The Ellen G. White Letters and Manuscripts: Volume 1
Ms 1, 1855
[Circa 1855],1 n.p. 1EGWLM 462.7
Fragments. 1EGWLM 462.8
Portions of this manuscript are published in Ellen G. White, The Adventist Home, p. 177; idem, Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, p. 297; vol. 9, pp. 196, 197.
Three fragments: cautions on church discipline; protecting the family; James White's leadership of the publishing work. 1EGWLM 462.9
At the Conference at Sylvan2 [Michigan] I saw the necessity of the messengers’ dwelling on the preparation more than they have done. Souls are not prepared for what is coming on the earth, and unless they speedily get ready they will be weighed in the balance and found wanting. I saw that Bro. Cranson [Samuel T. Cranson]3 had moved too fast in some cases, that there had not been that patience and forbearance with individuals that there ought to have been. Others of the brethren had moved too fast.4 1EGWLM 463.1
I saw that great caution should be used and the church will have to bear some with individuals who do not always understand the movings of the Spirit of God, and always have some errors. And if these individuals were disfellowshipped they would be brought more closely in connection with an unholy influence and the possibility of saving them be lost. But if they were still retained in the fellowship of the church, they will be where the church can have some influence over them and may by moving judiciously and carefully win them to all the truth, which will discover to them their errors, and cause them to yield them up and be fully united to the church. 1EGWLM 463.2
I saw that the messengers and the church must have compassion with some, making a difference. Now the messengers of God must seek wisdom and know how to treat each individual case. All must not be treated alike. By close examination it will be seen that individual cases differ. Some are to be borne with longer than others, but if one is living in disobedience to the commandments of God, the church must act and must separate them from them. And for other sins it will often be necessary to disfellowship souls if they continue in their sins; yet great care should be used and great patience and forbearance exercised. 1EGWLM 464.1
I saw that Brother Cranson had tried to do right and just as well as he knew how, yet he has failed at times. I saw that judgment and caution must be used. The messengers must all move out unitedly and with decision and energy; yet they must have meekness and patience and in love for souls fulfill their duty. They must all go among the people with the power and Spirit of God with them, and must have energy that will arouse the stupid and those who are off their watch and cause them to awake and get ready. Prepare! Prepare! should be sounded in the ears of the people, for the great day of God's wrath is coming, and who shall be able to stand! And while messengers cry to God to prepare and get ready, they must be awake and have energy themselves and let it tell to all that hear them that they are standing between the living and the dead. Preachers and people who believe the third angel's message should set a holy, lively example. Their conversation and actions should show that they are looking for the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. 1EGWLM 464.2
*****
There is a sacred circle around every family which should be preserved. No other one has any right in that sacred circle. The husband and wife should be all to each other. The wife should have no secrets to keep from her husband, and let others know, and the husband should have no secrets to keep from his wife to relate to others. The heart of his wife should be the grave for the faults of the husband, and the heart of the husband the grave for his wife's faults. Never should either party indulge in a joke at the expense of the other's feelings. Never should either the husband or wife in sport or in any other manner complain of each other to others, for in frequently indulging in this foolish, and what may seem perfectly harmless, joking, it will end in trial with each other and perhaps estrangement. I have been shown that there should be a sacred shield around every family. 1EGWLM 464.3
*****
I saw that God had qualified him who had to stand at the head of the publishing for his station, and if he did not fill his place, God would remove him from it. God had the oversight of the work. I saw that this was an important place.5 I saw that it was God who had rebuked the disease that was on James when nature had resisted it as long as it was possible and could do no more, and disease had fastened upon him and when Satan was exulting that he had his prey and that he would lay him in the grave, then God's hand interposed and He put bands around James and strengthened him to fill the place He had put him in. 1EGWLM 464.4
Picture: Ellen White's first “Testimony for the Church” was initially published in broadside format. Original dimensions: 10.75 x 15 in. (27 x 38 cm.). It was printed shortly thereafter along with additional material in a 16-page pamphlet. Now found in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, pp. 113-126.
