The
Present Truth August 1849
“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him;
and he will shew them his covenant”—Ps. 25:14
The Present Truth
E.G. White
August 1, 1849
Dear Brethren and
Sisters
The Lord has shown me
that it is my duty to relate to you, what he has revealed to me relating to the
present truth, our present tried, scattered and tempted state, and our duty in
view of the coming judgments of God. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 1}
Sabbath, March 24th,
1849, we had a sweet, and very interesting meeting
with the Brethren at Topsham, Me. The Holy Ghost was poured out upon us, and I
was taken off in the Spirit to the City of the living God. There I was shown
that the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, relating to the
shut door, could not be separated, and that the time for the commandments of
God to shine out, with all their importance, and for God’s people to be tried
on the Sabbath truth, was when the door was opened in the Most Holy Place of the
Heavenly Sanctuary, where the Ark is, containing the ten commandments. This
door was not opened, until the mediation of Jesus was finished in the Holy
Place of the Sanctuary in 1844. Then, Jesus rose up, and shut the door in the
Holy Place, and opened the door in the Most Holy, and passed within the second vail, where he now stands by the Ark; and where the faith
of Israel now reaches. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 2}
I saw that Jesus had
shut the door in the Holy Place, and no man can open it; and that he had opened
the door in the Most Holy, and no man can shut it (See Revelation 3:7, 8.): and
that since Jesus has opened the door in the Most Holy
Place, which contains the Ark, the commandments have
been shining out to God’s people, and
they are being tested on the Sabbath question.
{RH August 1, 1849, par. 3}
I saw that the present
test on the Sabbath could not come, until the mediation of Jesus in the Holy
Place was finished; and he had passed within the second vail;
therefore, Christians, who fell asleep before the door was
opened in the Most Holy, when the midnight cry was finished, at the seventh
month 1844; and had not kept the true Sabbath, now rest in hope; for they had
not the light, and the test on the Sabbath, which we now have, since that door
was opened. I saw that Satan was tempting some of God’s people on this
point. Because so many good Christians have fallen asleep in the triumphs of
faith, and have not kept the true Sabbath, they were doubting
about it being a test for us now. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 4}
I saw that the enemies
of the present truth have been trying to open the door of the Holy Place, that
Jesus has shut; and to close the door of the Most Holy Place, which he opened
in 1844, where the Ark is containing the two tables of stone, on which are
written the ten commandments, by the finger of Jehovah. {RH August 1, 1849,
par. 5}
Satan is now using
every device in this sealing time, to keep the minds of God’s people from the present,
sealing truth; and to cause them to waver. I saw a covering that
God was drawing over his people, to
protect them in the time of trouble; and every soul that was decided on the
truth, and was pure in heart, was to be covered with the covering of Almighty
God. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 6}
Satan knew this, and
was at work in mighty power, to keep the minds of as many as he possibly could unsettled, and wavering on the truth. I saw that the
mysterious knocking in N.Y. and other places, was the power of Satan; and that
such things would be more and more common, clothed in a religious garb, to lull
the deceived to more security; and to draw the minds of God’s people, if
possible, to those things and cause them to doubt the teachings, and power of the
Holy Ghost. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 7}
I saw that Satan was
working through agents, in a number of ways. He was at work through ministers,
who have rejected the truth, and are given over to strong delusions to believe
a lie that they might be damned. While they were preaching, or praying some
would fall prostrate and helpless; not by the power of the
Holy Ghost, no, no; but by the power of Satan breathed upon these agents and
through them to the people. Some professed Adventists who had rejected the
present truth, while preaching praying or in conversation used Mesmerism to
gain adherents, and the people would rejoice in this influence, for they
thought it was the Holy Ghost. And even some that used it,
were so far in the darkness and deception of the Devil, that they thought it
was the power of God, given them to exercise. They had made God altogether such
an one as themselves; and had valued his power as a
thing of naught. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 8}
Some of these agents
of Satan were affecting the bodies of some of the saints; those that they could
not deceive and draw away from the truth by a satanic influence. Oh! that all
could get a view of it as God revealed it to me, that they might know more of the
wiles of Satan, and be on their guard. I saw that Satan was
at work in these ways to distract, deceive, and draw away God’s people, just
now in this sealing time. I saw some who were not standing stiffly for present
truth. Their knees were trembling, and their feet were sliding; because they
were not firmly planted on the truth, and the covering of Almighty God could
not be drawn over them while they were thus trembling. {RH August 1, 1849, par.
9}
Satan was trying his
every art to hold them where they were, until the sealing was past, and the
covering drawn over God’s people, and they left out,
without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, in the seven last plagues. {RH
August 1, 1849, par. 10}
God has begun to draw
this covering over his people, and it will very soon be drawn over all who are to
have a shelter in the day of slaughter. God will work in
power for his people; and Satan will be permitted to work also. {RH August 1,
1849, par. 11}
I saw that the
mysterious signs and wonders, and false reformations would increase, and
spread. The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to
worse; for those who professed a change of heart, had only wrapt about
them a religious garb, which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart. Some
appeared to have been really converted, so as to deceive God’s people; but if
their hearts could be seen, they would appear as black as ever. {RH August 1,
1849, par. 12}
My accompanying angel
bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be. I looked, but
could not see it; for the time for their salvation is past.
{RH August 1, 1849, par. 13}
Note by Ron: The Lord
has shown me in the above statement Ellen White [in context] was referring to
those who rejected the 1844 message of the closed door to the Holy Place and
the open door to Most Holy. She says elsewhere that all who heard the Midnight
Cry which gave power to the second angel’s message in 1844, but then, or later
rejected that message, received a shut door. God has shown me that rejection of
truth is unpardonable sin because there is no more appeal available to one who
has rejected truth; but that backsliding for a time is not necessarily
rejecting truth. Notice the following statements by Ellen White:
Shut Door
"I saw that in '44 God
had opened a door and no man could shut it, and shut a door and no man could
open it. Those who rejected the light which was brought to the world by the
message of the second angel went into darkness, and how great was that
darkness." {1BIO 259.3}
"I was shown in
vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844. All who saw
the light of the first and second angels' messages and rejected that light were
left in darkness. And those who accepted it and received the Holy Spirit which
attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their experience a delusion,
thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer pleaded with them."
{1BIO 260.8} End note.
At the commencement of
the Holy Sabbath, (January 5,) we engaged in prayer with Bro. Belden’s family
at Rocky Hill, Ct., and the Holy Ghost fell upon us. I was taken off in vision to
the Most Holy Place, where I saw Jesus still interceding for Israel. On the
bottom of his garment was a bell and a pomegranate, a
bell and a pomegranate. Then I saw that Jesus would not leave the Most
Holy Place, until every case was decided either for salvation or destruction:
and that the wrath of God could not come until Jesus had finished his work in the
Most Holy Place—laid off his priestly attire and
clothed himself with the garments of vengeance. Then Jesus
will step out from between the Father and man, and God will keep silent no
longer; but pour out his wrath on those who have rejected his truth. I saw that
the anger of the nations, the wrath of God, and the time to judge the dead,
were separate events, one following the other. I saw that Michael had not stood up,
and that the time of trouble, such as never was, had not yet commenced.
The nations are now getting angry, but when our High Priest has
finished his work in the Sanctuary, he will stand up, put on the garments of
vengeance, and then the seven last plagues will be poured out. I saw that the
four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the
Sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues. These plagues enraged the
wicked against the righteous, and they thought that we had brought them down
upon them, and if they could rid the earth of us, then the plagues would be stayed.
A decree went forth to slay the saints,
which caused them to cry day and night for deliverance. This was the time of Jacob’s trouble. Then all the saints
cried out with anguish of spirit, and were delivered by the Voice of God. Then the 144,000 triumphed.
Their faces were lighted up with the glory of God. Then I was shown a company
who were howling in agony. On their garments was written in large characters,
“thou art weighed in the balance, and found wanting.” I asked who this company
were. The angel said, “these are they who
have once kept the Sabbath and have given it up.” I heard them
cry with a loud voice—“we have believed in thy coming, and taught it with
energy.” And while they were speaking, their eyes would fall upon their
garments and see the writing, and then they would wail aloud. I
saw they had drunk of the deep waters, and fouled the residue with their
feet—trodden the Sabbath underfoot, and that is why they were weighed in the
balance and found wanting. Then my attending angel
directed me to the City again, where I saw four angels winging their way to the
gate of the City, and were just presenting the golden card to the angel
at the gate. Then I saw another angel swiftly flying from the direction of the
most excellent glory, and crying with a loud voice to the other angels, and
waving something up and down in his hand. I asked my attending angel for an
explanation of what I saw. He told me that I could see no more then, but he
would shortly show me what those things that I then saw meant. {RH August 1,
1849, par. 14}
Sabbath afternoon one
of our number was sick, and requested prayers that he
might be healed. We all united in applying to the Physician who never lost a
case, and while healing
power came down, and the sick was healed, the
Spirit fell upon me, and I was taken off in vision. I saw four angels who had a
work to do on the earth, and were on their way to
accomplish it. Jesus was clothed with Priestly garments. He
gazed in pity on the remnant, then raised his hands upward, and with a voice of
deep pity cried—“My Blood, Father, My Blood, My Blood, My Blood”. Then
I saw an exceeding bright light come from God, who sat upon the great white
throne, and was shed all about Jesus. Then I saw an angel with a commission
from Jesus, swiftly flying to the four angels who had a work to do on the
earth, and waving something up and down in his hand, and crying with a loud
voice—“Hold! Hold! Hold! Hold! until
the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.” I
asked my accompanying angel the meaning of what I heard, and what the four
angels were about to do. He shewed me that it was God that
restrained the powers, and that he gave his angels charge over things
on the earth, and that the four angels had power from God to hold the four
winds, and that they were about to let the four winds go, and while they had
started on their mission to let them go, the merciful eye of Jesus gazed on the
remnant that were not all sealed, then he raised his hands to the Father and
plead with him that he had spilled his blood for them.—Then
another angel was commissioned to fly swiftly to the four angels, and bid them
hold until the servants of God were sealed with the seal of the living God in
their foreheads. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 15}
I have seen the tender
love that God has for his people, and that it is very great. I
saw an angel over every saint, with their wings spread about them: and if the
saints wept through discouragement, or were in danger, the angel that ever attended them would fly quickly upward to carry
the tidings, and the angels in the City would cease to sing.
Then Jesus would commission another angel to descend to
encourage, watch over and try to keep them from going out of the narrow path:
but, if they did not take heed to the watchful care of these angels, and would
not be comforted by them, and continued to go astray, the angels would look sad
and weep. Then they would bear the tidings upward, and
all the angels in the City would weep, and then with a loud voice say, Amen. But if the saints fixed their eyes on the
prize before them, and glorified God by praising him, then the angels would
bear the glad tidings to the City, and the angels in the city would touch their
golden harps and sing with a loud voice—Alleluia! and the
heavenly arches would ring with lovely songs. I will here state, that there is
perfect order and harmony in the holy City. {RH August 1,
1849, par. 16}
All the angels that
are commissioned to visit the earth, hold a golden
card which they present to the angels at the gates of the City, as they pass in
and out. Heaven is a good place. I long to be there, and behold my lovely
Jesus, who gave his life for me, and be changed into
his glorious image. Oh! for language to
express the glory of the bright world to come. I thirst for the living streams
that make glad the City of our God. {RH August 1, 1849,
par. 17}
The Lord has given me
a view of other worlds. Wings were given me, and an angel attended me
from the City to a place that was bright and glorious. The grass of the place
was living green, and the birds there warbled a sweet song. The
inhabitants of the place were of all sizes, they were noble, majestic and
lovely. They bore the express image of
Jesus, and their countenances beamed with holy joy, expressive of the freedom
and happiness of the place. I asked one of them why they were so much
more lovely than those on the earth. The reply was—“we
have lived in strict obedience to the commandments of God and
have not fallen by disobedience, like those on the earth. There
I saw two trees, one looked much like the
tree of life in the City. The fruit of both
looked beautiful; but of one they could
not eat. They had power to eat of both, but were forbidden to eat of
one. Then my attending angel said to me—“none in this place have tasted of the
forbidden tree; but if they should eat they would fall.” Then
I was taken to a world which had seven moons. Then I saw good old Enoch, who
had been translated. On his right arm he bore a glorious palm, and
on each leaf was written Victory. Around his head was a dazzling white wreath,
and leaves on the wreath, and in the middle of each leaf was written Purity;
and around the leaf were stones of various colors, that shone brighter than the
stars, and cast a reflection upon the letters, and magnified them. On the back
part of his head was a bow that confined the wreath, and upon the bow was
written Holiness. Above the wreath was a lovely crown that shone brighter than the
sun. I asked him if this was the place he was taken to from the earth. He said
“it is not; but the City is my home, and I have come to visit this place.” He
moved about the place as if perfectly at home. I begged of my attending angel to
let me remain in that place. I could not bear the thought of coming back to this
dark world again. Then the angel said—“you must go back, and
if you are faithful, you, with the 144,000
shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds and viewing the handy work
of God.” {RH August 1, 1849, par. 18}
December 16, 1848, the
Lord gave me a view of the shaking of the powers of the heavens. I saw that
when the Lord said “heaven” (in giving the signs recorded by Matthew, Mark and
Luke,) he meant heaven, and when he said “earth” he meant earth. The
powers of heaven, are the Sun, Moon and Stars: they
rule in the heavens. The powers of earth are those who bear rule
on the earth. The powers of heaven will be shaken at the voice of God. Then
the Sun, Moon, and Stars will be moved out of their places. They will not pass
away, but be shaken by the voice of God. {RH August 1, 1849,
par. 19}
Dark, heavy clouds
came up, and clashed against each other. The atmosphere parted and rolled back,
then we could look up through the open space in Orion,
from whence came the voice of God. The Holy City will come down through that
open space. I saw that the powers of earth are now being shaken, and that
events come in order. War, and rumors of
war,—sword, famine and pestilence, are first to shake
the powers of earth, then the voice of God will shake the Sun, Moon and Stars,
and this earth also. I saw that the shaking of the powers in Europe is not (as
some teach) the shaking of the powers of heaven, but it is the shaking of the
angry nations. {RH August 1, 1849, par. 20}
E. G. White