Chapter 56—Perilous Times
The unbelieving world will soon have something to think of besides their dress and appearance; and as their minds are torn from these things by distress and perplexity, they will have nothing to turn to. They are not prisoners of hope, and therefore do not turn to the Stronghold. Their hearts will fail them for repining and fear. They have not made God their refuge, and He will not be their consolation then, but will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh. They have despised and trampled upon the truths of God’s word. They have indulged in extravagant dress, and have spent their lives in hilarity and glee. They have sown to the wind; they must reap the whirlwind. In the time of distress and perplexity of nations there will be many who have not given themselves wholly to the corrupting influences of the world and the service of Satan, who will humble themselves before God and turn to Him with their whole heart and find acceptance and pardon.
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Those among Sabbathkeepers who have been unwilling to make any sacrifice, but have yielded to the influence of the world, are to be tested and proved. The perils of the last days are upon us, and a trial is before the young which they have not anticipated. They are to be brought into most distressing perplexity. The genuineness of their faith will be proved. They profess to be looking for the coming of the Son of man, yet some of them have been a miserable example to unbelievers. They have not been willing to give up the world, but have united with them, have attended picnics and other gatherings of pleasure, flattering themselves that they were engaging in innocent amusement. Yet I was shown that it is just such indulgences that separate them from God and make them children of the world. God does not own the pleasure seeker as His follower. He has given us no such example. Those only who are self-denying, and who live a life of sobriety, humility, and holiness, are true followers of Jesus; and such cannot engage in and enjoy the frivolous, empty conversation of the lovers of the world.
A day of heart-rending anguish is before us. I was shown that pointed testimonies should be borne, and that those who will come up to the help of the Lord will receive His blessing. But Sabbathkeepers have a work to do. Hoops, I was shown, are an abomination, and every Sabbathkeeper’s influence should be a rebuke to this ridiculous fashion, which has been a screen to iniquity, and which arose from a house of ill fame in Paris. Individuals were shown me who will despise instruction, even if it comes from heaven; they will frame some excuse to avoid the most pointed testimony, and in defiance of all the light given will put on hoops because it is the fashion, and risk the consequences.
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The prophecy of Isaiah 3 was presented before me as applying to these last days, and the reproofs are given to the daughters of Zion who have thought only of appearance and display. Read verse 25: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.” I was shown that this scripture will be strictly fulfilled. Young men and women professing to be Christians, yet having no Christian experience, and having borne no burdens and felt no individual responsibility, are to be proved. They will be brought low in the dust and will long for an experience in the things of God, which they have failed to obtain.
War lifts his helmet to his brow; O God, protect Thy people now.
Chapter 57—Organization
August 3, 1861, I was shown that some have feared that our churches would become Babylon if they should organize; but those in central New York have been perfect Babylon, confusion. And now unless the churches are so organized that they can carry out and enforce order, they have nothing to hope for in the future; they must scatter into fragments. Previous teachings have nourished the elements of disunion. A spirit has been cherished to watch and accuse, rather than to build up. If ministers of God would unitedly take their position, and maintain it with decision, there would be a uniting influence among the flock of God. Separating bars would be broken to fragments. Hearts would flow together and unite like drops of water. Then there would be a power and strength in the ranks of Sabbathkeepers far exceeding anything we have yet witnessed.
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The hearts of God’s servants are made sad as they journey from church to church, by meeting the opposing influence of other ministering brethren. There are those who have stood ready to oppose every advance step that God’s people have taken. The hearts of those who have dared to venture out are saddened and distressed by the lack of union of action on the part of their fellow laborers. We are living in a solemn time. Satan and evil angels are working with mighty power, with the world on their side to help them. And professed Sabbathkeepers who claim to believe solemn, important truth unite their forces with the combined influence of the powers of darkness to distract and tear down that which God designs to build up. The influence of such is recorded as of those who retard the advancement of reform among God’s people.
The agitation of the subject of organization has revealed a great lack of moral courage on the part of the ministers proclaiming present truth. Some who were convinced that organization was right have failed to stand up boldly and advocate it. They let some few understand that they favored it. Was this all that God required of them? No; He was displeased with their cowardly silence and lack of action. They feared blame and opposition. They watched the brethren generally to see how their pulse beat, before standing manfully for what they believed to be right. The people waited for the voice of their favorite ministers, and because they could hear no response in its favor from them, decided that organization was wrong.
Thus the influence of some of the ministers was against organization, while they professed to be in favor of it. They were afraid of losing their influence. But someone must move out and bear responsibility, and venture his influence; and as the one who has done this has become inured to censure and blame, he is suffered to bear it. His fellow laborers, who should stand by his side and take their share of the burden, are looking on to see how he succeeds in fighting the battle alone. But God marks his distress, his anguish, his tears, his discouragement and despair, while his mind is taxed almost beyond endurance; and when ready to sink, God lifts him up and points him to the rest for the weary, the reward for the faithful; and again he puts his shoulder under the heavy burden. I saw that all will be rewarded as their works shall be. Those who shun responsibility will meet with loss in the end. The time for ministers to stand together is when the battle goes hard.
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Chapter 58—Duty to the Poor
Inquiries are often made in regard to our duty to the poor who embrace the third message; and we ourselves have long been anxious to know how to manage with discretion the cases of poor families who embrace the Sabbath. But while at Roosevelt, New York, August 3, 1861, I was shown some things in regard to the poor.
God does not require our brethren to take charge of every poor family that shall embrace this message. If they should do this, the ministers must cease to enter new fields, for the funds would be exhausted. Many are poor from their own lack of diligence and economy; they know not how to use means aright. If they should be helped, it would hurt them. Some will always be poor. If they should have the very best advantages, their cases would not be helped. They have not good calculation and would use all the means they could obtain, were it much or little. Some know nothing of denying self and economizing to keep out of debt and to get a little ahead for a time of need. If the church should help such individuals instead of leaving them to rely upon their own resources, it would injure them in the end, for they look to the church and expect to receive help from them and do not practice self-denial and economy when they are well provided for. And if they do not receive help every time, Satan tempts them, and they become jealous and very conscientious for their brethren, fearing they will fail to do all their duty to them. The mistake is on their own part. They are deceived. They are not the Lord’s poor.
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The instructions given in the word of God in regard to helping the poor do not touch such cases, but are for the unfortunate and afflicted. God in His providence has afflicted individuals to test and prove others. Widows and invalids are in the church to prove a blessing to the church. They are a part of the means which God has chosen to develop the true character of Christ’s professed followers and to call into exercise the precious traits of character manifested by our compassionate Redeemer.
Many who can but barely live when they are single, choose to marry and raise a family when they know they have nothing with which to support them. And worse than this, they have no family government. Their whole course in their family is marked with their loose, slack habits. They have but little control over themselves, and are passionate, impatient, and fretful. When such embrace the message, they feel that they are entitled to assistance from their more wealthy brethren; and if their expectations are not met, they complain of the church and accuse them of not living out their faith. Who must be the sufferers in this case? Must the cause of God be sapped, and the treasury in different places exhausted, to take care of these large families of poor? No. The parents must be the sufferers. They will not, as a general thing, suffer any greater lack after they embrace the Sabbath than they did before.
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There is an evil among some of the poor which will certainly prove their ruin unless they overcome it. They have embraced the truth with their coarse, rough, uncultivated habits, and it takes some time for them to see and realize their coarseness, and that it is not in accordance with the character of Christ. They look upon others who are more orderly and refined as being proud, and you may hear them say: “The truth brings us all down upon a level.” But it is an entire mistake to think that the truth brings the receiver down. It brings him up, refines his taste, sanctifies his judgment, and, if lived out, is continually fitting him for the society of holy angels in the City of God. The truth is designed to bring us all up upon a level.
The more able should ever act a noble, generous part in their deal with their poorer brethren, and should also give them good advice, and then leave them to fight life’s battles through. But I was shown that a most solemn duty rests upon the church to have an especial care for the destitute widows, orphans, and invalids.
Chapter 59—Power of Example
In the epistle of Paul to Titus, chapter 2:13, 14, we read: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” This great work is to be performed for those only who are willing to be purified, willing to be peculiar, and who manifest a zeal in good works. How many shrink from the purifying process! They are unwilling to live out the truth, unwilling to appear singular in the eyes of the world. It is this mingling with the world that destroys our spirituality, pureness, and zeal. Satan’s power is constantly exercised to stupefy the sensibilities of God’s people, that their consciences may not be sensitive to wrong, and that the sign of distinction between them and the world may be destroyed.
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I have frequently received letters of inquiry in regard to dress, and some have not rightly understood what I have written. The very class that have been presented before me as imitating the fashions of the world have been very slow, and the last, to be affected or reformed. Another class who lacked taste and order in dress have taken advantage of what I have written and have gone to the opposite extreme; considering that they were free from pride, they have looked upon those who dress neatly and orderly as being proud. Oddity and carelessness in dress have been considered a special virtue by some. Such take a course which destroys their influence over unbelievers. They disgust those whom they might benefit.
While the visions have reproved pride and imitating the fashions of the world, they have also reproved those who were careless in regard to their apparel and lacked cleanliness of person and dress. Especially have I been shown that those who profess present truth should have a special care to appear before God upon the Sabbath in a manner which would show that we respect the Creator who has sanctified and placed special honors upon that day. All who have any regard for the Sabbath should be cleanly in person, neat and orderly in dress; for they are to appear before the jealous God, who is offended at uncleanliness and disorder, and who marks every token of disrespect. Some have thought it wrong to wear anything upon their heads but a sunbonnet. Such go to great extremes. It cannot be called pride to wear a neat, plain straw or silk bonnet. Our faith, if carried out, will lead us to be so plain in dress, and zealous of good works, that we shall be marked as peculiar. But when we lose taste for order and neatness in dress we virtually leave the truth, for the truth never degrades, but elevates. Unbelievers look upon Sabbathkeepers as degraded, and when persons are neglectful of their dress, and coarse and rough in their manners, their influence strengthens unbelievers in this conclusion.
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Those who profess to be Christians amid the perils of the last days, and do not imitate the humble, self-denying Pattern, place themselves in the enemy’s ranks. He considers them his subjects, and they serve as important a purpose for him as do any of his subjects, for they have a name to live, and are dead. Others take them as an example, and by following them lose heaven, when, had these not professed to be Christians, their example would have been shunned. These unconsecrated professors are not aware of the weight of their influence. They make the conflict much more severe for those who would be God’s peculiar people. Paul, in Titus 2:15, refers to the people who are looking for the appearing of Christ. He says: “These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.”
As we bear testimony against pride and following the fashions of the world, we are met with excuses and self-justification. Some urge the example of others. Such a sister wears hoops; if it is wrong for me to wear them, it is wrong for her. Children urge the example of other children, whose parents are Sabbathkeepers. Brother A is a deacon of the church. His children wear hoops, and why is it any worse for me to wear them than it is for them? Those who by their example furnish unconsecrated professors with arguments against those who would be peculiar, are laying a cause of stumbling in the way of the weak; they must render an account to God for their example. I am often asked: “What do you think of hoops?” I reply: I have given you the light which has been given me. I was shown that hoops are a shame, and that we should not give the least countenance to a fashion carried to such ridiculous lengths.
I am often surprised to hear that “Sister White says it is not wrong to wear small hoops.” No one has ever heard me say this. After seeing what I have in regard to hoops, nothing would induce me to give the least encouragement to any to wear them. Heavy quilts and hoops are alike unnecessary. He that framed us never designed that we should be deformed with hoops, or anything to look like them. But God’s people have so long been led by the inventions and fashions of the world that they are unwilling to move out independent of them. When I study the Scriptures, I am alarmed for the Israel of God in these last days. They are exhorted to flee from idolatry. I fear that they are asleep and so conformed to the world that it would be difficult to discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. The distance is widening between Christ and His people, and lessening between them and the world. The marks of distinction between Christ’s professed people and the world have almost disappeared. Like ancient Israel, they follow after the abominations of the nations around them.
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From what has been shown me, hoops are an abomination. They are indecent; and God’s people err if they in the least degree follow, or give countenance to, this fashion. Those who profess to be God’s chosen, peculiar people, should discard hoops, and their practice should be a living rebuke to those who wear them. Some may plead convenience. I have traveled much, and have seen a great deal of inconvenience attending the wearing of hoops. Those who plead necessity on account of health, wear them in the winter, when they are a greater injury than quilted skirts. While traveling in the cars and stages, I have often been led to exclaim: O Modesty, where is thy blush! I have seen large companies crowding into the cars, and in order to make any headway, the hoops had to be raised and placed in a shape which was indecent. And the exposure of the form was tenfold more with those who wore hoops, than with those who did not. Were it not for fashion, those who thus immodestly expose themselves would be hissed at; but modesty and decency must be sacrificed to the god of fashion. May the Lord deliver His people from this grievous sin! God will not pity those who will be slaves to fashion. But supposing there is some little convenience in wearing hoops, does this prove that it is right to wear them? Let the fashion change, and convenience would no longer be mentioned. It is the duty of every child of God to inquire: “Wherein am I separate from the world?” Let us suffer a little inconvenience, and be on the safe side. What crosses do God’s people bear? They mingle with the world, partake of their spirit, dress, talk, and act like them.
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Read 1 Timothy 2:9, 10: “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” Also 1 Peter 3:3-5: “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands.”
The power of example is great. Sister A ventures to wear small hoops. Sister B says: It is no worse for me to wear hoops than for Sister A, and she wears them a little larger. Sister C imitates the example of Sisters A and B, and wears her hoops a little larger than A and B, but all contend that their hoops are small.
Parents who would teach their children the evil of following the fashions of the world, have a hard battle. They are met with: “Why, mother, Sisters A, B, and C wear hoops; if it is wicked for me, it is for them.” What can the parents say? They should set a right example before their children, and although the example of professed followers of Christ causes the children to think that their parents are too careful and severe in their restrictions, yet God will bless the efforts of these conscientious parents. If parents do not take a decided, firm course, their children will be borne down with the current, for Satan and his evil angels are working upon their minds, and the example of unconsecrated professors makes the work of overcoming far more laborious for them. Yet with faith in God and earnest prayer, believing parents should press on in the rugged path of duty. The way of the cross is an onward, upward way. And as we advance therein, seeking the things that are above, we must leave farther and farther in the distance the things which belong to the earth. While the world and carnal professors are rushing downward to death, those who climb the hill will have to put forth efforts or they will be carried down with them.
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1 pp. 269-278
Discussion Questions – Day 27
- What warnings were given?
- What promises were made?
- What comfort did you sense?
- What convictions did you have?
- Help Sabbathkeepers not to yield to the influence of the world.
- Strengthen the youth for the trial before them.
- Help us be followers of Jesus in His sobriety, humility, and holiness.
- Prepare us for the day of heart-rending anguish before us.
- Please bring the pointed testimony to Your church.
- O God, protect Thy people now.
- Allow our churches to be so organized so that they can carry out and enforce order.
- Help Your ministers to unitedly take their position and maintain it with decision, so that Your flock would experience a uniting influence.
- Break separating bars to fragments.
- Flow our hearts together and unite them like drops of water.
- Let there be a power and strength in the ranks of Sabbathkeepers far exceeding anything we have yet witnessed.
- Be with leading ministers who are distressed, anguished, tearful, discouraged, and despaired in carrying the burden of Your church organization.
- Help us to wisely help the poor among us.
- Help us to bless the widows and the invalids especially.
- Purify us to Yourself “a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
- Help us to tastefully dress without being slaves to fashion and adornment.
