The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters

August 3, 1894

Extracts from Letter to H. W. K., dated Norfolk Villa, Prospect St., Granville, N. S. W.,

August 3, 1894

When we came to Australia, our people had not a meeting house in the whole country. Since that time a church has been erected in Parramatta, but there is a heavy debt upon it. There is a church in Kellyville, in an orange grove; the building is small, plain and neat, and is free from debt. At Seven Hills there is a little company of twenty who have accepted the truth. Including the children, there are about forty who meet on the Sabbath. They have no dwelling house large enough to hold meetings in. Some weeks ago it became too cold for the tent, for it is now mid-winter here. We decided that a simple, neat church must be erected, that should cost about three hundred dollars. The Sabbath keepers at Seven Hills are intelligent, excellent people, but they are all poor. They have lifted the cross, separating from opposing friends and relatives, and have taken their stand under the blood stained banner of Christ, to be loyal to all the commandments of God. We could not leave this little company without a place where they could assemble to worship God, lest our labor should prove in vain. It has cost much steady, earnest, persevering effort to secure the result we now see. Brother Hickox labored alone for many weeks after the campmeeting; then he married one who could be his helper, and she has stood nobly by his side. We have done what we could to help him in speaking to the people, and in labor for them; if there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth, we know that there is joy over these twenty precious souls, whom, one after another, have had the moral courage to decide to obey the truth. Now this little flock are babes in Christ, and need to be taught and led along, step by step, into faith and assurance; they need to be educated and trained to do the work of soldiers in the army of the Lord, and to bear hardness, that is, trials and opposition, contempt and scorn, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. PC 134.1

Last Sabbath, Elder Corliss, Emily Campbell, and I rode out to Seven Hills to attend the service. I could not venture to enter the private house where so many men, women and children were assembled; I had been very ill with affection of the heart for one week, with difficulty of breathing. I sat in the carriage, in the grove outside, while Elder Corliss opened the Scriptures to feed the little company in the house. They had Sabbath School, followed by a Bible reading, which was interesting and instructive to all. PC 134.2

Then I stood in the door of the cottage and spoke to them nearly half an hour. The Lord strengthened me, and put words in my mouth, presenting the love of God as expressed to the world in giving Jesus to a life of shame, reproach, and suffering, and a cruel death to save sinners. Just prior to His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples, “Father, keep them in thy name.” None can be kept in His name, if they are careless and inattentive in regard to keeping themselves. They have something to do, if their souls are to be kept in the love of God; they must cooperate with God in the grand work. Their faith is to lay hold upon the divine nature, that they may be kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. PC 134.3

The question is asked, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Hear the triumphant cry of victory from the apostle Paul, that hero of faith: “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor death, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “I know in whom I have believed,” We are not to be ignorant as to whose precious blood was shed for us, that we may rejoice in a personal Saviour. Satan desires to sift us, every one, as wheat; but thank God, our Advocate is praying for us. PC 135.1

I tried to lead these dear souls to have sense of their responsibility as light bearers to the world. We encouraged all to feel that individually they had a part to act in every meeting when assembled to worship God. The Lord has given us rich promises. “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” All but one of the company testified for the Lord, giving evidence of the power of truth on the human heart. We felt that the meeting was a success because of the presence of Jesus. All seemed cheered and comforted and blest. We then rode eight miles to our home in Granville, and as the horse climbed the hilly road, we ate our lunch with cheerfulness and gladness of heart. Thank God, the meeting-house is going up; it is small, as cheap as possible, but it will be a precious place, dedicated to the service of God. O, how carefully we considered the question of means. What a hunting there was to see if we could not find some hidden treasure which we could appropriate; how we prayed and studied and planned! Our family did what they could. I engaged to be responsible for five pounds, brethren Starr and Hickox united in giving five pounds stg., Willie gave two pounds, and some other members of the family gave one pound. Well, the amount was still insufficient to make a start. The little company in their poverty did all they possibly could, each giving one pound; one brother gave five pounds; yet the amount was so small; then I doubled my subscription, making it ten pounds, but I saw that discouragement was upon the minds of the brethren as to the possibility of reaching the sum required. Again I doubled my subscription, and then added still five pounds more, making twenty-five in all. The meeting house must not have a debt hanging upon it. PC 135.2

In every place where churches are raised up, just such a work must be done. If there are twelve believers, there must be a house of worship where they can assemble for the service of God. This part of the work is a positive necessity. During my illness two years ago I received from my brethren in California donations amounting to nearly forty dollars for my own personal benefit. I have added to it enough to swell it to fifty, and have given it toward lifting the debt from the church in Parramatta. These three little meeting houses in New South Wales are the only ones we own in all Australia, one at Kellyville, eleven miles from Granville, one in Parramatta under a heavy debt, and one in process of building at Seven Hills, in a farming district. This church we will not dedicate until the last dollar is paid, not if I have to increase my donation. PC 135.3

I tell you all this that you may be enlightened, and may enlighten others, in regard to the character of the work in these missions. It is very difficult for those so far distant to lift their eyes to see far off. If they desire to build as they have done in Battle Creek, they will do so, adding building to building, when God has cautioned them not to do it. Battle Creek will not escape the dragon's wrath; there will be stormy times, perilous times. The interests that have been centered and accumulating in this modern Jerusalem will be a mark for the arrows of Satan. It becomes those who are connected with our institutions to move as God shall direct, and not follow the imagination of their own heart. If they choose their own way, they will become entangled in perplexities, and lose the favor of God because they do not move aright. They have absorbed the means which the Lord desired to have placed in missionary fields where the believers have nothing of their own to give character to the work. As this has been laid out before me, I have tried to present it to my brethren in Battle Creek, and at the Pacific Press, and I still cry aloud, and spare not. Your counselors need to be under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, they need to be converted and transformed, need to look and labor more decidedly for regions beyond. PC 136.1

Though I may fail to make an impression on the minds of some of my brethren, I shall not keep silent; I will begin to plead with another class. I have said quite enough to those who ought to have taken heed. I have endured agony of soul because of the disregard of the warnings God has given, because of the want of consecration on the part of men who should be in touch with God, living channels of light, faithful sentinels with eyes keen to see and discern the needs for this time. God has given me relief. I have spoken the word of the Lord, and now I will wait and let God bear me up. I will trust in Him, and Him alone. I feel shaken off from every human being. I shall look to God, and to Him alone, to learn my duty, for I dare not trust in man or make flesh my arm. My work will be to cry aloud and spare not, whether men will bear or forbear. PC 136.2

I am writing this letter by lamp light, sitting upon my bed. I could not sleep longer than half past two A.M. The Lord lives and reigns. There is to be such a time of trouble as there never was since there was a nation. Already nations are angry, already Satan is working with signs and lying wonders, and this will increase until the end. God will use his enemies as instruments to punish those who have followed their own pernicious ways whereby the truth God has been misrepresented, misjudged, and dishonored. These enemies of God are living evidences of the truth of His word; they are fulfilling that which holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. God does not forewarn His people of trifles; the repetition of caution and warnings shows that there is importance in that which was spoken. Do those who claim to want light, treat the light with the respect which is due? PC 136.3

O, the solemnity of the day of God is upon us. The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. A great work is to be done in God's moral vineyard. I can say from the heart, I have done all I could to help the work in this new field; I have borne agony of soul because there has been so little perception of the work to be done in these far off regions. If God has seen fit to send the truth to these countries, it is not that it shall be hindered, but the responses shall be made to our appeals for this field because there is an intelligent understanding of the whole field and an appreciation of the work done by the workers in these fields. It becomes those who act a part as Christ's representatives at this time not to dwell upon one portion of the work or of the vineyard, to the neglect of others portions of the field. All should share equally in attention, cultivation, and development. The great saving truths, vital with interest for this time, are to be proclaimed. These truths are to be the woof and warp of every discourse given, every plan devised, and every effort made, the sum, the substance, the core, the life of every appeal. The converting power of God must come to our people, not in spasmodic waves, but as a holy breathing from heaven, making known God's hidden treasure, the unsearchable riches of the Scriptures. PC 137.1

I am told that before finishing the life of Christ I ought to visit Jerusalem, the holy land. What made it holy? The Majesty of heaven clothed His divinity with humanity, and dwelt upon our earth. He was despised and rejected of men; in Jerusalem He was crucified by wicked hands. I have not the slightest inclination to visit Jerusalem, to see where it is thought probable that Jesus trod, where He may have labored, and where He may have been crucified. The means which might be expended thus I would prefer to treasure, that I may point souls to the Saviour risen from Joseph's tomb, and proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” I can trace His footprints in the sure word of prophecy, and can obtain a better idea of His works and of His ways, than I could by visiting Jerusalem, defiled with unholy feet and unholy deeds. I could not expend money to visit these places when the living interests of Christ's kingdom are to be presented to the people. We are to teach the word of God, and to be doers of that word, which is represented as building upon the rock; the structure thus built will withstand the storm and the tempest, because it is founded on the eternal Rock. PC 137.2

I wish to see Jerusalem when the fires of the last great day shall have cleansed it from all sinful defilement. Jerusalem is now no more sacred to me than any other place on the globe. Wherever by his Holy Spirit Jesus makes known His presence, wherever his righteousness shines forth in bright and glorious beams, wherever his divine love illuminates the humble places of the earth, wherever his honor dwells, there I am pleased to be. Christ looks with sadness upon the delusions that ensnare human minds who are so eager to behold the place where His feet are supposed once to have trodden, and yet who do not heed His command, “Follow me,” who do not walk in the light as He is in the light. A shadow is resting over Jerusalem, a terrible shadow, which I have no desire to come under. Everywhere a curse is visible, which I have no desire to look upon. I can see marks of the curse everywhere. To be able to say I have visited Jerusalem would not shed a distinct ray of light upon one soul. It would not enable me better to tell men and women what they must do to be saved. I present the word of God in truth. I listen to the precious lessons which Christ gave His disciples. In my mind the scenes of His ministry, the places where He taught by the lake side, and clothed with the solemnity and beauty which nature and the word of God have given them. I am content: I would not have darker pictures. I do not wish to look upon the desecrated shrines, with all the repulsive features that would meet my view. I would not be hired to behold the traces of the curse so evidently resting upon Jerusalem. I hope to see this spot when the earth shall be made new, when I shall behold Him whom my soul loveth, in His majesty and glory crowned as King of kings and Lord of lords. PC 138.1

I have not one word of encouragement for any person, neither have I money to impart to any person, to visit Jerusalem. As it now is, it would be a picture I would never wish to hang in memory's hall. Brethren, do you believe that you will soon see Jesus? Then do not needlessly expend means that is of so great value to save precious souls; they need never get a sight of Jerusalem under the curse, but with inspired words you can point them to the New Jerusalem, to Jesus the Mediator of the better covenant, who ever liveth to make intercession for us, and whose intercession is wholly efficacious in our behalf. I know that Christ looks with sadness upon those who are searching for the places He passed over while in the flesh, but who fail to recognize Him as a living Saviour, on any ground, in any place. He says, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Men may search in vain for the foot-prints of Christ in Jerusalem. I care more for where He is now, in heaven, and for what He is doing in my behalf. PC 138.2

Give to Jesus your devotion where He is in the heavenly sanctuary; seek for the holy Spirit as His representative wherever His people bow to worship Him. It becomes us to know Jesus by an experimental knowledge, as a personal Saviour. We should be gathering up every ray of divine light, not looking to old Jerusalem where Christ was once, but to the New Jerusalem where He is now. Let us be gathering from the tree of life that God has planted, leaves that shall be for the healing of the nations, and fruit, precious, life-giving fruit as food to the soul. PC 138.3

O, search with prayer, most earnest prayer, to know what God has written; and to trace the foot-prints of Jesus in His life of perfect obedience to His Father's commandments. Endeavor to catch the inspiration in expounding the word, the sure word of prophecy, that it shall not be as dead letter, but a living, burning, shining light from the throne of God, preparing a people to endure the trails, the sufferings and persecution which Christ endured. PC 139.1

Who can be made to understand that the inner life must be hid with Christ in God? Such are in the habit of praying, for Christ prayed. Such are in the habit of searching the Scriptures for themselves, and more earnestly as they see the day approaching. Such ones, who love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves, will give themselves to God as a free will offering, and that gift will include all they have. None can give themselves without reserve unless their possessions also are included, and they are dispensing their God-given trust of means as the Lord's goods. They produce fruit in good works. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” PC 139.2

(Signed)

Ellen G. White

(From Doctor Paulson's Collection) -

Some are acting the part of Aaron, to help on the work of apostasy. They have been weighed in the balances, and have been found wanting. Men are spoiling their record, and are proving that they are not to be trusted, but that they will betray the interests of the cause of God, making them the sport of sinners. The messages of heavenly origin that God has sent to his people, to prepare them to stand in the last days, they have sneered at and scorned. But the evidence we have had for the past fifty years of the presence of the Spirit of God with us as a people, will stand the test of those who are now arraying themselves on the side of the enemy and bracing themselves against the message of God. - Testimony to members of the B. C. Church, October 24, 1907. - - PC 139.3

Great principles and minute practice cannot be disconnected in a symmetrical life. - Mrs. E. G. White, August 3, 1894, Doctor Paulson's Collection. - PC 139.4

O how little men, even presidents of conferences, know of the power and helpful strength that God gives to the earnest, humble seeker who puts his trust in God, and does not place men as counselors, in the place where God alone should be. There are thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand angels that minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation. - A. O. Tait, August 27, 1896, From Doctor Paulson's Collection. - - PC 140.1

Just at that time the devil was influencing minds to hold back my books published at Review and Herald. Those at the head of the work there discouraged the agents about handling “Patriarchs and Prophets” and “Great Controversy,” the very books which the people should have had at once, and concentrated their efforts on “Bible Readings,” promising that at a certain time they would concentrate their efforts on my books. But this promise they never kept. At the very time when “G. C.” should have been circulated everywhere, it was lying idle on the shelves of the Review and Herald and Pacific Press. - J. N. Loughborough, February 19, 1899, Doctor Paulson's Collection. - - PC 140.2

The light given by God for the people was hidden away in the publishing houses. The inner working of this matter was presented to me, and I saw that the very men who said that the canvassers would not handle my books, were themselves arranging matters so that they should not handle them. They told me falsehoods. - Id. - PC 140.3

The Lord Jesus sent a mighty angel to make plain to John, by the use of symbols, the things that were to come to pass until the coming of Christ. He was bidden to write the instruction in a book for the benefit of the seven churches. This writing we now have preserved in the book of Revelation, but this book is understood by only a few. It contains the message for the last days, and we are to dwell much upon these prophecies. - The work in Oakland and San Francisco, December 26, 1906. - PC 140.4