinions and ideas and human wisdom appear as they are in the sight of God--as foolishness. Let no man feel that his position as president, either of the General Conference or of a State conference, clothes him with a power over the consciences of others that is the least degree oppressive, for God will not sanction anything of this kind. He must respect the rights of all, and all the more because he is in a position where others will pattern after him. Your position binds you under the most sacred obligations to be very careful what kind of spirit you entertain towards your brethren. They are acting a part in God's cause as well as yourself. Will not God teach them and guide them as well as yourself? You are not even to allow yourself to think unkindly of them, much less to climb upon the judgment seat and censure or condemn your brethren, when you may be yourself, in many respects, more deserving of censure than they. Your work is bearing the inspection of God.
12MR	376	1	If a brother differs with you on some points of truth, do not stoop to ridicule, do not place him in a false light or misconstrue his words, making sport of them; do not misinterpret his words and wrest them of their true meaning. This is not conscientious argument. Do not present him before others as a heretic, when you have not with him investigated his positions, taking the Scriptures text-by-text in the spirit of Christ to show him what is truth. You do not yourself really know the evidence he has for his faith, and you cannot clearly define your own position. Take your Bible, and in a kindly spirit weigh every argument that he presents, and show him by the Scriptures if he is in error. When you do this without unkind feelings, you will do only that which is your duty and the duty of every minister of Jesus Christ.
12MR	377	1	There were thrusts in your pamphlet which the Lord did not prompt you to make. You have no right to wound the feelings of your brethren. You speak of them in a manner which I cannot sanction, because I have been shown many times in the case of others that it was not right. You call Brethren Jones and Waggoner fledglings, and you make reference to the words I spoke at the conference in California. I am surprised, my brother, to read such things from your pen. I was not making thrusts at you, Elder Butler; I was speaking upon general principles, and I felt that the cause before us required me to speak. I have been shown, in reference to Dr. Kellogg and his work, that which warranted me in speaking. I had been shown more than once that he was regarded in a wrong light by many in Battle Creek, that they were unchristian in their feelings and treatment of him, and that he was even regarded by some as a dishonest man.
12MR	377	2	Some have come to me to inquire if these reflections from you upon the doctor were correct, if it was true that he was a scheming and designing man. I had always labored to remove this impression, for I knew it was not just to have it prevail in California among those who knew him not. I simply did that which I knew to be my duty in that conference. I would not dare to say I acted in my own spirit or spoke from mere human impulse or wisdom, for I knew better than my brethren how the Lord looked upon this case. My remarks were not hasty, and I spoke only as I knew that I ought to speak. I have nothing to retract in that matter.
12MR	377	3	It will be seen sometime that our brethren and sisters have not been inspired by the Spirit of Christ in their manner of dealing with Dr. Kellogg. I knew that your views of the doctor are not correct. Your attitude toward him will not bear the approval of God, even if he was the man which you think him to be. You cannot be any help to him while you maintain this position, but you can pursue a course that will so weaken his confidence in his brethren that they cannot help him when and where he needs to be helped.
12MR	378	1	He is placed, as I have been shown repeatedly, in a peculiar position in his relation to the world, respected by men of highest intelligence and yet holding the faith and doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists. Now, as the doctor is situated, standing on the high eminence that he does in his profession, he can by firmly holding the truth exert a wide influence in its behalf. The position he occupies affords him many privileges and opportunities to reach with the truth a class which we could not otherwise reach. Dr. Kellogg is a man of opportunity, a man who needs the wisdom of God to bless and guide him every step in his position of trust, if he will serve God faithfully, just as He will you in your position of trust, if you serve Him faithfully.
12MR	378	2	Your work and Dr. Kellogg's lie in altogether different lines, and you have no more right to depreciate him because he does not meet your ideas and do just as you think he should do, than he has to depreciate you because you do not work in his way. In the providence of God, Dr. Kellogg has influence. Like yourself he was taken from among the laboring class, and by his indomitable will and persevering energy and with one object in view, he has reached a position among the honored men of the world. This position did not compel him to sacrifice one principle of our doctrines of faith to make a success. He has signalized himself as a man of wisdom and aptitude to plan and execute them, and his high standing in the medical profession has an influence to remove from a large class the false impressions which have prevailed with regard to Seventh-day Adventists' being an ignorant class of people.
12MR	379	1	Whatever course he may take he is only a man liable to make mistakes and give some a chance to find something to criticize. Because you do not always think and speak and act as one having the mind of Christ, you will not consider that you make mistakes and that others may criticize you. The position the doctor occupies in medical circles leads him amid scenes of temptation, where he needs a constant hold upon God and brethren who can help him, pray for him, advise and counsel him. If he has this hold he will be the means of great good. Some of the worldly wise will at first disapprove; lawless and designing ones, and those who are disaffected, and men who have apostatized from the faith, will plot against him, but if he maintains his integrity, as did Daniel, God will give him favor among men in order that true hygienic principles and appliances may prevail to a large extent over drug medication. Shall those who claim to be reformers cease to reform? Shall they set themselves in array against the work of reform and these men to whom the Lord shall entrust a certain work?
12MR	379	2	Dr. Kellogg is a finite man and has his errors as well as other men, but God has done a work through him and has been giving him strength. He does not now feel exasperated, as he once did, when he is misjudged. He needs wise men for counselors, for their wisdom will be required to set things right and keep them right. Men are needed in the sanitarium and out of the sanitarium who can appreciate the situation on all sides, who will take in all in their hearing and not say Yes, Yes, to every proposition, but who, if they see danger of wrong moves that will injure the reputation of Dr. Kellogg and the sanitarium, will not be afraid to speak frankly and honestly. This is just as much a part of their duty as to approve and sanction; but they should do this with a Christian spirit and in such a reasonable way that the words will not appear a thrust, or condemnatory, but will have a right effect.
12MR	380	1	There is no reason why his brethren should stand away from him and criticize and denounce and condemn him when they have no real knowledge of his work and what they are talking about. They gather from hearing or supposition the idea that Dr. Kellogg is a designing, dangerous man, and acting upon that idea they unjustly and with an unchristian spirit place themselves directly in the way of his efforts, thus counteracting the good work he is trying to do, and their course is not fair and just. It may produce a condition of things to drive him to the very things they condemn. The opposition that has existed in reference to Dr. Kellogg is contagious and is hostile to the health of the soul. This is not the Spirit of Christ and will have no saving influence upon Dr. Kellogg.
12MR	380	2	In the fear of God we say to all such, Keep silent, speak no evil thing, keep your mouth as with a bridle that your lips will not offend God, and when you do speak let it be to some purpose to set things in order, as is your duty as wise sentinels of sacred trusts. The very same course that some are pursuing towards the doctor might as justly be pursued towards themselves, but they do not think of this; they do not see their own course is open to criticism.
12MR	381	1	God is displeased to have brethren suspiciously pick up an item here, and a jot and tittle there, and construe these tidbits into grave sins. Complaining, faultfinding, and backbiting will be carried on to a large extent among the people when encouraged by the influence of the men engaged in the solemn work of the ministry. To disdain another's work because it is not in your line of work is an offense to God. It is no less a sin when men who occupy positions of trust engage in it. If you, my brother, were to go into a field where are precious things, shrubs and flowers, and pass these by unnoticed, and begin to complain of the thistles and the briers and unsightly shrubs, and present these as the representation of what was in that field, would it be just? Should you not rather have gathered the roses, the lilies, and the precious things and carried these away, thankful that such blessings did exist, acknowledging that there were things of precious value in that field?
12MR	381	2	Dr. Kellogg has done a work that no man I know of among us has had qualifications to do. He has needed the sympathy and confidence of his brethren. There should have been a tender compassion for him in his position of trust, and they should have pursued a course that would have gained and retained his confidence. God would have it thus. But there has been, instead, a spirit of suspicion and criticism. If the doctor fails in doing his duty and being an overcomer at last, those brethren who have failed in their want of wisdom and discernment to help the man when and where he needed their help, will be in a large measure responsible, for there have [been] but few [who have] faithfully warned him in kindness and love for his soul, but hurt him with their thrusts behind his back. His brethren do at times really feel that God is using the doctor to do a work that no other one is fitted to do; but when they meet so strong a current of reports to his detriment, [they] are perplexed; they partially accept them, and decide that Dr. Kellogg must really be hypocritical and dishonest. They do not consider the good he has done and that he is doing. They do not look at his efforts to elevate the religious and moral tone at the sanitarium, and keep it up to a high standard. How must the doctor feel to be ever regarded with suspicion? Can nothing be done to change this order of things? Must it ever be thus? I know that it is not right. There are things that will occur in connection with the sanitarium that will need much wisdom to plan and arrange, and here is where other minds must come in to place things as God would have them.
12MR	383	1	I did not have one thought at the General Conference at Oakland of making thrusts at you, Brother Butler. I sustained the proposition to have such a building as has been erected on the sanitarium grounds, and as the plan was set before me I could not admit that Dr. Kellogg was doing anything unfair or dark in this move. It was a work which was much needed if it could be successfully and wisely managed, and no one would have had reason to doubt the doctor's integrity in the matter if his brethren from Battle Creek had not planted the seeds of doubt and suspicion on the Pacific Coast. I have not hesitated to speak plainly to the doctor when I have seen him in the wrong or in danger of taking a wrong course, because his soul was of value. Christ paid the redemption price for his soul, and the devil will do his utmost to ruin his soul. Let none of us help him [the devil] in his work.
12MR	383	1	I am very sorry that you should have allowed yourself to think that because he has treated me with great kindness and respect that he was prompted in this by motives of selfishness. I believe he had confidence in me, and in the work God has given me to do. He has treated me with all the courtesy that he would show toward his mother, while at the same time I have not shunned to reprove and warn and entreat when he was in danger or under temptation. I am grieved at these words coming from your pen. If the Lord puts it into the hearts of my brethren, especially those whom I have known from their childhood, to show me respect, and to bring, if possible, a little sunshine into my life, I thank the Lord for this. When I have been at Battle Creek I have been always worn down with labor. I have had no home and I have needed care. In my widowhood I have had sorrows and trials which God alone knows, and I have felt grateful that the Lord has put it into the heart of Dr. Kellogg to show me kindness, and to seek to do me good physically. And not Dr. Kellogg alone, but many others of my brethren and sisters. I do not forget one of their favors, and hope they will receive a full reward for what they have done for me.
12MR	383	2	And why should not those who represent the sanitarium show me some respect? My husband and I labored hard to establish it, and I have felt the deepest interest in its prosperity. I should not breathe a murmuring word if I were neglected and unnoticed, but I thank God I am not left to be thus wounded. But am I the only one whom the doctor treats with courtesy and favor? Why did he invite Brother and Sister Hutchins to the Sanitarium to remain as long as they would? Was it because they were popular? They were feeble and worn, but they were Christians and their influence would be in favor of godliness. This is just as it should be. Has not Dr. Kellogg shown the greatest respect to our ministers, and has he ever given the least evidence that he was ashamed of his brethren? I believe he has done this to you--shown you favors--more freely than he has to me, because he loves the cause of God. I hope, my brother, that you will no longer cherish such thoughts. They are unworthy of a Christian.
12MR	384	1	You speak of neglect being shown towards some. There will always be such complaints in such institutions. While great care should be exercised to avoid it, such cases will sometimes occur, and yet the blame may not belong to the doctor personally, but to those employed to do the work relating to these cases, and he not know anything about it.
12MR	384	2	When we look at these matters without prejudice we shall see some things to excuse and some things to commend, and fewer to censure. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" [Philippians 4:8].
------------------------MR No. 999--Christ as Sacrifice and High Priest
12MR	385	1	The Crucifixion--For three hours Christ hung upon the cross, looked upon by thousands. Thousands heard and saw the reviling of the priests and rulers; they heard the challenge, "Come down from the cross, and we will believe in Thee," and the taunt, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save."
12MR	385	2	"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour" [Mark 15:33]. Not only did the darkness enshroud the immediate location where the cross stood, "there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour."
12MR	385	3	God dwelleth in the thick darkness; He hides His glory from human eyes. The Father, with His heavenly angels, was enclosed in that thick darkness. God was close beside His Son, though not manifesting Himself to Him or to any human being. Had one ray of His glory and power penetrated the thick cloud that enveloped Him, every spectator would have been extinguished. And in that thick darkness God hid from prying eyes the last human agony of His Son. He clothed nature in sackcloth that she might not look upon her suffering, dying Author in His last humiliation.
12MR	385	4	All who had looked upon Christ during His trial were convicted of His loyalty and royal character. That face, once beheld by humanity, was never forgotten. As Cain's face expressed his guilt as a murderer, so the face of Christ revealed His innocence, serenity, benevolence--the image of God. But His accusers would not heed the mark, the signet of heaven, and that countenance was hidden by the mantle of God.
12MR	386	1	[Mark 15:34-37, 40, 41, quoted.]
12MR	386	2	When Christ's life ended, the veil of the Temple was rent in twain. This veil was very significant to the Jewish nation. It was of most costly material, of purple and gold, and was of great length and breadth. At the moment that Christ breathed His last, there were witnesses in the Temple who beheld that strong, heavy material rent in two by unseen hands, from top to bottom. He who had hitherto dwelt in the Temple made with hands, had gone forth never again to grace it with His presence.
12MR	386	3	There was a mighty earthquake. The rocks were rent; the graves of many dead burst open, and all nature was in commotion, expressing sympathy with her dying Author. The Roman centurion, in charge of his soldiers, halted at the cross, and when Christ uttered the cry, "It is finished; into Thy hands I commend My spirit," overpowering conviction came upon him. "Truly," he said, "this Man was the Son of God."
12MR	386	4	The conviction forced upon many at the time of Christ's trial, at the time when the three hours' darkness enshrouded the cross, without any natural cause for it, and when the last sentences were uttered, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" "It is finished. Into Thy hands I commend My spirit," was seed sown that ripened into harvest when at a future date the gospel was boldly proclaimed by His disciples. The shaking earth, the piercing cry, the sudden death which called forth in no whispered tones the cry, "It is finished," forced from many the words, "Assuredly this Man was righteous"; "Truly this was the Son of God." Many who had scoffed and jeered at and taunted the Son of God were terribly afraid that the shaking earth, the rent and trembling rocks would put an end to their own lives. They hastened away from the scene, beating upon their breasts, stumbling, falling, in awful terror lest the earth should open and swallow them up. The veil of the Temple rent so mysteriously, changed the religious ideas of many of the Jewish priests, and a large company changed their faith. After the day of Pentecost, we read that "the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people" [Acts 6:7, 8].
12MR	387	1	It seemed a great mystery to the people when it was ascertained that Jesus was already dead. They could not reason that this sudden death was from a supernatural cause. It was found that the two thieves were still living, and their legs were broken; but Christ was dead already, and His legs were left untouched. "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken" [John 19:34-36].
12MR	387	2	The True High Priest--With Caiaphas the Jewish high priesthood ended. This proud, overbearing, wicked man proved his unworthiness ever to have worn the garments of the high priest. He had neither capacity, nor authority from heaven, for doing the work. He had not one ray of light from heaven to show him what the work of the priest was, or for what the office had been instituted. Such ministration could make nothing perfect, for in itself it was utterly corrupt. The priests were tyrannous and deceptive, and full of ambitious schemes. The grace of God had nought to do with this.
12MR	388	1	Virtually Caiaphas was no high priest. He wore the priestly robes, but he had no vital connection with God. He was uncircumcised in heart. With the other priests he instructed the people to choose Barabbas instead of Christ. They cried out for the crucifixion of Christ and, as representatives of the Jewish nation, placed themselves under the Roman jurisdiction, which they despised, by saying, "We have no king but Caesar." When they said this, they unchurched themselves.
12MR	388	2	It is righteousness that exalts a nation. A disregard for the law of God will be the ruin of the religious world in the last days of this earth's history. Everything is becoming unsettled, but God's Word is changeless and sure. It is His voice, speaking to us in admonitions, entreaties, and warnings. Nothing can separate a living Christian from a living God.
12MR	388	3	Caiaphas was filling the end of the priestly service, for the priesthood had become base and corrupt. It had no longer any connection with God. Truth and righteousness were hateful in the eyes of the priests. The last order of priests was so entirely perverted that the last work of the officiating high priest was to rend his robes in pretendedly pious horror, and in his perverted priestly authority accuse the Holy One of Israel of blasphemy.
12MR	388	4	The mock trial of Christ shows how base the priesthood had become. The priests hired men to testify under oath to falsehood, that Jesus might be condemned. But on this occasion, truth came to the help of Christ. Pilate declared Him to be without fault. How significant was the oft-repeated statement, "I find no fault in Him at all." Thus it was shown that the testimonies borne against Him were false, that the witnesses had been hired by men who cherished in their hearts the basest elements of corruption. It was God's design that the men who delivered Jesus should hear the testimony of His innocence. "I find no fault in Him," Pilate declared. And Judas, throwing at the feet of the priests the money he had received for betraying Christ, bore testimony, "I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood."
12MR	389	1	Previously when the Sanhedrin had been called together, to lay plans for waylaying Christ, and putting Him to death, Caiaphas said, Cannot ye see that the world is gone after Him? [See John 12:19.] The voices of some members of the council were heard, pleading with the others to check their passion and hatred against Christ. They wished to save Him from being put to death. In reply to them, Caiaphas said, "Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us (He might have said, a corrupted priesthood), that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not" [John 11:49, 50].
12MR	389	2	These words were uttered by one who knew not their significance. His ideas were demoralized. He had lost the sense of the sacredness of the Jewish system of sacrifices. He was condemning One whose death would end the need for types and shadows, whose death was prefigured in every sacrifice made. But the high priest's words meant more than he, or those who were combined with him, knew. By them he bore testimony that the time had come for the Aaronic priesthood to cease forever. He was indeed uttering words that closed the order of the priesthood. He was showing that Christ was to fulfill the object of the foundation of the Jewish economy.
12MR	390	1	"This," added the evangelist, "spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" [verses 51, 52].
12MR	390	2	Caiaphas was the one that was to be in office when types and shadows were to meet the reality, when the true High Priest was to come into office. Each actor in history stands in his lot and place; for God's great work after His own plan will be carried out by men who have prepared themselves to fill positions for good or evil. In opposition to righteousness, men become instruments of unrighteousness. But their course of action is unforced. They need not have become instruments of unrighteousness any more than need Cain. God said to him, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door" [Genesis 4:7]. Cain would not hear the voice of God, and as a result, he killed his brother.
12MR	390	3	Men of all characters, righteous and unrighteous, will stand in their positions. With the characters they have formed, they will act their part in the fulfillment of history. In a crisis, just at the right moment, men will stand in the places they have prepared themselves to fill. Believers and unbelievers will fall into line as witnesses, to confirm truth which they do not themselves comprehend. All will cooperate in accomplishing the purposes of God, as did Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod.
12MR	391	1	Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one jot or tittle of the Word of God will fail. It will endure forever. All men, whatever their position, whatever their religion, loyal or disloyal to God, wicked or righteous, are fitting themselves to do their work in the closing scenes of the day of the Lord. They will trample down each other as they act out their natural attributes and fulfill their purposes; but they will carry out the purpose of God. The priests thought that they were carrying out their own purposes, but unconsciously and unintentionally they were fulfilling the purpose of God. He "revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him."
12MR	391	2	If the Bible student learns from the great Teacher who inspired Bible history, he will know the truth. The Word is light, and to those who search its pages diligently, it is illuminated by the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness.
12MR	391	3	Christ, the foundation of the whole Jewish economy, stood at the bar of Pilate, but it was virtually at the judgment seat of the Jewish rulers, to be condemned by His own nation. With His divinity clothed with humanity, He stood to be judged by the beings He had made. His garment, which was His human flesh, was to be torn from Him. He could have flashed the light of His glory upon His enemies, and consumed them, but He bore patiently their humiliating abuse.
12MR	391	4	[John 1:1-4, 9-11, quoted.]
12MR	391	5	In Christ the shadow reached its substance, the type its antitype. Well might Caiaphas rend his clothes in horror for himself and for the nation; for they were separating themselves from God, and were fast becoming a people unchurched by Jehovah. Surely the candlestick was being removed out of its place.
12MR	392	1	It was not the hand of the priest that rent from top to bottom the gorgeous veil that divided the holy from the Most Holy Place. It was the hand of God. When Christ cried out, "It is finished," the Holy Watcher that was an unseen guest at Belshazzar's feast pronounced the Jewish nation to be a nation unchurched. The same hand that traced on the wall the characters that recorded Belshazzar's doom and the end of the Babylonian kingdom, rent the veil of the Temple from top to bottom, opening a new and living way for all, high and low, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. From henceforth people might come to God without priest or ruler.
12MR	392	2	Caiaphas, well may you rend your official robes, which signify that you claim to be a representative of the great High Priest; for no longer have they any meaning for you or for the people. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" [Hebrews 9:13, 14].
12MR	392	3	How vastly different was the true High Priest from the false and corrupted Caiaphas. In comparison with Caiaphas, Christ stands out pure and undefiled, without a taint of sin. "By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" [Hebrews 10:14]. This enabled Him to proclaim on the cross with a clear and triumphant voice, "It is finished." [Hebrews 9:24-26; 10:12, quoted.] Christ entered in once into the holy place, "having obtained eternal redemption for us" [Hebrews 9:12]. "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" [Hebrews 7:25].
12MR	393	1	Christ glorified not Himself in being made High Priest. God gave Him His appointment to the priesthood. He was to be an example to all the human family. He qualified Himself to be, not only the representative of the race, but their Advocate, so that every soul if he will may say, I have a Friend at court. He is a High Priest that can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
12MR	393	2	Our Redeemer humbled Himself, fully identifying His interest with humanity. Look at Him girding Himself and washing the feet of His disciples. Mark how tenderly He performs this act of ministry, to give them a lesson in humility. He who was one with God, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, humbled Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant. But who was tender and compassionate to Him? During His trial, what friend had He that dared to say even as did the heathen Pilate, "I find no fault in Him at all"? Christ's humanity so completely veiled His glory that it was difficult for even His disciples to believe in Him; and when He died on the cross, they felt that their hopes had perished. As Christ told them the things He must suffer at the hands of wicked men, He said, "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" [Luke 23:31]. If they do these wicked acts to your divine Lord, what will they do to those that bear the testimony that He came from God, that He was God in human flesh?
12MR	393	3	After Adam fell, Jesus entered upon the work of redeeming men. In every part His sacrifice was perfect. He could make an atonement for sin. Though He was one with God, yet He made Himself of no reputation. He took human nature upon Him. "Lo, I come," was the cheerful announcement of the clothing of His divinity with humanity. "I delight to do Thy will, O My God" [Psalm 40:7, 8].
12MR	394	1	"God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" [John 3:16]. Christ mourned for the transgression of every human being. He bore even the guiltiness of the high priest Caiaphas, knowing the hypocrisy that dwelt in his sinful soul, while for pretense he rent his robe in vehement passion. That priest might truthfully have said in regard to himself, By our law I ought to die.
12MR	394	2	Christ was one with the Father. He loved His church, and gave Himself for it. "Therefore doth My Father love Me," He said to the cavilling scribes and Pharisees, "because I lay down My life, that I might take it again" [John 10:17]. "He saved others; Himself He cannot save" [Matthew 27:42], was the mocking taunt hurled at Him during the agonies of His death on the cross. At any moment He could have saved Himself, and come down from the cross, but had He done this, the world would have been given over to the control of the great apostate.
12MR	394	3	As Christ hung on the cross, bearing the taunts and revilings of His persecutors, He might appropriately have asked, Which of you convicteth Me of sin? It was a marvel to the angelic beings that He did not seal the lips of the scoffers and paralyze the hand that smote Him. It was a mystery to them that He did not flash forth His righteous indignation upon the hardened and corrupt soldiers, as they mocked Him and forced a crown of thorns on His head.
12MR	395	1	But the Son of God knew that the greatest guilt and heaviest responsibility belonged to those who stood in the highest places in the nation, the repositories of sacred trusts that they were basely betraying. Pilate, Herod, the ignorant soldiers, were comparatively ignorant of Jesus. They knew not that this Man was the Sent of God. They thought to please the priests and rulers by abusing Him. They had not the light that the Jewish nation had so abundantly received. They were unacquainted with Old Testament history. Had the light been given to the soldiers, they would not have treated Christ as cruelly as they did.
12MR	395	2	Christ was not compelled to endure this cruel treatment. The yoke of obligation was not laid upon Him to undertake the work of redemption. Voluntarily He offered Himself, a willing, spotless sacrifice. He was equal with God, infinite and omnipotent. He was above all finite requirements. He was Himself the law in character. Of the highest angels it could not be said that they had never borne a yoke. The angels all bear the yoke of dependence, the yoke of obedience. They are the appointed messengers of Him who is Commander of all heaven.
12MR	395	3	No one of the angels could become a substitute and surety for the human race, for their life is God's; they could not surrender it. On Christ alone the human family depended for their existence. He is the eternal, self-existent Son, on whom no yoke had come. When God asked, "whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Christ alone of the angelic host could reply, "Here am I; send Me." He alone had covenanted before the foundation of the world to become a surety for man. He could say that which not the highest angel could say--"I have power over My own life. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" [see John 10:18].
12MR	396	1	Christ did not come to this earth merely to live the law, and so reveal the character of God in His spotless life that the one who condemned Him said of him, "I find no fault in Him." Christ's work must be deep and thorough. Without shedding of blood there is no remission for sin. He must suffer the agony of a public death on the cross, that witness of it might be borne without the shadow of a doubt.
12MR	396	2	At the time of the Passover, the Jews and their adherents were drawn to the Hebrew capital. At this time universal attention in the plan of redemption must be awakened. Matters of eternal interest must now become the theme of conversation. The Old Testament must be searched as never before for evidence of the work and character of the Messiah so long looked for. Minds must be convicted and led to ask, Is not this the Christ? Every transaction in Christ's life, His trial, His condemnation, His crucifixion, and His resurrection, would become matters of the deepest interest.
12MR	396	3	As Christ hung upon the cross, nature sympathized with her dying Author. The heavens shrouded in the deepest darkness, the rent rocks, the convulsed earth, struck terror to the hearts of those who had been actors in His mock trial.
12MR	396	4	Twice, at the baptism and at the transfiguration, the voice of God had been heard proclaiming Christ as His Son. The third time, just before Christ's betrayal, the Father had spoken, witnessing to His Son. But now the voice from heaven was silent. No testimony in Christ's favor was heard. Alone He suffered abuse and mockery at the hands of wicked men.
12MR	396	5	Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for transgressing the law of God. Christ was to suffer without the boundaries of the holy place. He died outside the camp, where felons and murderers were executed. There He trod the wine press alone, suffering the penalty that should have rested on the sinner, to rest on Him. Oh, how deep and full of significance are the words, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" [Galatians 3:13]. He went forth without the camp, thus showing that He gave His life not only for the Jewish nation but for the whole world. The hand of the Lord was in the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," that was written out in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and placed above the cross. Thus Christ proclaimed to all kindreds, tongues, and people, "I gave My life for you. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."
12MR	397	1	Christ fulfilled still another feature of the type. "His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations" [Isaiah 52:14]. In the Temple service, when the animal brought as a sacrifice was slain, the high priest, clothed in white robes, caught in his hand the blood that gushed forth, and cast it in the direction of the tabernacle or Temple. This was done seven times, as an expression of perfection. So Christ, the great antitype, Himself both High Priest and Victim, clothed with His own spotless robes of righteousness, after giving His life for the world, cast the virtue of His offering, a crimson current, in the direction of the holy place, reconciling man to God through the blood of the cross.
12MR	397	2	Christ might have continued to abide in the heavenly courts, clothed in garments whiter than the whitest white, and sitting as a prince at God's right hand. He was not compelled to step down from the throne, to lay aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and come to this earth to receive hatred, abuse, rejection, scourging, and a crown of thorns. The humiliation that He endured, He endured voluntarily, to save a world from eternal ruin.
12MR	398	1	Christ rent not His robe as did Caiaphas. He gave up His body to be rent, to be bruised, to be wounded for the transgression of the world. As by His own choice He died in the presence of an assembled nation of worshipers, type met antitype. Priest and victim combined, He entered the Temple as a place of sacrifice. Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is a true high priest, for after enduring humiliation, shame, and reproach, after being crucified and buried, He was raised from the grave, triumphing over death. He is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.
12MR	398	2	When Christ died on the cross, Satan triumphed, but his triumph was short. The prophecy was made in Eden. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel" [Genesis 3:15]. Christ was nailed to the cross, but thus He gained His victory. Through death He destroyed him that had the power of death. By becoming the Sin-bearer, He lifted from the human race the penalty of transgression. In His own body He paid the penalty of that on which the power of Satan over the human race is founded, even transgression.
12MR	398	3	Not that sin might become righteousness and transgression of the law a virtue, did Christ die. He died that sin might be made to appear exceeding sinful, the hateful thing it is. By His death He became the possessor of the keys of hell and of death. Satan could no longer reign without a rival and be revenged as a god. Temples had been erected to him, and human sacrifices offered on his altars. "They sacrificed to devils."
12MR	399	1	The emancipation papers of our race were signed by the blood of the Son of God, and a way was opened for the message of hope and mercy to be carried to the ends of the earth. Now, whoever will may reach forth and take hold of God's hand, and make peace with Him, and they shall make peace. The heathen are no longer to be wrapped in midnight superstition. The gloom is to disappear before the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The power of hell has been overcome. The truth of the words has been proved: "I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My name" [Isaiah 65:1]. [Isaiah 63:1-3; 60:1-3, quoted.]
12MR	399	2	Our Substitute and Surety--[Matthew 26:62, 63, quoted.] According to the Jewish form of administration, Christ was placed on oath by the priest: "I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God." This appeal was made by the first magistrate of the nation. He occupied a position higher than any in earthly courts. But his religion was a cloak that hid the deformities of a hard, cruel heart. He lorded it over the people, making his supposed godliness a source of gain. He was not accepted by God as a typical high priest at any time. His fitness for the priesthood ended with the covering garment, set apart for the use of the priests, which he wore. He was incapable and unworthy.
12MR	399	3	The priesthood itself had become corrupt. Priest after priest filled his appointment and performed his religious duties as an actor in a theater. Christ was fully aware of the high priest's unworthiness to occupy the position that he did. He knew that he had not the character that would enable God to connect with him. But knowing all this, Christ responded. The true High Priest stood before the false priest, to be criticized by one whom the people detested.
12MR	400	1	Christ might have glorified Himself there and then. He might have shown a power that would have made His judges quail. He knew that He was appointed to His office by God. But a body of flesh had been prepared for Him. He concealed His divinity by a garb of humanity. Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, that He might be qualified to represent man in the heavenly courts. He took not on Him the nature even of angels. The highest of all angels, He girded Himself with a towel, and washed the feet of His disciples. He mourned and wept over the perversity and transgression of men. He did not rend His robe, but His soul was rent. His garment of human flesh was rent as He hung on the cross, the Sin-bearer of the human race. By His suffering and death, a new and living way was opened. By this He was to enter upon His priestly office forever. There was no longer a wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. As the high priest for the whole world, He entered the holy place.
12MR	400	2	To the charge of the high priest, Jesus said, "Thou hast said: Nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" [Matthew 26:64]. These words were spoken with dignity and assurance. They fell from the lips of One whose Spirit went with the words. Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was the speaker, and His words came with ease, as if from the depths of a soul possessing the testimony to be given on earth. Divinity flashed through humanity, and like an arrow the conviction flashed into the hearts of the hearers that this Man spake as never man spake.
12MR	401	1	"Then the high priest rent his clothes." Conviction, mingled with passion, caused him to do this. He was furious with himself for believing Christ's words, and instead of rending his heart under a deep sense of truth, and confessing that Jesus was the Messiah, he rent his priestly robes in determined resistance.
12MR	401	2	By this act he placed himself under the penalty of death. Under no circumstances were the priests to remove their turbans or rend their robes. He who disregarded this law was to die. Nothing but perfection, in dress and attitude, in word and spirit, could be acceptable to God. He is holy, and His glory and perfection must be represented by the earthly service. Nothing but perfection could properly represent the sacredness of the heavenly service. Finite man might rend his own heart by showing a contrite and humble spirit. This God would discern. But no rent must be made in the priestly robes, for this would mar the representation of heavenly things.
12MR	401	3	The Jewish rulers said of Christ, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die" [John 19:7]. Christ, who made the laws governing the Temple service, might have said to Caiaphas as he rent his robe, "You have transgressed the law of the God of heaven."
12MR	401	4	Every word of Christ's reply was an arrow aimed by no uncertain hand. The judges rose up and confronted Christ, and with angry vehemence one after another asked Him the question, "Art Thou the Son of God?" To all came the answer as to Caiaphas, "I AM." Oh, will not the dignity revealed in that pale face bring discernment to these men? Will not His bearing impress them with the truth of His words? On this occasion impressions were made that were never effaced. The actors in the scene went from place to place, hoping to find relief, but never did they gain the peace and quietude they sought.
12MR	402	1	The rulers did not yield to the conviction, but decided the matter as Satan hoped they would. They condemned Christ as a blasphemer. But Christ was not cowed or intimidated by their anger. With patience and without retaliation, He bore dishonor and shameful abuse. He looked forward to the time when their positions would be reversed, when He would sit on the right hand of God, clothed with power, when all--Pilate, Caiaphas, and those who mocked and derided Him--would stand before Him. When He comes in the clouds of heaven, the whole world will be cited before Him. Those who pierced Him will look upon Him. The sentence will be passed on those who have not received Him.
12MR	402	2	This is one of the times when Christ publicly confessed His claim to be the Messiah, the One for whom the Jews had long looked. Weighted with such great results, it was to Christ one of the most wonderful moments of His life. He realized that all disguise must be swept away. The declaration that He was one with God must be openly made. His judges looked upon Him as only a man, and they thought Him guilty of blasphemous presumption. But He proclaimed Himself as the Son of God. He fully asserted His divine character before the dignitaries who had arraigned Him before their earthly tribunal. His words, spoken calmly, yet with conscious power, showed that He claimed for Himself the prerogatives of the Son of God.
12MR	403	1	At this time, none of the disciples dared open their lips to acknowledge Christ as the Messiah so long expected. When asked if he was one of the disciples, Peter denied, and when again charged with being Christ's follower, he denied with cursing and swearing. On one occasion Jesus asked His disciples, "Whom say ye that I am?" The light of the Saviour's glory flooded Peter's soul, and with inspired earnestness, he broke out into no prosaic acknowledgment, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Christ commended him, saying, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven" [Matthew 16:15-17]. Is this the same Peter that now denies his Lord with cursing?
12MR	403	2	These things are too great for me to handle, but I must mention some things to ease my mind of its burden. Many who claim to be Christians are in danger of rending their garments, making an outward show of remorse and repentance, when their hearts are not softened or contrite. This is the reason why so many continue to make failures in the Christian life. An outward appearance of sorrow is manifested for wrong, but their repentance is not that repentance that needeth not to be repented of [2 Corinthians 7:10]. May God grant to His church true contrition for sin. Oh, that we may feel the necessity of revealing true sorrow for wrongdoing.
12MR	403	3	My soul is constantly pained because of the evidence that I have of the superficial conversion of those who claim to be children of God. The question arises in my mind, Do these have any sense of the infinite sacrifice made in their behalf? It was a priceless gift, the sacrifice of One who was the foundation of the Jewish economy. All the offerings that were made pointed to Christ, the one complete offering for the sins of the world.
12MR	404	1	From the desert where single-handed Christ wrestled with the temptation of the enemy, to the cross, Satan was on the Saviour's track. All hell was leagued against Christ. And the people that God had honored by making them the repositories of sacred truth, that they might be lights in the darkness of the world, joined the ranks of the great rebel, and sought to extinguish the light that was to lighten every man that cometh into the world. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not" [John 1:10]. Satan had thrown his hellish shadow across their pathway, to intercept the rainbow of promise. Priests and rulers confederated with him to catch Christ in His words, but they failed. At times the temptations were most painful, but step by step Christ advanced in the path of humiliation and self-sacrifice. All Satan's attempts to inspire Him with his own attributes were unsuccessful.
12MR	404	2	It is a most difficult matter to meet the wily foe, and discern his falsehoods. To do this demands more than the highest intellectual qualities. It is through Christ's sacrifice that man comes into possession of the power to do this. Throw open the door of the hidden chamber of the mind and heart, that your sins may be set in the light of God's countenance. He takes your trembling hand of faith, and lays it on the head of the atoning sacrifice. Thus every sin may be confessed and pardoned. Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with full assurance of faith [see Hebrews 10:19-22].
12MR	404	3	Christ took humanity upon Himself, that as a substitute and surety, He might act in behalf of humanity. He came to earth to bear the test that Adam failed to endure. Satan thought that this was his opportunity. United with the religious nation, the apostate strove to overcome God in Jesus Christ, to banish pure and undefiled religion from the earth. From the desert to the cross, temptation came to Christ like a tempest. As the fierceness of Satan's efforts to wound the Saviour's heel with his poisonous fangs increased, the lower Christ stepped down in the path of humiliation, self-denial, and self-sacrifice. Satan approached Christ as he approached Adam and Eve in Eden, but he failed in his purpose. Said Christ, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me" [John 14:30].
12MR	405	1	The religion of error and superstition bore its fruit--bigotry, cruelty, falsehood, murder. These were exercised on the person of the only-begotten Son of God. The priests tried in every way to entrap Christ, to find in Him something that they could use against Him. But notwithstanding the fact that they hired the ignorant tools of the enemy to bear a testimony which they had put in their mouths, nothing was found in Christ worthy of condemnation. Three times the judge declared, "I find no fault in Him." Yet instead of protecting Christ as an innocent man, and thus earning the reputation of being a just and considerate ruler, Pilate gave Him up into the hands of the mob. The only begotten Son of God was placed on trial, but it was a mock trial from beginning to end. It was shown to the world that the religion of the Jewish teachers was a religion of oppression. It proved unable to reform them. Traditions and rites of no value whatever were exalted above the Word of God. Truth indeed had "fallen in the streets, and equity could not enter."
12MR	406	1	The religious rulers rejected and condemned Him who was the light of the world, the One who shone amid the moral darkness, and who in a moment could have struck off His fetters. Christ was obliged to tell them that by their resistance of righteousness they had served their day, and that the vineyard would be given to other husbandmen. Claiming to have the only true religion of the world, they turned from the truth itself, and crucified One who was the truth, because he bore witness against their evil works. Light shone amid the darkness but the darkness comprehended it not. Injustice and fraud lifted themselves in triumph, and Satan was pleased with the success of his plans.
12MR	406	2	Christ gave the lesson of the blighted fig tree in order to teach an important lesson. For the time He invested the tree with moral qualities, and made it the expositor of truth. Pretentious in appearance, it stood in the orchard flaunting its rich foliage as if fruit in abundance might be found on it. But Christ searched from the topmost bough to the lowest branches, and found nothing but leaves. He pronounced the curse upon it, and the next morning it was found to have withered away under the curse of Him who created it. "Master," said Peter, "behold, the fig tree which Thou cursedst is withered away" [Mark 11:21].
12MR	406	3	By the fig tree Christ represented the Jewish nation. Her doom was to be as sudden and certain as that of the fig tree. The second cleansing of the Temple, the dispersion of those who were buying and selling in the courts, desecrating the place set apart for a holy purpose, connected with the blighting of the fig tree was symbolical of the future punishment of the Jewish nation. It prefigured the righteous anger of God. Standing as the representative men of the nation, the priests were corrupting the people by their false principles. As the fig tree withered, so would they.
12MR	407	1	Christ's lamentation over Jerusalem revealed His heart of love: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" [Matthew 23:37, 38].
12MR	407	2	Behold the Son of God suffering on the cross for three terrible hours of agony, enduring the penalty of the transgression of the law, that repentant, believing ones may have eternal life. In the darkest hour, when Christ was enduring the greatest suffering that Satan could bring to torture His humanity, His Father hid from Him His face of love, comfort, and pity. In this trial His heart broke. He cried, "My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?" [Matthew 26:46].
12MR	407	3	As He hung upon the cross, angels gathered about the divine Sufferer. As they looked upon their loved Commander, and heard His cry, they asked with intense emotion, "Will not the Lord Jehovah save Him? Shall not that soul-piercing cry of God's only begotten Son prevail?" We ask, What if it had? What if the world had been left to perish with its accumulation of guilt, while the Commander of all heaven again took up His kingly crown and royal robe, leaving an ungrateful, unappreciative people to perish in their sins?
12MR	407	4	Not long before this, He said, "Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour" [John 12:27]. What melting, heart-stirring words. "Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." The Father responded to this request. "Then came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again" [verse 28].
12MR	408	1	As the angels beheld the overmastering anguish of the Son of God, the words were spoken, "The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent." Father and Son have clasped their hands, and are mutually pledged to fulfill the terms of the everlasting covenant, to give fallen man another chance.
12MR	408	2	"Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished," cried out with a loud voice, "It is finished." The work that Thou gavest Me is accomplished. Thus He gave His dying testimony to men and angels that the work He came to earth to do was to save a perishing world by His death.
12MR	408	3	When Christ spoke these words, He addressed His Father. Christ was not alone in making this great sacrifice. It was the fulfillment of the covenant made between the Father and the Son before the foundation of the earth was laid. With clasped hands they entered into the solemn pledge that Christ would become the substitute and surety for the human race if they were overcome by Satan's sophistry. The compact was now being fully consummated. The climax was reached. Christ had the consciousness that He had fulfilled to the letter the pledge He had made. In death He was more than conqueror. The redemption price has been paid. His right hand and His glorious holy arm have gotten Him the victory.
12MR	408	4	When He uttered the cry, "It is finished," Christ knew that the battle was won. As a moral conqueror, He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? Not a son, not a daughter of Adam, but could now lay hold on the merits of the spotless Son of God, and say, Christ has died for me. He is my Saviour. The blood that speaketh better things than that of Abel has been shed.
12MR	409	1	The darkness rolled away from the Saviour and from the cross. Christ bowed His head and died. In His incarnation He had reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, but not as a Redeemer. The controversy in regard to the rebellion was answered. The human race has an open door set before them. "These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." [Revelation 3:7].
12MR	409	2	When Christ cried, "It is finished," God's unseen hand rent the strong fabric composing the veil of the Temple from top to bottom. The way into the Holiest of all was made manifest. God bowed His head satisfied. Now His justice and mercy could blend. He could be just, and yet the justifier of all who should believe on Christ. He looked upon the victim expiring on the cross, and said, "It is finished. The human race shall have another trial." The redemption price was paid, and Satan fell like lightning from heaven.
12MR	409	3	Look at the superscription written above the cross. The Lord arranged it. Written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, it is a call for all, Jew and Gentile, barbarian and Scythian, bond and free, hopeless, helpless, and perishing, to come. Christ has made of none effect the power of Satan. He laid hold of the pillars of Satan's kingdom, and passed through the conflict, destroying him that had the power of death. A way was now opened whereby mercy and truth could meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. By His death Christ perfected forever them that are sanctified. This enabled Him to proclaim with a triumphant voice on the cross of Calvary, "It is finished."
12MR	410	1	Christ's heel was to be bruised by Satan. The whole energies of apostasy gathered together in an effort to destroy Him who was the light of the world, the truth which makes men wise unto salvation. But no advantage was gained by this confederacy. They knew not what they were doing. Satan bruised Christ's heel, but Christ bruised Satan's head. He was indeed enduring the contradiction of sinners against Himself. But every pang of suffering that He endured tore away the foundation of the enemy. With every advance move Satan made, he was effecting his own eternal ruin.
12MR	410	2	Satan bruised the heel of the seed of the woman, but he could not touch the head of our Mediator. Through death Christ destroyed him that had the power of death. In the very act of grasping his prey, death was vanquished, for Christ's death brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Never was the Son of God more beloved by His Father, the heavenly family, and by the worlds unfallen than when He humbled Himself to bear disgrace, humiliation, shame, and abuse.
12MR	410	3	When Christ bowed His head and died, He bore the pillars of Satan's kingdom with Him to the earth. He vanquished Satan in our human nature. The nature by which the enemy was overcome is the same nature over which in Eden he obtained an easy victory. He sustained a humiliating defeat. He was overcome by the human nature of Christ. The power of the Saviour's Godhead was hidden. He must overcome in human nature, relying upon God for His power. This is the privilege of all who accept Jesus Christ. In proportion to their faith will be their victory.
12MR	411	1	Christ was crucified. The Prince of Life had been taken by wicked hands and slain. In His spotless purity, the Son of the infinite God had been killed as a disturber of the peace and customs of the people. He was lying in Joseph's new tomb. Christ descended into the grave as our Sin-bearer, opening a grave for the sins of all who will accept Him as their personal Saviour.
12MR	411	2	The night following the crucifixion was the darkest night that the church had ever known. But the redemption price for a fallen world had been paid. The sacrifice for sin had been offered. All heaven was triumphant.
12MR	411	3	The ceremonies of the Passover moved on with the usual routine. But the imposing dress of the high priest covered a heart that needed the molding of the Spirit of God, but that would never receive it. The ostentatious and ceremonious rites of their religion were mingled with selfishness, fraud, discontent, and unholy passions.
12MR	411	4	The rulers had chosen Barabbas, and Barabbas they would have as long as life should last. They cried out against Christ, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." "His blood be on us, and on our children." The blood thus invoked upon themselves would indeed be upon them. The characters they had chosen would ever be their characters. By their life and character they contradicted their grand ceremonies. The words, "His blood be on us, and on our children," would never cease to torture the hearts of the speakers. The blight of God's curse was upon them. Jesus never spurned the true penitent, but He hated hypocrisy cloaked by a garment of religion.
12MR	411	5	All heaven heard the challenge, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him" [Matthew 27:42]. Never in outward appearance could humanity descend lower than this. But Satan saw that his disguise was torn away, that the character he had tried to fasten on Christ was fastened on himself. It was as if he had the second time fallen from heaven. He had acted out his own attributes. After the crucifixion, he saw that he had over reached himself. The charges he had made against Christ were made against God Himself.
12MR	412	1	All heaven saw the cruel work done to Christ. In the dreadful scenes transacted in the judgment hall, God showed to the heavenly universe the spirit that would be manifested by those that are unwilling to yield obedience to His law. God then presented the once-hidden principles of Satan's power. All heaven saw them as they were. The sympathies of the heavenly angels were with Christ, and Satan was uprooted.
12MR	412	2	The principle of rebellion is incurable. Satan revealed his true sentiments through the actions of the priests, who had been blessed with evidence upon evidence, but who would be hardened, not convinced, by more evidence. By the spirit manifested by Christ all through His trial, Satan's power as an accuser of the brethren was proved to be powerful but false. Satan is an accuser, a thief, and a murderer. He instigated men to put to death not only innocent human beings, but the incarnate God. If he could, he would have held Christ locked in the tomb. In his treatment of the Son of God, Satan showed what he would do if he had the nation wholly under his control. He would murder the innocent and save the wicked, represented by Barabbas. Barabbas represents the class that under Satan's dictation do the works of their father the devil.
12MR	413	1	Satan will be judged by his own idea of justice. It was his plea that every sin should meet its punishment. If God remitted the punishment, he said, He was not a God of truth or justice. Satan will meet the judgment which he said God should exercise.
12MR	413	2	The scenes of persecution enacted during Christ's life will be enacted by false religionists till the close of time. Men think that they have a right to take into their charge the consciences of men, and work out their theories of apostasy and transgression. History will be repeated. Christ declared that prior to His second coming the world would be as it was in the days of Noah, when men reached such a pass in following their own sinful imagination that God destroyed them by a flood.
12MR	413	3	Every power that has been exercised since the betrayal of Christ to force the consciences of men, every court that has taken upon itself to decide man's destiny by its measurement of what constitutes religion, has revealed satanic attributes. Men have betrayed and persecuted God's chosen ones. They have taken the life that God alone can give. They have done that which they will wish they had never done, when they are asked, Who gave you this authority? Who required this at your hands? Who authorized you to put God's children to death?
12MR	413	4	A large company beheld the events of this day and the day following. Some regard the publicity of Christ's death only as shame and defeat. But this God had appointed. He was betrayed by Judas, and forsaken and denied by His disciples. He was scorned as a deceiver, and hunted down as one unfit for human sympathy. He was betrayed in the garden of Gethsemane, and He underwent a mock trial in the judgment hall. He was condemned by Pilate. The governor declared, "I find no fault in Him." Yet he condemned to death an innocent Man, a God disguised by humanity.
12MR	414	1	Christ was crowned with thorns. His hands and feet were pierced by nails. Every step onward in the shameful scene was one of intense suffering. But it was God's purpose that publicity should be given to the whole transaction, point after point, scene after scene, one phase of humiliation reaching into another. It was appointed that these events should take place on the occasion of the Passover.
12MR	414	2	He who came from the heavenly courts on an embassage of love, mercy, and truth to save from sin the people that had been made the repositories of sacred truth, and to enlighten the world by the knowledge of God, was crucified. The One to whom the Jewish sacrifices pointed clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might become a teacher of humanity. He revealed Himself as the sent of God, the hope of Israel. He was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. "I find no fault in Him," was the testimony of an irreligious heathen judge. But Satan and his synagogue were leagued against divinity. Christ was rejected and dishonored as far as humanity and satanic agencies combined could do the shameful work. They chose a robber and a heathen king in the place of the Prince of Life. "We have no king but Caesar," they shouted. Thus they withdrew from the divine theocracy, choosing a heathen ruler.
12MR	414	3	He who left the heavenly courts and clothed His divinity with humanity that He might secure the salvation of Israel, and that through them the light might shine to the world, was stigmatized by the highest authorities of the Jewish nation. Heathen rulers confederated with them to put the Redeemer to death. But Christ's word to them is plain and irrevocable, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven" [Matthew 26:64].
12MR	415	1	In His life Christ fulfilled every specification of the law. Did He do this that from henceforth the law might be made void and that sinful beings might be given what Satan claimed to be their privilege--freedom from law? Has the enemy of God obtained in this world what he was refused in heaven? No. Christ declared, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill" [Matthew 5:17]. Righteousness was leagued with truth to make unrighteousness appear.
12MR	415	2	By Christ's becoming man's substitute, the lustre of an abundant vindication is shed on the faithful, obedient child of God. Though entirely innocent, Christ submitted to be punished for man's disobedience. In His own body He offered the antitypical sacrifice, thus paying the penalty and bearing the curse, that no one who believes in Him should perish, but have everlasting life. The rainbow of promise encircles the throne.
12MR	415	3	In stooping to take the habiliments of a man, Christ did not cease to be God. The human did not become divine, nor the divine human. Christ lived the law of God, showing all men and women that through His grace they can do the same. By faith, in His humanity Christ saw what we are permitted to see by faith--the atoning sacrifice connected with the Lord upon the mercy seat. The golden censer is waved, and the incense, the representation of the purity and righteousness of Christ, ascends, bearing the prayers of every soul that receives and believes on Christ to the altar which is before the throne of God. And Jesus is in the midst.
12MR	416	1	Entire justice was done in the atonement. Christ was the object of that justice. In the place of the sinner, the spotless Son of God received the penalty, and the sinner goes free as long as he receives and holds Christ as his personal Saviour. Though guilty, he is looked upon as innocent. The character of God was shown to the world by the obedience and death of the Son of God. By His own merits Christ covered everything that the justice of God demanded. God's character as a God of holiness, a God of goodness, compassion, and love combined, was expressed in His Son. In the cross of Christ God gave the mightiest pledge of justice and love. [Hebrews 9:13, 14, quoted.]
12MR	416	2	When the loud cry, "It is finished," came from the lips of Christ, the priests were officiating in the Temple. The lamb prefiguring Christ--for to Him all the sacrificial offerings pointed--had been brought to be slain. Clothed in his significant and beautiful dress, the priest stood with lifted knife, as did Abraham when he was about to slay his son. With intense interest the people look on. But the earth trembles and quakes, for the Lord Himself draws near. With a rending noise, the veil of the Temple is torn from top to bottom by an unseen hand, throwing open to the gaze of the multitude a place once filled with the presence of God. In this place the Shekinah once dwelt. Here God had once manifested His glory above the mercy seat. No one but the high priest ever lifted the veil separating this apartment from the rest of the tabernacle. He entered in once a year to make an atonement for the sin of the people. But lo, this veil is rent in twain. No longer is there any secrecy there.
12MR	416	3	All is terror and confusion. The priest is about to plunge his knife to the heart of the victim, but the knife drops from his nerveless hand, and the lamb, no longer fettered, escapes. At the moment that the expiring Saviour exclaimed, "It is finished," an unseen hand rent the veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom. Thus God said, "I can no longer reveal My presence in the Most Holy Place." Type had met antitype in the death of God's Son. The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world, is dead. The way into the Holiest of all is laid open. A new and living way, which has no veil between, is offered to all. From henceforth all may walk in this way. No longer need sinful, sorrowing humanity await the coming of the high priest. It was as if a living voice had spoken to the worshipers: There is now an end to all sacrifices and offerings. The Son of God has come according to His word, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do thy will, O My God" [Psalm 40:8]. "Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" [John 1:29].
12MR	417	1	At the setting of the sun on the evening of the preparation, trumpets sounded, signifying that the Sabbath of rest had begun. The next day the courts of the Temple were filled with worshipers. The high priest from Golgotha was there, splendidly robed in his sacerdotal garments. White-turbaned priests, in their officiating dress, full of busy activity, were preparing to perform their duties. But some present were not at rest as they offered the blood of bulls and goats for the sin of Israel. They were not conscious that type had met antitype, that an infinite sacrifice had been offered for the sin of the world.
12MR	417	2	But never had the service been performed with such conflicting feelings. The trumpets and musical instruments and the voices of the singers were as loud and clear as usual, but a sense of strangeness pervaded everything. One after another inquired about the strange event that had taken place. Hitherto the Most Holy Place had always been most sacredly guarded from intrusion. It was left in sacred solitude. Only once a year was it entered, and then by the high priest. But now a curious horror is seen on many countenances, for this apartment was open to all eyes. At the very moment that Christ had expired, the heavy veil of tapestry, made of pure linen, and beautifully wrought with scarlet and purple, had been rent from top to bottom. The place where Jehovah had met with the priest, to communicate His glory, the place that had been God's sacred audience chamber, lay open to every eye--a place no longer recognized by the Lord.
12MR	418	1	Many who at that time united in the services of the Passover never again took part in them. Light was to shine into their hearts. The disciples were to communicate to them the knowledge that the great Teacher had come.
12MR	418	2	According to their practice the people brought their sick and suffering to the Temple courts, inquiring, Who can tell us of Jesus of Nazareth, the healer? Some had come from far to see and hear Him who had healed the sick and raised the dead. With persistent earnestness they asked for Him. They would not be turned away. But they were driven from the Temple courts, and the people of Jerusalem could not fail to see the contrast between this scene and the scenes of Christ's life.
12MR	418	3	On every side was heard the cry, "We want Christ, the Healer." A world without a Christ was blackness and darkness, not only to the disciples and to the sick and suffering, but to the priests and rulers. The Jewish leaders and even the Roman authorities found it harder to deal with a dead Christ than with a living Christ. The people learned that Jesus had been put to death by the priests. Inquiries were made regarding His death. The particulars of His trial were kept as private as possible, but during the time that He was in the grave, His name was on thousands of lips, and reports of His mock trial, and of the inhumanity of the priests and rulers were circulated everywhere.
12MR	419	1	By men of intellect the priests were called upon to explain the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah, and while trying to frame some falsehood in reply, the priests became like men insane. Upon many minds the conviction rested that the Scriptures had been fulfilled. [Luke 23:50-52, quoted.]
12MR	419	2	Joseph was a disciple of Christ, but in the past he had not identified himself with Him for fear of the Jews. He now went boldly to Pilate, and asked [for] the body of Jesus. He was a rich man, and this gave him influence with the governor. Had he delayed, the body of the Saviour would have been placed with the bodies of the thieves in a dishonored grave.
12MR	419	3	Nicodemus, a chief ruler and a rabbi, was also a disciple of Christ. He had come to the Saviour by night, as if afraid to have it known that his heart was troubled. That night he listened to the most important discourse that ever fell from the lips of man. The words he heard had penetrated his soul. He had been enlightened by them, but still he had not identified himself with Christ. He had been among the number spoken of by John: "Among the chief rulers also many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue" [John 12:42]. But Nicodemus had endeavored, as far as he could, to defend Christ. On one occasion he had asked the priests, "Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?" [John 7:51]. "Art thou also of Galilee?" was the retort. "Search, and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet" [verse 52].
12MR	420	1	After the crucifixion Nicodemus came to the cross, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes to embalm Christ's body. He had witnessed the cruel treatment of the priests; he had marked Christ's patience and Godlike bearing, even in His humiliation. He now saw more clearly the real character of the high priest, and he came boldly to take the bruised body of his Saviour, looked upon as the body of a malefactor. Thus he identified himself with Christ in His shame and death.
12MR	420	2	With the death of Christ the hopes of the disciples had perished. Often they repeated the words, "We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel" [Luke 24:21]. Lonely and sick at heart, they remembered Christ's words, "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" [Luke 23:31]. They met together in the upper chamber, and closed and fastened the doors, knowing that the fate of their beloved Teacher might at any time be theirs.
12MR	420	3	[Luke 23:54, 56; Matthew 28:1, 2, quoted.]
12MR	420	4	Mary saw that her Lord was not in the tomb. "Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him" [John 20:2]. While Mary was hastening to the abode of Peter and John, other women came to the tomb from another direction, wondering how they would roll away the stone. But they found the stone rolled away, and, entering the sepulcher, they saw that the body of their Lord was not there.
12MR	421	1	"And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven." Clothed with the panoply of heaven, this angel left the heavenly courts. The bright beams of God's glory went before him and illuminated his pathway. "His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men" [Matthew 28:3, 4]. Now, priests and rulers, where is the power of your guard?
12MR	421	2	[Proverbs 1:24-31; Psalm 2:4-12, quoted.]
12MR	421	3	How impotent on this occasion was the power of the kings and rulers. They could not act their will on Him who was slain for the sins of the world. Had it been possible, the prince of darkness with his apostate army would have kept forever sealed the tomb that held the Son of God. But a heavenly host guarded the sepulcher. With majestic and terrible tread, the God of heaven, followed by the angels, walked round the tomb of Christ. They had been unseen witnesses of all that had taken place in the mock trial in the judgment hall. Every action was noted, every taunt recorded.
12MR	421	4	The hour of Christ's triumph has come. The Lord has broken His bonds in sunder. Christ came forth from the tomb proclaiming, "I am the resurrection, and the life." The Saviour's words to His disciples were fulfilled. [John 16:19, 20, 22, quoted.]