Advent Movement Survey 8

Education, Continued

Study given by W. D. Frazee - February 7, 1962

As we continue with our study of the crisis over education in Battle Creek in 1881-1882 in
this class in Advent Movement Survey, I want to read from an interesting article from The
Review and Herald of February 24, 1944. This was from dear old Elder Spicer, one of the
best loved leaders that this denomination ever had. He was president of the General
Conference for a number of years.

As a young man he was in Battle Creek. In fact, he was a younger student in Battle Creek
College when these experiences took place that we are studying. And from his own memory,
and the memory of others, he has given us this very interesting article which he entitles “An
Early Crisis in Our Educational Work.”

So you see, when I use the word crisis relating to the 1881-1882 situation, I’m borrowing
from this leader. I’ll not, of course, read the entire article, but I’d like to just pick up a few
sentences which will review what you and I have studied together last week:

“There was a real crisis in Battle Creek College in the school

year of 1881-1882. The college was not re-opened the next
school year. That early crisis arose over the question of fidelity
to the principles of Christian education committed to us” Elder
W. A. Spicer, The Review and Herald, February 24, 1944.

What was the issue? Fidelity to the principles of Christian education committed to us.

“It was a question whether those principles just beginning to be

understood among us were worth the struggle to maintain.

“In 1881 a new president had come to our first college. The
first leader there for seven or eight years, Professor Sidney
Brownsburger, dropped out on account of breaking health, and
a Professor McLearn came in. The new man had known little
of us. It appeared that he knew less of the way of Christian
education into which the Spirit of Prophecy had been earnestly
calling us. He knew only the way of the world’s system under
which he had worked. His bent was to take us back into that.
This was really the issue, and unfortunately the majority of his
faculty appeared ready to take the path back to Egypt.

“Even among our teachers ideas were sometimes hazy. It did

not take more than a strong minded leader to start the retreat.

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But on the faculty was the veteran head of the English
department. Professor G. H. Bell knew more than the art and
skill of language teaching. Christian education was as the
religion of his educational soul. He had carried out the
principles in several years of work in the school he had founded
at the headquarters on his conversion to this message, the
school that grew into Battle Creek College. He was decidedly
against any turning back. Thus, naturally, two parties
developed in the faculty and in the student body.

“To make matters worse, a few leaders in the local church took
an active part. They lined up quite a body of sentiment among
the members in favor of the new professor’s policy. There
were no school dormitories at that time. Students lived in
private homes all over the community. One can understand
how agitation and discussion would create an atmosphere not at
all favorable for serious study.

“Student group meetings were held. Those opposing Professor

Bell’s stand gathered evidence to show him irritable at times,
making some sharp statements in the presence of his students.
Some of us younger students were called before school board
hearings to tell what was said in our classes concerning the
matter.

“Only the other day I was glad to hear a word about the
professor’s reply at one such hearing. I met a classmate of
those days.

“‘Sister W.,’ I said. ‘Were you brought into that hearing in the
old college crisis when we were called in to relate some
incidents?’

“‘Yes I was,’ she replied, ‘and I remember Professor Bell’s

answer before the group. He said, ‘Brethren, I can tell you that
all that these children have testified to is perfectly true, and I
am sorry that it is the fact.’

“One may find in the messages of the Spirit of Prophecy on this

matter evidence that the professor had been given counsel by
this gift about a weakness of sharp talking. He was
admonished not to excuse his fault or engage in self-defense.
And so the man standing like a stone wall in defense of
Christian education met the laying bare of personal faults with
humble acknowledgment, and he fought on for the big issue of
principle undefeated. So a great heart shamed us all.

“Anyone looking through those earlier pages in Volume 5 of

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 the Testimonies” Elder W. A. Spicer, The Review and Herald,
February 24, 1944,

(That is what we are studying, you see, these early chapters.)

“Will see how close to this crisis Sister White was brought by
the Spirit of Prophecy. She had gone to California after James
White’s death in the summer of 1881. Broken in health, she
had hoped to escape heavy burdens for a time. But she tells
how in the Spirit she found herself back at the old headquarters
in Battle Creek. She seemed to be listening in at some of the
hearings, and listening to words spoken in some home circles.

“Speaking of one testimony she sent for the Battle Creek

Church on these issues, she wrote, ‘Before sending that
testimony my mind was so impressed by the Spirit of God that
I had no rest day or night until I wrote to you. I had little hope
that my words would be understood. But when the Lord
moved upon me so decidedly, I could not resist His Spirit. It is
strange how blind we sometimes are in seeing things.’

“That was the message wrought out in weariness and intensity

of pressure that the leader on the wrong side in the local church
did not bring it at once before the church. He held it
undelivered for a considerable period” Elder W. A. Spicer, The
Review and Herald, February 24, 1944.

As I told you last week, that man was not only a prominent leader in the local church, he was
the head of the college Bible department and a minister of long experience and heavy
responsibility in the denomination.

Now, that brings us back to where we left off last week. I believe that was on page 52, is that
right? Before we take up the continued study of these pages I would like to have us note,
briefly, some of the points in these first 90 or 100 pages of Volume 5, that Sister White was
dealing with in conditions there in Battle Creek at this time. I think it will help us get an
overall picture of the trends that will help us to better understand what we are going to read
today, and also be in a better position to apply these principles to the problems of the present.
I am going to give you a list of 13 points.

Number 1: Simplicity. A statement or two on this. You can turn rapidly from one page to
another. Notice page 11 and 18:

“We are not doing one-twentieth part of what God requires us

to do. There has been a departure from the simplicity of the
work, making it intricate, difficult to understand, and difficult
to execute” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 11.

“I have been shown that, as a people, we are departing from the

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 simplicity of the faith and from the purity of the gospel”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 18.

“I was shown that fathers and mothers have departed from their
simplicity and neglected the holy calling of the gospel”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 74.

Number 2: In contrast to simplicity, we note that extravagance and ease are pointed out. Page
10 and page 70:

“My soul is burdened as I see the great want of spirituality

among us. The fashions and customs of the world, pride, love
of amusement, love of display, extravagance in dress, in
houses, in lands - these are robbing the treasury of God”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 10.

“Many are ruined by their desire for a life of ease and

pleasure... They set their hearts upon having the good things of
this life” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 70.

I wonder if anything could more appropriately describe the present trends in the world. Each
one will have to answer how we have been affected by them in the church - extravagance and
ease, setting the heart on having the good things of this life.

Number 3. This point I want you to notice is on the real object of our college. Page 12, page
21, and page 59:

“That the real object of the college has been stated again and
again, but is not understood by many” Testimonies for the
Church, Volume 5, page 12.

On page 21, it shows that the original design of the college was a place where our people
could study the sciences and at the same time learn the requirements of His Word. That the
Bible should have the first place in our system of education.

On page 59 is a very important statement:

“One of the great objects to be secured in the establishment of

the college was the separation of our youth from the spirit and
influence of the world, from its customs, its follies, and its
idolatry. The college was to build a barrier against the
immorality of the present age, which makes the world as
corrupt as in the days of Noah. The young are bewitched with
the mania for courtship and marriage. Lovesick sentimentalism
prevails. Great vigilance and tact are needed to guard the youth
from these wrong influences” Testimonies for the Church,
Volume 5, pages 59, 60.

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Was one of the great objects of the college then to lift the standards, to separate our young
people from the world and its influence? It’s very clear from these statements.

Number 4. The warning against imitating other colleges. What does imitate mean? Yes,
copy, aping. Page 11, a warning that it may not be turned away from its design and molded
after other institutions of the kind:

“The Lord never designed that our college should imitate other
institutions of learning” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5,
page 14.

Do you see that in the middle of 14? Will you read that with me?

“The Lord never designed that our college should imitate other
institutions of learning” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5,
page 14.

Now page 21. Here the prophet said that that is exactly what was happening. She gave her
warning and her counsel:

“For one or two years past there has been an effort to mold our
school after other colleges. When this is done we can give no
encouragement to parents to send their children to Battle Creek
College” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 21.

Is it a very serious matter, then, to mold a school after worldly schools? Very serious.

“Its managers reason after the manner of the world and copy its
plans and imitate its customs. But in thus doing, they will not
meet the mind of the Spirit of God” Testimonies for the
Church, Volume 5, page 23.

Another clear, strong statement showing that the college had already gone far in this way of
world conformity:

“Our college stands today in a position that God does not

approve. ... If its responsible men seek to reach the world’s
standard, if they copy the plans and methods of other colleges,
the frown of God will be upon our school” Testimonies for the
Church, Volume 5, page 27.

What brings the frown of God? Imitating other schools.

“The Lord has repeatedly shown that we should not pattern

after the popular schools” Testimonies for the Church, Volume
5, page 61.

There are six warnings on this matter of imitating other colleges.

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Number 5: Worldly amusements. It is one of the symptoms of trying to imitate other
schools. Notice:

“Some of the teachers have been scattering from Christ instead

of gathering with Him. ... They link the hands of the students
with fashionable, amusement-loving unbelievers, and carry
them an advance step toward the world” Testimonies for the
Church, Volume 5, page 12.

“When teachers or professors shall sacrifice religious principle

to please a worldly, amusement-loving class, they should be
considered unfaithful to their trust and should be discharged”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 14.

Is the matter of catering to worldly amusement sufficient to discharge a teacher? That’s what
this says.

“The leisure hours of the students are often occupied with

frivolous pleasures” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5,
page 23.

She says its because they didn’t have land for cultivation. Now, this is one of the clear and
strong statements on it:

“The object of God in bringing the college into existence has

been lost sight of. Ministers of the gospel have so far shown
their want of wisdom from above as to unite a worldly element
with the college; they have joined with the enemies of God and
the truth in providing entertainments for the students”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 33.

Well, isn’t that all right?

“In thus misleading the youth they have done a work for Satan”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 33.

Now, in this little booklet Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, published in Oakland in
1882, which gives a few details not found in these Testimonies, I want to give you a couple of
samples of these worldly amusements. Maybe they weren’t as bad as you would think just
listening to this. Or maybe our own ideas of what’s bad and what isn’t need to be measured
by the light from heaven.

It’s very hard, dear friends, for us as time has gone on and worldly trends have come in, its
very hard for us to realize how far we’ve slipped on some things. It’s hard for us to realize
how comparatively innocent some of the things were for which people were sharply rebuked
eighty years ago.

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I am going to read here a sample of this thing of worldly entertainments. Listen to it and see
if you would think of it as terrible, so terrible as the prophet presents it. This is a part of this
chapter Important Testimony which we are in the midst of studying in today’s lesson.
Speaking of Professor Bell, she says:

“You have pushed aside this known and tried laborer, and have
readily accepted a stranger” Testimony for the Battle Creek
Church, page 38.

(That is McLearn.)

“You have hunted down the man to whom you were so greatly
indebted, and have given your confidence to one whose plans
and principles are new and untried. Then there appears in the
Review a notice of the celebration of Longfellow’s birthday.
You deify a man of whose heart you know nothing, and whose
relation to God you know nothing. This is similar to the course
pursued by Aaron when he made the golden calf in the absence
of Moses, and offered sacrifice before it while the people
proclaimed, ‘These be thy gods, oh Israel, which brought thee
up out of the land of Egypt.’ Have the church at Battle Creek
put out their eyes that they cannot see the tendency of these
things? If I did not know how God regards your course, I
would not write thus. The time spent in paying honor to a mere
man might better have been employed in fasting and praying
before God” Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, page 38.

Then she continues with what we have read here, that one of the great objects to be secured in
the establishment of the college was the separation of our youth from the spirit and influence
of the world, from its customs, its follies, and its idolatry.

Now, I want to ask you something, friends. If you were in a place and there should be some
birthday celebration of Longfellow, and they’d have some of his poems, and speeches about
him, and so forth and so on, would you consider that to be particularly bad? Now, I
recognize we weren’t there. We don’t know all that went on. We have no way of looking at
it with a microscope. But I just wanted you to get the benefit of that statement. It’s
something to ponder over.

Let me give you another example. This one is on page 76 of this same little book:

“The worse thing that ever happened to Battle Creek College

was” Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, page 76,

What do you suppose it was?

“The worse thing that ever happened to Battle Creek College

was the visit of Mr. Hamill, the teacher of elocution.
Fascinated with this branch of knowledge, many forgot our

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 position as a peculiar and holy people. They permitted
themselves to be led away from God, and some souls will be
lost in consequence. The fault was not with Mr. Hamill. He
worked in accordance with his faith. But those who forgot all
higher interests in their zeal to pursue this new study have done
no credit to themselves or to the cause they represented. Some
made themselves ridiculous” Testimony for the Battle Creek
Church, page 76.

But you know, in some circles, if a man makes himself ridiculous he gets himself applauded,
doesn’t he?

“Some made themselves ridiculous. Though God has reproved

their error in mingling with the world, others have done the
same thing, and with their spiritual blindness and want of
consecration, they continue to repeat the same error”
Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, page 76.

I read these as samples of the worldly amusements the prophet was talking about, which were
being carried on in the college and in the church community, which called forth these
warnings from heaven.

Number 6: Industries in education. Notice how this would have been a barrier against many
of these problems:

“It would be well could there be connected with our college,

land for cultivation and also workshops under the charge of
men competent to instruct the students in the various
departments of physical labor. Much is lost by a neglect to
unite physical with mental taxation” Testimonies for the
Church, Volume 5, page 23.

Then she goes ahead and shows the results in worldly amusements, in sensual indulgence, the
untimely excitement of courtship and marriage. Those worldly things come from neglecting
the industries.

You know, I am thankful for the divine program of education which includes the practical
along with the intellectual and spiritual, aren’t you, friends? I am thankful for it, personally.

Today as I was cutting wood, I thought what a privilege it is to have a part with the muscles
as well as the mind, isn’t it? I praise God for these practical instructions.

Number 7: The matter of association and courtship in school. (Page 23) I have already read
here about the industries and then she shows that as a result of not uniting physical with the
mental, that the leisure hours of the students tend to frivolous pleasures, and sensual
indulgence and the untimely excitement of courtship and marriage.

I read this a few moments ago on the matter of separation from the world, not imitating the

Παγε 8 οφ 15
world:

“The college was to build a barrier against the immorality of

the present age, which makes the world as corrupt as in the
days of Noah. The young are bewitched with the mania for
courtship and marriage. Lovesick sentimentalism prevails.
Great vigilance and tact are needed to guard the youth from
these wrong influences” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5,
page 60.

Then Sister White speaks about many parents being blind. Some of the parents in Battle
Creek had told her that they knew their young people didn’t do anything like that, and yet
Sister White knew from vision that some of those very young people were secretly giving and
receiving attentions.

If you will turn over to page 109 and 110, I will show you what the standards were in Battle
Creek before McLearn came along.

Battle Creek, even then, had its weaknesses and faults because of its location on the edge of a
town instead of out in the country, but there were some pretty strict principles. If you want
the date of this, you will find it at the bottom of 113, and you will see it is September 1879.
This was under Brownsburger. This is a personal testimony written to a young man who was
thinking of going to Battle Creek as a student:

“I do not wish to have you disappointed in regard to Battle

Creek. The rules are strict there. No courting is allowed. The
school would be worth nothing to students were they to become
entangled in love affairs as you have been. Our college would
soon be demoralized” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5,
page 109.

So you see, when McLearn came, along with letting down the standard on many other things,
there was evidently a letting down on this point.

Number 8. The Bible in education:

“God has declared His purpose to have one college in the land
where the Bible shall have its proper place in the education of
the youth. Will we do our part to carry out that purpose?”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 26.

One of the great weaknesses of McLearn was in emphasizing the worldly classics and playing
down the religious influence. Notice on page 24 that nearly the whole page is given to the
Bible as a textbook in our schools.

Number 9. The length of courses. How long were our young people to be tied up in getting a
preparation? Let’s just see what’s written here, and I shall not attempt in this class to argue
the point of how much or how little this applies today. We’re getting a setting, a historical

Παγε 9 οφ 15
setting for these Testimonies, but I think it would be well for you to pray about the matter,
and see what else you can find in the Lord’s instructions on this point. You notice that it
says:

“Some who came at great expense, with the ministry in view,

have been encouraged by the teachers to take a thorough course
of study which would occupy a number of years, and, in order
to obtain means to carry out these plans, have entered the
canvassing field and given up all thought of preaching. This is
entirely wrong. We have not many years to work” Testimonies
for the Church, Volume 5, page 22.

It’s interesting, back there they didn’t have very long to work. That was to have a bearing on
the method of preparation.

This is again on not trying to copy other schools:

“There is an urgent demand for laborers in the gospel field.

Young men who desire to enter the ministry cannot spend a
number of years in obtaining an education. ... Special
advantages should have been given them for a brief yet
comprehensive study of the branches most needed to fit them
for their work” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 27.

I want to make clear that I am not attempting to apply these to the present situation. There
are many arguments today, pro and con, on this matter. I am wanting to get the setting of the
crisis there in Battle Creek.

“The Lord has repeatedly shown me that we should not pattern

after the popular schools. Ministers of other denominations
spend years in obtaining an education. Our young men must
obtain theirs in a short time” Testimonies for the Church,
Volume 5, page 61.

Those are three references on the length of courses.

Number 10. Parental discipline. You remember that this leading brother that’s addressed in
these chapters “Important Testimony” and “Testimonies Slighted” was weak in his home
discipline. His children influenced him and also his wife. He was more like Aaron and Eli,
not like Moses. That lay at the foundation, dear class, of many of the problems in Battle
Creek and in the college at that time; parents allowing their children to influence them instead
of the other way around.

“There has been, with many parents, a fearful neglect of duty.

Like Eli, they fail to exercise proper restraint; and then they
send their undisciplined children to college to receive the
training which the parents should have given them at home”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 29.

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Page 37 - study that page. It shows how in some of the homes the children came home and
criticized the teachers, and instead of silencing the first approach to anything of the kind, the
parents thought just what the children thought, and listened to their criticisms of the school
and its teachers. And as a result confirmed the children in their disobedient, rebellious
attitude.

Page 51 - Here it speaks of parents who manifest the most bitter opposition when their
children are restrained, reproved or corrected at school. Getting these things together, you
begin to get a picture of the whole trend there in Battle Creek at that time. Keep in mind all
these dear people were Seventh-day Adventists in good and regular standing. A number of
them were high in the church. They were all coming along to Sabbath school and church,
you understand. But these were the problems.

Number 11. Criticism of those who uphold the standards. This centered on Professor Bell
and others who stood with him. On page 35, it calls this wholly satanic. Who was it that was
behind that criticism?

“I have no sympathy with the course that has been pursued

toward Brother [Bell]” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5,
page 51.

Page 53, again warning of the sad course that had been pursued toward Brother Bell, in
criticizing him because he held up the standards. Keep in mind he had his faults, his
weaknesses. He was harsh sometimes when he should have been kind. But, nevertheless, he
was standing for what? For principle. God appreciated it.

Number 12: Honor to human beings. We have already read that extract about Longfellow.
But right there they were giving honor to McLearn and those associated with them. At the
same time they were hounding and hunting Bell in every critical way.

“Many of you are seeking honor of one another” Testimonies

for the Church, Volume 5, page 48.

Then page 75. This is a very important statement and I wish you would turn to it and notice
it now because it’s a key reference. It is one of the great symptoms of the disease that
afflicted Battle Creek at that time. It’s a checkpoint to note as you examine your own heart
today.

“Our people are making very dangerous mistakes. We cannot

praise and flatter any man without doing him a great wrong;
those who do this will meet with serious disappointment. ...
The eager desire to urge men into public notice is an evidence
of backsliding from God and friendship with the world”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 75.

Think of it, friends. “The eager desire to urge men into public notice”, praise and love men -
it is a symptom of a disease. I read on:

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 “There is among us as a people an idolatry of human
instrumentalities and mere human talent, and these even of a
superficial character. ...

“I have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening
the church” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 75.

Was God pleased, then, with the exaltation of human talents? No. He was sad and grieved.

Number 13 is the basic problem in all these other twelve: that is unbelief of the Testimonies,
unbelief of the Testimonies. Page 52 shows these professed Sabbath-keepers who were
joining hands with the world. It says:

“They dared not take a bold stand and say they did not believe
the testimonies; but, while nominally believing both, they have
obeyed neither” Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page
52.

So they pretended to believe the Testimonies, but did they, really? The prophet said they
didn’t:

“Many of our younger ministers, and some of more mature

experience, are neglecting the word of God and also despising
the testimonies of His Spirit” Testimonies for the Church,
Volume 5, page 61.

This is talking about conditions in 1882. That’s what we are studying.

“They do not know what the testimonies contain and do not

wish to know. ... They show their contempt for the light which
God has given, by going directly contrary to His instructions.
Those at the heart of the work have set the example”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 61.
Remember, this is the testimony that was written to this leading brother in Battle Creek who
was head of the Bible department in the college, leading officer in the church, and in the
General Conference. And he it was, this very testimony that I am reading from, who took it
and just laid it aside for a number of weeks.

“I have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies has been

steadily increasing as the people backslide from God”
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, page 76.

What two things go together? Unbelief in the Testimonies and backsliding.

“It is all through our ranks, all over the field” Testimonies for
the Church, Volume 5, page 76.

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Again, I want to note this is talking about 1882. Only the Master knows how much or how
little it applies today. But get the picture that this unbelief in the Testimonies was basic to all
these other problems. Because if they had listened to the Testimonies, would they have been
carrying out a true, full program of Christian education? Would they have been uniting with
the world? Would they have had the worldly amusements? No. Would they have made the
Bible the basis of education? Would they have had an industrial training program? Yes.
Would they have gotten away from the worldly literature, the worldly program of education?
Yes. And would there have been parental discipline, and holding up the hands of the teachers
that were trying to hold up the standards? Yes.

All of it, you see, would have followed, if they had believed the Testimonies and carried them
out. But even among some leaders, there was a spirit to lay the Testimonies aside and
proceed with human wisdom, their own and that of these teachers, the leader of which they
had called in from the world, this Professor McLearn.

Now, with these before us lets just turn to page 62. Last week we were noting the previous
testimony, the one called “Important Testimony,” which was written in March, and sent to
the leading officer of the Battle Creek church, with the instruction that it should be read to the
church. It was not for some time. Sister White followed this up in June with this letter from
Healdsburg, June 20, 1882:

“Dear Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek: I understand that

the testimony which I sent to Brother ───, with the request that
it be read to the church, was withheld from you for several
weeks after it was received by him” Testimonies for the
Church, Volume 5, page 62.

Now, as you study this chapter (and I want you to read every paragraph of it. It’s a bit long,
but you will need every paragraph of it.), I want you to note the process of reasoning by
which this man and other men, arrived at the point where they could set that letter from Sister
White aside, the previous one. They did it on this basis. They believed Sister White was a
prophet, but they believed that in this particular letter she was giving merely her own opinion.
Now that’s a very interesting philosophy, friends. The strange thing is, that idea has not
altogether died out.

Sister White puts her finger, in these pages, on the reason why they came to those
conclusions. A testimony had come contrary to their human judgment, and it would have
meant an admission, on their part, of failure, when they didn’t think they had failed at all. It
meant, in other words, to take what the testimony said instead of their own opinion, their own
mind.

You know, that’s quite a thing to ask a man to do. If you think that blackboard’s black and
somebody tells you it’s white, and you can’t see but what it’s black, it’s going to be pretty
hard, isn’t it, for you to accept what they say? And so to them it was just as simple as that.
“The blackboard is black and we can see it. We’re here on the ground. And dear Sister
White, she is way off there in Colorado and in California, and probably some people have
written to her, and she doesn’t know all that’s going on. We know some things she doesn’t
know, and so forth.” Do you see the picture?

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 “Yet now when I send you a testimony of warning and reproof,
many of you declare it to be merely the opinion of Sister White.
You have thereby insulted the Spirit of God” Testimonies for
the Church, Volume 5, page 64.

Did Sister White meet the issue head on? Absolutely. Just as twenty years later she met it in
the Kellogg apostasy. She had that dream of meeting an iceberg, “Meet it” and so she met
this issue. Page after page here she tells this dear man and others associated with him in
Battle Creek, that she is either being led of the Lord or she isn’t. And if her work is of God,
then they’re insulting the Spirit of God in their attitude.

I was interested in this Oakland printing of this. On page 46 it says:

“In rejecting this testimony, Eld[er] ... , you have virtually

rejected all the testimonies. You must know this is the case.
This testimony bears the same evidence of its character that all
others have borne for the last thirty-six years. But it condemns
certain wrongs which you have committed, and which God
condemns. The reason why you cannot see it, is because you
have been cherishing feelings wholly opposed to the Spirit of
God. ...

“Eld[er] ... , I was more grieved than I can express to find you
again working on the side of the enemy. You will find quite a
number who will strengthen you in your position; the leaven is
working. You pronounce my work human, not actuated by the
Spirit of God. On this point you have had great light; for this
you are responsible. If God has ever wrought by me ... he has
wrought by me and through me for the last few months”
Testimony for the Battle Creek Church, pages 46, 47.

This is part of this same chapter that I am reading from. You will find other similar things in
the chapter, but I just wanted to get that particular statement, that in rejecting that testimony,
the preceding one, he had virtually rejected what? All the Testimonies.

That brings me to an important principle, friends. Sooner or later almost every one of us will
come to a point in reading the Spirit of Prophecy that is contrary to our human reasoning and
judgment. And right then is when we find out whether we believe it or not. As long as what
we read in here is something we can see, and we say, “Why, yes, that is good. I can see that”
we are not tested are we? No. But when we come to something and we say, “My, can that be
so? It doesn’t look so, that doesn’t look so to me.” When we can get down on our knees and
say, “Blessed Lord, I believe You are speaking in these books and I am going to accept it
whether I can see it or not,” that’s faith, my friends. That’s what that dear man needed. That
was what many in Battle Creek needed. I wonder if we need it today?

Now on page 66 she calls this attitude drifting away from the old landmarks. The bottom of
page 67 note carefully that she says that she doesn’t write one article in the paper expressing

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merely her own ideas. Will you read with me the last sentence on that page?

“They are what God has opened before me in vision - the

precious rays of light shining from the throne” Testimonies for
the Church, Volume 5, page 67.

And in the preceding lines she applies it to the letters she writes, and the testimonies she
bears. So it isn’t just the published books that are called Testimonies, but the personal
testimonies she wrote, the articles she wrote for the Review.

At the bottom of page 68, she raises an important question:

“What voice will you acknowledge as the voice of God? What

power has the Lord in reserve to correct your errors and show
you your course as it is?” Testimonies for the Church, Volume
5, page 68.

The implication here is that if they rejected the Spirit of God in the Spirit of Prophecy, there
was no further avenue through which God could reach them. In other words, those who
continued in that course, would eventually, by it, commit the unpardonable sin.

That’s what’s going to happen, friends, among this people. Our people individually will
either accept the Spirit of Prophecy and become fully fitted for heaven, or they will gradually
neglect it and reject it until finally they commit the unpardonable sin.

Now on page 77, she begins to connect that present situation in Battle Creek, present at that
time, with the future. And I think rather than try to crowd that in to the next few minutes,
that I am going to leave that with you for a more careful and purposeful study next week.
And so we will begin with page 76 and 77 next week, and I urge you to give this whole
chapter on the “Testimonies Slighted” very careful study, and read ahead these next few
pages, so that you will be prepared to see what is yet to happen, based upon the experience
back there in Battle Creek eighty years ago. Shall we stand for the benediction.

Our dear Father in heaven, we are so thankful this evening hour for the Spirit of Prophecy,
the testimony of Jesus. We are so thankful that it has led this people, this movement, this
church, through crisis after crisis, and that eventually the noble ship bearing the people of
God will sail safely into port. Oh, we pray that we shall be among those that are on board,
not those who are swept overboard. We pray that thou wilt help us build a faith in the Spirit
of Prophecy which is childlike in its simplicity. And may our lives show that we not only
listen, but obey. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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