xxxvi
Counsels for the Church
on Sabbath afternoon. Her text on Sabbath afternoon was, “Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The entire discourse was an
appeal to Seventh-day Adventists to hold forth the distinctive features
of their faith. Three times during the meeting she started to tell of
the Salamanca vision, but each time she was restrained. The events
of the vision would simply leave her mind. Then she said, “Of this,
I shall have more to say later.” She rounded out her sermon in about
an hour’s time, and the meeting was dismissed. All had noticed that
she was unable to call the vision to mind. The president of the General
[27]
Conference came to her and asked if she would take the morning
meeting.
“No,” she replied, “I’m weary; I’ve borne my testimony. You must
make other plans for the morning meeting.” Other plans were made.
As Mrs. White returned to her home, she told the members of her
family that she would not be attending the morning meeting. She was
weary, and she was going to have a good rest. She was going to sleep
in on Sunday morning, and plans were laid accordingly.
That night, after the close of the Conference session, a small group
of men met in one of the offices in the Review and Herald building. At
that meeting were representatives of the publishing house that issued
the American Sentinel, and there were present also the representatives
of the Religious Liberty Association. They met to discuss and settle a
very vexing question—the editorial policy of the American Sentinel.
The door was then locked, and all agreed that the door would not be
unlocked until the question was settled.
A little before three o’clock on Sunday morning the meeting ended
in a deadlock, with the assertion on the part of the religious liberty
men that unless the pacific press would accede to their demands and
drop the term “Seventh-day Adventist” and “the Sabbath” from the
columns of that paper, they would no longer use it as the organ of
the religious liberty association. That meant killing the paper. They
unlocked the door, and the men went to their rooms, went to bed, and
went to sleep.
But God, who never slumbers nor sleeps, sent his angel messenger
to Ellen White’s room at three o’clock that morning. She was aroused
from her sleep and instructed that she must go into the workers’ meet-
ing at half-past five, and there she must present what was shown to