101 Questions - About Ellen White and Her Writings

Question 53: Will Jesus’ last mediatorial work be to save the children of believers? (“Last Mediatorial Work”)

I was told about the following quote recently and then came across it with a different reference but couldn’t confirm it on your Web site: ” ‘The last mediatorial work of Christ before He lays off His priestly garments is to present the prayers of parents for their children. I saw a mighty angel sent out and thousands of children will remember their early training and be brought back just before probation closes.’ E. G. White, Advent Review & Sabbath Herald, 1890.” Did Mrs. White really make this statement and is the reference correct? 101Q 123.1

More than forty years ago, the White Estate included this statement in a list of “Apocryphal Quotations” in appendix C at the back of the third volume of the three-volume Comprehensive Index to the Ellen G. White Writings. That list was expanded for our Web site (www.WhiteEstate.org), where you can find it in the “Issues & Answers” section, under the subheading “Statements Mistakenly Attributed to Ellen G. White.” Here is what the entry says, 101Q 123.2

Last Mediatorial Work of Christ. A statement attributed to Mrs. White and bearing various source references such as Review and Herald, 1890, 1898, or 1902, to the effect that Christ’s last mediatorial work will be in behalf of youth who have wandered from the fold, has not been traced to any Ellen G. White source. Inquirers are directed to the following statements: “When the storm of persecution really breaks upon us, . . . many who have strayed from the fold will come back to follow the great Shepherd” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 401). “The love of God still yearns over the one who has chosen to separate from Him, and He sets in operation influences to bring him back to the Father’s house. . . . A golden chain, the mercy and compassion of divine love, is passed around every imperiled soul” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 202). “Heaven is waiting and yearning for the return of the prodigals who have wandered far from the fold. Many of those who have strayed away may be brought back by the loving service of God’s children” (In Heavenly Places, p. 10). 101Q 123.3

These alternate passages, which really do come from Mrs. White’s writings, may serve as worthy substitutes for the one that does not. 101Q 124.1