(Testimonies for the Church Volume 1 95-6, 117, 122-3, 229, 251, 714)
The train had run about three miles from Jackson when its motion became very violent, jerking backward and forward, and finally stopping. I opened the window, and saw one car raised nearly upon end. I heard agonizing groans, and there was great confusion. The engine had been thrown from the track; but the car we were in was on the track, and was separated about one hundred feet from those before it. The baggage car was not much damaged, and our large trunk of books was uninjured. The second-class car was crushed, and the pieces, with the passengers, were thrown on both sides of the track. The car in which we tried to get a seat was much broken, and one end was raised upon the heap of ruins. The coupling did not break, but the car we were in was unfastened from the one before it, as if an angel had separated them. Four were killed or mortally wounded, and many were much injured. We could but feel that God had sent an angel to preserve our lives.
(1T 95.1)
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We returned to Jackson, and the next day took the train for Wisconsin. Our visit to that state was blessed of God. Souls were converted as the result of our efforts. The Lord strengthened me to endure the tedious journey.
(1T 95.2)
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August 29, 1854, another responsibility was added to our family in the birth of Willie. About this time the first number of the paper falsely called The Messenger of Truth was received. Those who slandered us through that paper had been reproved for their faults and errors. They would not bear reproof, and in a secret manner at first, afterward more openly, used their influence against us. This we could have borne, but some of those who should have stood by us were influenced by these wicked persons. Some whom we had trusted, and who had acknowledged that our labors had been signally blessed of God, withdrew their sympathy from us, and bestowed it upon comparative strangers.
(1T 95.3)
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The Lord had shown me the character and final come-out of that party; that His frown was upon those connected with that paper, and His hand was against them. And although they might appear to prosper for a time, and some honest ones be deceived, yet truth would eventually triumph, and every honest soul would break away from the deception which had held him, and come out clear from the influence of those wicked men; as God’s hand was against them, they must go down.
(1T 96.1)
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Again my husband’s health became very poor. He was troubled with cough and soreness of lungs, and his nervous system was prostrated. His anxiety of mind, the burdens which he bore in Rochester, his labor in the office, sickness and deaths in the family, the lack of sympathy from those who should have shared his labors, together with his traveling and preaching, were too much for his strength, and he seemed to be fast going down to a consumptive’s grave. That was a time of gloom and darkness. A few rays of light occasionally parted the heavy clouds, giving us a little hope, or we should have sunk in despair. It seemed at times that God had forsaken us.
(1T 96.2)
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The Messenger party framed all manner of falsehoods concerning us. These words of the psalmist were often brought forcibly to my mind: “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.”Psalm 37:1, 2. Some of the writers of that sheet even triumphed over the feebleness of my husband, saying that God would take care of him, and remove him out of the way. When he read this as he lay sick, faith revived, and he exclaimed: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord, and may yet preach at their funeral.”Psalm 118:17.
(1T 96.3)
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I was pointed back to the rise of the advent doctrine, and even before that time, and saw that there had not been a parallel to the deception, misrepresentation, and falsehood that has been practiced by the Messenger party, or such an association of corrupt hearts under a cloak of religion. Some honest hearts have been influenced by them, concluding that they must have at least some cause for their statements, thinking them incapable of uttering so glaring falsehoods. I saw that such will have evidence of the truth of these matters. The church of God should move straight along, as though there were not such a people in the world.
(1T 117.1)
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I saw that decided efforts should be made to show those who are unchristian in life their wrongs, and if they do not reform, they should be separated from the precious and holy, that God may have a clean and pure people that He can delight in. Dishonor Him not by linking or uniting the clean with the unclean.
(1T 117.2)
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When at Oswego, New York, June, 1855, I was shown that God’s people have been weighed down with clogs; that there have been Achans in the camp. The work of God has progressed but little, and many of His servants have been discouraged because the truth has taken no more effect in New York, and there have been no more added to the church. The Messenger party has arisen, and we shall suffer some from their lying tongues and misrepresentations, yet we should bear it all patiently; for they will not injure the cause of God, now they have left us, as much as they would have injured it by their influence had they remained with us.
(1T 122.1)
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God’s frown has been brought upon the church on account of individuals with corrupt hearts being in it. They have wanted to be foremost, when neither God nor their brethren placed them there. Selfishness and exaltation have marked their course. A place is now open for all such where they can go and find pasture with those of their kind. And we should praise God that in mercy He has rid the church of them. God has given many of these persons up to their own ways to be filled with their own doings. An excitement and sympathy now leads them, which will deceive some; but every honest one will be enlightened as to the true state of this company, and will remain with God’s peculiar people, hold fast the truth, and follow in the humble path, unaffected by the influence of those who have been given up of God to their own ways, to be filled with their own doings. I saw that God had given these persons opportunity to reform, He had enlightened them as to their love for self and their other sins; but they would not heed it. They would not be reformed, and He mercifully relieved the church of them. The truth will take effect if the servants of God and the church will devote themselves to Him and His cause.
(1T 122.2)
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I saw that the people of God must arouse and put on the armor. Christ is coming, and the great work of the last message of mercy is of too much importance for us to leave it and come down to answer such falsehoods, misrepresentations, and slanders as the Messenger party have fed upon and have scattered abroad. Truth, present truth, we must dwell upon it. We are doing a great work, and cannot come down. Satan is in all this, to divert our minds from the present truth and the coming of Christ. Said the angel: “Jesus knows it all.” In a little from this their day is coming. All will be judged according to the deeds done in the body. The lying tongue will be stopped. The sinners in Zion will be afraid, and fearfulness will surprise the hypocrites.
(1T 123.1)
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I saw that we should not put off the coming of the Lord. Said the angel: “Prepare, prepare, for what is coming upon the earth. Let your works correspond with your faith.” I saw that the mind must be stayed upon God, and that our influence should tell for God and His truth. We cannot honor the Lord when we are careless and indifferent. We cannot glorify Him when we are desponding. We must be in earnest to secure our own soul’s salvation, and to save others. All importance should be attached to this, and everything besides should come in secondary.
(1T 123.2)
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I saw the beauty of heaven. I heard the angels sing their rapturous songs, ascribing praise, honor, and glory to Jesus. I could then realize something of the wondrous love of the Son of God. He left all the glory, all the honor which He had in heaven, and was so interested for our salvation that He patiently and meekly bore every indignity and slight which man could heap upon Him. He was wounded, smitten, and bruised; He was stretched on Calvary’s cross and suffered the most agonizing death to save us from death, that we might be washed in His blood and be raised up to live with Him in the mansions He is preparing for us, to enjoy the light and glory of heaven, to hear the angels sing, and to sing with them.
(1T 123.3)
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I was shown that this device of Satan would not have taken so readily in Wisconsin if the minds and hearts of God’s people had been united and in union with the work. The spirit of jealousy and suspicion still existed in the minds of some. The seed sown by the Messenger party had not been entirely rooted out. And while they professed to receive the third angel’s message, their former feelings and prejudices had not been given up. Their faith was adulterated, and they were prepared for Satan’s deception. Those who drank in the Messenger spirit must make clean work, and have every particle of it rooted out, and receive the spirit of the third angel’s message, or it will cleave to them like the leprosy, making it easy for them to draw off from their brethren in present truth. It will be easy for them to think that they can go, an independent company, alone to heaven, and easy for them to fall into Satan’s snare. He is very unwilling to let go his hold in Wisconsin. He has other deceptions prepared for those who are not united with the body.
(1T 229.1)
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I saw that persons who had been so enshrouded in darkness and deception that Satan had controlled not only the mind but the body, would have to take a most humble place in the church of God. He will not commit the care of His flock to unwise shepherds, who would mistake and feed them poison instead of wholesome food. God will have men care for the flock who can feed them with clean provender, thoroughly winnowed. Oh, what a blot, what a reproach, have these fanatical movements brought upon the cause of God! And those who held so fast to this spirit of dark fanaticism, notwithstanding the plain evidences that it was from Satan, are not to be relied upon; their judgment is not to be considered of any weight. God sent His servants to Brother and Sister G. They despised correction, and chose their own course. Brother G was jealous and stubborn, and his future course must be marked with great humility; for he has proved himself unworthy of the confidence of God’s people. His heart is not right with God, neither has it been for a long time.
(1T 229.2)
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Their influence East has been decidedly against the spirit of the truth and those who have devoted their lives to labor for its advancement. There is a class East who profess to believe the truth, but who cherish secret feelings of dissatisfaction against those who bear the burden in this work. The true sentiments of such do not appear until some influence opposed to the work of God arises, and then they manifest their true character. Such readily receive, cherish, and circulate reports which have no foundation in truth, to destroy the influence of those who are engaged in this work. All who wish to draw off from the body will have opportunity. Something will arise to test everyone. The great sifting time is just before us. The jealous and the faultfinding, who are watching for evil, will be shaken out. They hate reproof and despise correction. Those who love the spirit of the third angel’s message can have no union with the spirit of R and his wife.
(1T 251.1)
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The question is often asked by those who fall under the influence of my enemies: “Is Sister White getting proud? I have heard that she wore a bonnet filled with bows and ribbons.”
(1T 251.2)
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I hope I am not getting proud. My manner of dress is the same as it has been for several years. I am opposed to hoops and to wearing unnecessary bows and ribbons. I have worn one velvet bonnet two years without change of strings except to cleanse them with soap and water. I put the same velvet upon a new frame and am wearing it again this winter. I believe Sabbathkeepers should dress plainly and study economy in dress. Those who wish to talk will talk though we give them no occasion. I do not expect to suit every taste in regard to dress, but I believe it to be my duty to wear durable clothing, to dress neatly and orderly, and suit my own taste if it does not disagree with the word of God.
(1T 251.3)
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Pages 116, 117, 122, 123, “The Messenger Party”—In the summer of 1854 there appeared among the Sabbathkeeping Adventists the first disaffection, or apostasy. Two men who had been preaching the message were reproved through the spirit of prophecy for a harsh, censorious spirit, for avarice, and for extravagance in the use of means placed in their hands. Becoming embittered instead of repentant, they joined with a few others in unjust recrimination against Elder and Mrs. White and other leaders, making false charges against them. Although continuing to advocate the Sabbath truth, they began the publication of a slanderous sheet which they called the Messenger of Truth.
(1T 714.1)
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They were joined by elders Stephenson and Hall of Wisconsin. These men had been first-day Adventist preachers, who professed to accept the truths of the third angel’s message, but who continued to hold doctrines regarding the Age-to-Come. According to this theory there was to be, during the millennium, a “second chance” for salvation. They agreed, however, to preach the message, without advocating this question, if the Review would not publish articles against it. However, as indicated in the text, they did not keep their promise and were soon opposing the Review and its supporters.
(1T 714.2)
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The course of these “opposers of the truth” was soon run. Both Stephenson and Hall lost their reason. The Messenger of Truth ceased publication in 1857, and early in 1858 Elder White reported regarding the party: “Not one of the eighteen messengers of which they once boasted as being with them is now bearing a public testimony, and not one place of regular meeting of our knowledge among them.”—The Review and Herald, January 14, 1858.
(1T 714.3)
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Page 190, Systematic Benevolence—In the early days of the message, men impelled by the urge of conviction went forth to preach the new-found truths. They were dependent for their support upon their own labors or the freewill offerings of the believers. Such an uncertain method was more or less spasmodic and fluctuating. Early in 1859 the need for a more certain plan was felt, and earnest study was given to the matter. There grew out of this study the plan called Systematic Benevolence. In harmony with 1 Corinthians 16:2 giving regularly on the first day of the week was recommended, and, as suggested by 2 Corinthians 8:12-14, an equitable distribution of financial responsibility. The plan called for brethren to lay by in store weekly from five to twenty-five cents; the sisters, from two to ten cents; and for property owners to give weekly from one to five cents on each hundred dollars worth of assets.
(1T 714.4)
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The plan was generally received with favor, and here received the endorsement of the spirit of prophecy. The greatest sin in the church was pointed out to be covetousness. (Page 194.) Systematic Benevolence was not presented as a perfected plan, for it was also stated that “God is leading his people” in the matter, and “is bringing” them up. (Page 191.) As plans for support of the work and the ministry broadened, the spirit of liberality was encouraged more and more until at length light from the Scriptures revealed the system of tithes and offerings as they are known in the church today.
(1T 714.5)
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