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Historical Foreword
xxv
These counsels, restated, reminded all that to lose sight of these
principles would imperil the church
.
History can repeat itself, and human beings can be guilty of
forgetting. Earnest endeavors have been made to avoid a repetition
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of the mistakes made at battle creek. Wrote Mrs. White, “We have
nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget the way the
Lord has led us.”—Page 31. The administrators and ministerial
laborers of the church have ever before them these messages of
warning and admonition, to help them avoid making the mistakes of
former years. And, closely associated with these more specific warn-
ings, are general warnings relating to the high moral and spiritual
plane of the work of the minister
.
The messages in this volume, dealing so intimately with the
hearts and souls of those who stood as shepherds of the flock and
of those who carried administrative responsibilities, would apply
today only if the conditions described existed again. None should
err in applying the reproofs to all ministers at any and all times.
Nor should the intimate knowledge of some of the problems and
crises met through the years ever dim our confidence in the glorious
triumph of the cause of God
.
Ellen white, to whom God had revealed the secrets of the hearts
of men and the weaknesses and deficiencies of humanity, did not
lose confidence in God’s chosen workmen. To her, the fact that God
sent messages of reproof to those who erred, was not an indication
that they were forsaken, but rather an evidence of God’s love, “for
whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” Nor did the setbacks which
came to the cause as the battle raged between the forces of evil and
the forces of righteousness leave her with despondency of heart, for
she discerned that “we have as Bible Christians ever been on gaining
ground” (
Selected Messages 2:397
), and that “The God of Israelis
still guiding his people, and that he will continue to be with them,
even to the end” (
Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 437, 438
).
[xxxvi]
This foreword is designed to inform the reader as to the his-
torical setting of the contents of this volume. There are a number
of references to specific experiences, movements, and institutions,
that may seem somewhat obscure to us who live so many decades
away from the events. To give information which will guide to a