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Times of Volume Nine
ix
them. The first has to do with the work among the colored people.
The second has to do with the religious liberty work. It was largely
in response to the appeals made by Ellen White in the articles in the
Review
in the middle nineties that workers and laymen pushed into
the great Southland and began their ministry, some in educational
lines, some in medical lines, some in preaching the message, and
others in quietly living the message as homes were established in
regions which had not yet received the light. Still others had joined
in this work in response to the appeals in volume 7. The workers
faced many problems. Plans must be laid for advancement. New
issues must be met, especially those relating to the work where there
was race antagonism. Through the critical years counsel had been
given which served as safe guidance for the work, and to make this
counsel a permanent record to serve the church, it was included in
[7]
volume 9
.
The religious liberty work was a line of endeavor in which we had
been engaged for many years. Some were inclined to take extreme
positions urging that true Sabbathkeeping meant that one must make
it prominent to those about him that we labored on Sunday. In
some regions this led to persecution. The Lord in his goodness sent
messages to this people to give us a balanced conception of questions
of this kind. These, too, appear in this volume in the section entitled,
“The Religious Liberty Work,” opening with the chapter, “A Time of
Trial Before Us,” and closing with the chapter, “Words of Caution.”
So volume 9, drawing together counsels new and old, reiterating
certain lines of instruction, giving details of counsel in other lines,
encouraging to service, pointing out the dangers of extremes, leading
to confidence in organization and pointing to the reward of earnest
effort, became the cap-sheaf of the
Testimonies for the Church
.
The work of Ellen White did not close with the issuance of
Testimonies for the Church
, Volume 9. Addressing herself more
closely to her work of book preparation during the succeeding five
years, she brought out
Acts of the Apostles
in 1911 and
Counsels
to Parents, Teachers, and Students
in 1913. She also did her final
work on manuscripts for the new edition of
Gospel Workers and Life
Sketches
, published in 1915, and
Prophets and Kings
, which came
from the press in 1916
.