Ellen
White General Conference Article 1891
Chapter 114—Article Read at Gen. Conf. of 1891
March 12, 1899
MS-30-1890
—Article read in the Auditorium of the Battle Creek Tabernacle to a large
assembly, at the General Conference of 1891.—
God's servants are to impress upon all the importance of finding
out for themselves what is truth, watching and praying
for a clear understanding of the word. Tell them to go to the Master again and
again. Had the common people of the Jewish nation been allowed to
receive his message, his precious lessons of instruction, had they known he was
the Prince of life, they would not have rejected Jesus, the light of the world,
their King and their Redeemer. But the priests and rulers led them astray.
Let those whom God has imbued with reason search the Scriptures for themselves, obtaining an experience and knowledge for
themselves. Let them search with humble and subdued hearts, seeking earnestly
for the precious ore. There is altogether
too much at stake for men to accept the opinions of their fellow-men, failing
to make diligent search for themselves, as did the noble Bereans.
Walk in the light while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. There
is no safety in standing as criticizers, closing the door of the heart to the
light which the Lord has in loving-kindness qualified his servants to speak. It
is a serious matter to stand as did Korah, Dathan and Abiram, to become so
self-deceived as to call darkness light and light darkness, to regard the
truths of the third angel's message as error, and to accept error as
truth. God, who gave his only begotten Son to save soul from ruin by dying in
the place of the transgressor, demands his followers to do a different work in
this time of peril, than to counter work the manifestations of his spirit in
those who are seeking to do his will. The only security against failure is the
fulfillment of the high duty of representing Christ. This is our only security
against doing infinite harm to souls. Absolute consecration,
the entire surrender of the entire being to the work of the spirit of God,—this
only is acceptable to God. A piety so thorough will make itself felt. God
requires all who profess to be his followers to be on their guard. We are a
spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are to
receive light from the source of all light, and let it shine upon others, lest
it go out.
There are men of experience and ability among us, who should find their place
in the work as the Lord shall permit. Make room for these men brethren, give
them a place. Michigan and many other states are almost destitute of laborers;
for but little encouragement has been given to men who if encouraged would do a
good work. Give them your confidence. All are but human, and if imperfections
are seen in your laborers, do not lead them, by your words and actions to lose
all confidence in themselves, to think that they can
do nothing. Lay hold of every jot of ability that God places within your
reach. Cultivate the talents entrusted to human beings. Do not turn away from
those who err in judgment. Remember that you have faults which you do
not see. Seek to correct their mistakes. Encourage them to overcome, as
you would desire to be encouraged were you in their place. Pray for them and
with them.
There is a great work to be done. We need all the talent that
Bro. Smith has gained in his experience. God calls upon him to come into the
mount, that he may hear his voice and behold his glory, that he may reflect
this glory upon those with whom he is associated. He needs to work with an eye
single to the glory of God. He needs to drink deep of the spirit and power of
present truth. He has a logical mind, and he can see through the cheap, feeble
propositions that are too often made and seconded as right.
Eld.
Littlejohn is needed. His talent of intellect is of value, and his brethren can
help him by showing that they appreciate his ability. It requires much labor
and taxing thought to put to the tax the highest mental and moral abilities
with which nature, study, and the word of God have endowed him. His success
will be proportionate to his devotion and consecration rather than to his
natural and acquired ability. Eld. Littlejohn should have a place in your counsels. The Lord
has given him talents to use to his glory. If sanctified, his clear, strong
judgment will be a great help in your deliberations. If he will connect with
God, God can use him. But you will have to prepare his way if he works to
advantage. If you show that you place little value on his time and labor, you
cut him away from the work and discourage him from engaging in active service.
This will be a loss to him and to the cause of God. Always remember that Eld. Littlejohn has been deprived of his natural sight.
Brethren, do your duty by encouraging him to bring his ability into the work.
A lack of faith has been shown by practicing a too rigid economy. Economy is
praiseworthy, but there is danger of carrying it too far. You have gone to
extremes in practicing economy. In dealing with Eld. Littlejohn sharp words have been uttered over
the price given him for his labor. Those who have placed stumbling blocks in
his way, who have thought that he was demanding too much, have revealed the
spirit controlling them. Men who have an abundance of means, and who are
blessed with all their senses, have manifested a parsimonious spirit which is
an offence to God. As they cultivate this selfishness they are causing dark
chapters to be written in the books of heaven. They do not deal justly; they do
not bring mercy and the love of God into their religious experience. They are
weighed today in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting. They would
turn even a blind man from his rights.
Brethren, you may be quick to see things in Eld. Littlejohn that do not please you. You say he is sharp in
money matters. Is he dishonest? He has erred in some things, and been reproved,
but those who pronounce judgment against him have made and continue to make
mistakes in their religious experience. Those who have criticised so freely
must remember that Eld. Littlejohn is a blind man. If
you read the Old Testament scriptures you will see that the Lord has a special
care for the blind. He has a love exceeding the love of a
mother for her afflicted children, and he has given special directions in
regard to how they should be treated. Those who for several years in the past
have made no difference between those who are blind and those who can see, have not obeyed the voice of the Lord. They have
followed their own impulses, irrespective of our infirmities of the men who
could be a help and blessing to the work, if they would make a place for them.
Those who treat their afflicted brethren coldly pursue a course condemned by
God.
The Lord has men prepared for the times. One does his part, carrying the people
with him in reforms. The Lord raises up another who
answers the call to duty saying, "Here am I, send me." The Lord tests
and proves him, to see if he will deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with
God. But when a man begins to regard his judgment as infallible, God can no
longer use him as a representative of what a man who occupies a responsible
position should be. The instruction God gives is that his people are ever to
press forward and upward. Many cease to advance any further than their teachers
carry them. This difficulty has existed in every age of the Christian world. God
servants find their greatest success among a class who are not wedded to their
previous teacher, who ask, Is this the way of the
Lord?
Thus the work goes on. God has his men of opportunity, who are ready to do his
bidding, who give fresh impetus to the work by bringing in food for needy
souls, who wait and pray and watch and work. Be
sure men are not chosen to act on your councils who have withstood the Spirit
of God and have opposed truth and righteousness.
In the fear and love of God I tell those before whom I stand
today that there is increased light for us, and that great blessings come with
the reception of this light. And when I see my
brethren stirred with anger against God's messages and messengers, I think of
similar scenes in the life of Christ and the reformers.
The reception given to God's servants in past ages is the same
as the reception that those today receive through whom God is sending precious
rays of light. The leaders of the people today pursue the same course of action
that the Jews pursued. They criticize
and ply question after question, and refuse to admit evidence, treating the
light sent them in the very same way that the Jews treated the light Christ
brought them.
In Christ's work there can be no neutrality, no middle ground He declared,
"He that is not with me, is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Jesus saw and read like an open
book the motives which actuated those before him, whose consciences pronounced
them guilty. The great controversy was waxing strong. Christ was not warring
against finite men, but against principalities and powers, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. He tells his hearers that all manner of sin
and blasphemy may be forgiven if done in ignorance. In their great blindness
they might speak words of insult and derision against the Son of man, and yet
be within the boundary of mercy. But when the power and Spirit of God rested
upon his messengers they were on holy ground. To ignore the Spirit of God, to charge it with being the Spirit of the
devil, placed them in a position where God had no power to reach their souls.
No power in any of God's provisions to correct the erring can reach them.
Some in Battle Creek will surely reach this point if they do not change their
course. They will place themselves where none of God's ordained means will be
able to set them right. Their will is not God's will,
their persistency is not the perseverance of the saints. To
speak against Christ, charging his work to Satanic agencies, and attributing
the manifestations of the Spirit to fanaticism, is not of itself a damning sin,
but the spirit that leads men to make these assertions places them in a
position of stubborn resistance, where they cannot see spiritual light.
Some will never retrace their steps, they will never humble their hearts by
acknowledging their wrongs, but like the Jews will continually make assertions
that mislead others. They refuse to investigate evidence candidly
and frankly, but like Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram, set themselves against the light.
The evil heart of unbelief will make falsehood appear as truth and truth as
falsehood, and will adhere to this position, whatever evidence may be produced.
The terrible accusation against Christ, if perseveringly persisted in, places
the guilty ones in a position where rays of light from heaven cannot reach
them. They will continue to walk in the light of the sparks of their own
kindling, until they will blaspheme the most sacred influences that ever came
from heaven. They enter upon a path that leads to the darkness of midnight.
They think they are following sound reason, but they are following
another leader. They have placed themselves under the control of a power
which in their blindness they are wholly ignorant of. They have resisted the
only Spirit that could lead them, enlighten them, save them. They are following
in the path of guilt for which there can be no forgiveness, in this life or in
the life to come. Not that any degree of guilt would exhaust the
mercy of God, but because pride and persistent stubbornness leads them to do
despite to the Spirit of God, to occupy a place where no manifestation of the
Spirit can convince them of their error. They will not yield their stubborn
wills.
In this our day men have placed themselves where they are wholly unable to
fulfil the conditions of repentance and confession; therefore they cannot find
mercy and pardon. The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
does not lie in any sudden word or deed; it is the firm, determined resistance
of truth and evidence.
The Lord has been calling his people. In a most marked manner he has revealed
his divine presence. But the message and the messengers have not been received
but despised. I longed that those who have greatly needed the message of divine
love would hear Christ's knock at the door of the heart, and let the heavenly
guest enter. But at the hearts of some Jesus has knocked in vain. In
rejecting the message given at Minneapolis, men committed sin. They have
committed far greater sin by retaining for years the same hatred against God's
messengers, by rejecting the truth that the Holy Spirit has been urging home.
By making light of the message given, they are making light of the word of God.
Every appeal rejected, every entreated unheeded, furthers the work of
heart-hardening, and places them in the seat of the scornful.
These rejecters of light cease to recognize light.
Their souls are surrounded by a malarious atmosphere,
and though some may not show open hostility, those who have spiritual
discernment will realize the icy coldness which surrounds their souls.
I am constrained by God to call your attention to Christ's words, "Yet a
little while is the light with you, walk while ye have the light, lest darkness
come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light,
that ye may be the children of light.... He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he
that seeth me seeth him that sent me. I am come a light into the world, that
whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my
words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but
to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and
receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him:
the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
"Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the
Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness,
and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for
light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make
it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret
places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
because the Lord's flock is carried away captive."
From Olivet Christ looked upon Jerusalem, and with
trembling lips and grief-burdened soul he said, if thou hadst known, even thou,
in this thy day the things that belong unto thy peace: but now they are hid
from thy eyes. He thought of what Jerusalem might have been had she maintained
a living connection with God, of what blessings might have rested upon the
people had they improved their privileges and blessings they enjoyed through
the mercy and grace of a long suffering God. Jerusalem would have become
beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth. God would have made Zion
his holy habitation.
Christ's heart had said "How can I give thee up." He had dealt with
Israel as a loving forgiving father would deal with an ungrateful wayward
child. With the eye of Omniscience he saw that the city of Jerusalem had
decided her own destiny. For centuries there had been a turning away from God.
Grace had been resisted, privileges abused, opportunities slighted. The people
themselves had been loading the cloud of vengeance which unmingled with mercy
was about to burst upon them. With choked, half broken utterance, Christ
exclaimed, "O that thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day the things
that belong unto thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes." The
irrevocable sentence was pronounced.
In this time light from the throne of God has been long resisted
as an objectionable thing. It has been regarded as darkness and spoke of as
fanaticism, as something dangerous, to be shunned. Thus men have become
guide-posts pointing in the wrong direction. They have followed the example set
by the Jewish people. They have hugged their false theories and maxims to their
hearts until they have become to them as precious fundamental doctrines.
They have come to think that if they let them go, the
foundations of their faith will be destroyed. If all those who claim to believe
present truth had opened their hearts to receive the message, and the spirit of
truth, which is the mercy and justice and love of God, they would not have
gathered about the darkness so dense that they could not discern light. They
would not have called the operations of the Holy Spirit fanaticism and error.