Seite 25 - Selected Messages Book 1 (1958)

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Ellen G. White and Her Writings
21
The Integrity of the Testimonies
In perfect harmony with this are my statements found in the article
“The Testimonies Slighted,” written June 20, 1882, and published in
Testimonies for the Church 5:31, 62-84
. From this I quote for your
consideration, several paragraphs:
“Many are looking with self-complacency upon the long years
during which they have advocated the truth. They now feel that they
are entitled to a reward for their past trials and obedience. But this
genuine experience in the things of God in the past, makes them more
guilty before Him for not preserving their integrity and going forward
to perfection. The faithfulness for the past year will never atone for
the neglect of the present year. A man’s truthfulness yesterday will
not atone for his falsehood today.
“Many excused their disregard of the testimonies by saying, ‘Sister
White is influenced by her husband; the testimonies are molded by
his spirit and judgment.’ Others were seeking to gain something from
me which they could construe to justify their course or to give them
influence. It was then I decided that nothing more should go from my
[27]
pen until the converting power of God was seen in the church. But
the Lord placed the burden upon my soul. I labored for you earnestly.
How much this cost both my husband and myself, eternity will tell.
Have I not a knowledge of the state of the church, when the Lord has
presented their case before me again and again for years? Repeated
warnings have been given, yet there has been no decided change
“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. You know how the Lord has
manifested Himself through the Spirit of prophecy. Past, present, and
future have passed before me. I have been shown faces that I had
never seen, and years afterward I knew them when I saw them. I have
been aroused from my sleep with a vivid sense of subjects previously
presented to my mind and I have written, at midnight, letters that have
gone across the continent, and arriving at a crisis, have saved great
disaster to the cause of God. This has been my work for many years.
A power has impelled me to reprove and rebuke wrongs that I had not
thought of. Is this work of the last thirty-six years from above or from
beneath?...