A) ALL PRESENT SAVED.

B) A VISION THAT WAS LAUGHED AT.

C) AVONDALE AUSTRALIA.

D) NON-REFORM OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE.

E) SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SANITARIUM NEEDED.

F) MANIFESTATIONS OF DEPARTED FRIENDS.

G) THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE.

H) MISCELLANEOUS.

 

 

A) ALL PRESENT SAVED

 

 

In 1856, Mrs. White declared:  “I was shown the company present at the Conference.  Said the angel: ‘Some food for worms, some subjects of the seven last plagues, some will be alive and remain upon the earth to be translated at the Coming of Jesus.’ ”  3SG:209; 1T131-132.

 

Here is the statement as given in 2SG:208:  “At the conference a very solemn vision was given me.  I saw that some of those present would be food for worms, some subjects for the seven last plagues, and some would be translated to Heaven at the Second Coming of Christ, without seeing death.”

 

The “vision” is clarified by Sister Clara B’s, statement:  “I feel impressed that I am one that will soon be food for worms.”  2SG:208-209.  Apparently, the vision was to show and prepare for the upcoming death of sister Clara.  In regards to the rest of the statement, remember the statement about our Lord, in which she stated that He could have Come, the Second Coming being in 1888.

 

She wrote again in 1888:  “The Lifegiver’s voice has not yet called the sleeping saints from their gloomy prisons, but we have not lost faith, because the predicted hour has not yet arrived. . . The hour will come; it is not far distant, and some of us who now believe will be alive upon the earth, and shall see the prediction verified, and hear the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God echo from mountain and plain and sea, to the uttermost parts of the earth.  All creation will hear that voice, and those who have lived and died in Jesus, will respond to the call of the Prince of Life.”  RH, July 31, 1888.

 

Of course, all who were alive way back then are now, of course, dead.  How do we explain this?  The answer is conditional prophecy.  Just as Jonah’s prophecy of Nineveh (Jonah, Chapters 3&4) did not come to pass, here we must remember that she was told God’s kingdom could have come in her lifetime.  In 1896 she wrote:  “If those who claimed to have a living experience in the things of God had done their appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would have been warned ere this, and the Lord Jesus would have Come in power and great glory.”  RH, October 6, 1896.

 

Also, in 9T:29, published in 1909, she wrote:  “If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning.  But the work is years behind.  While men have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us.”

 

If we apply the principle of conditionality to her 1856 vision, the problem is cleared away:

 

“Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have Come ere this to receive His people to their reward.”  Ev:695.

 

 

A Little breakaway here.  SDA’s:  There is a statement used to support the SDA Church going through the Time of Trouble.  Here it is in 2SM:380:  “The Church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall.  It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out -- the chaff separated from the precious wheat.”

 

However, which “Church” is around at this time, in the time of trouble?

 

Previous sentence:  ”Everything in God’s world, both men and doctrines and nature itself, is fulfilling God’s sure word of prophecy and accomplishing His grand and closing work in this world’s history.”  2SM 379.3.

 

After sentence:  ”The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy.”  2SM:380.  Note:  When do “The remnant” exist?  Answer:  During the Time Of Trouble.

 

 

B) A VISION THAT WAS LAUGHED AT

 

 

“A large congregation assembled.  Brother Waggoner gave the sermon, and Brother White made the dedicatory prayer.  Sister White followed with a very powerful exhortation.  Then, as she sat down in the chair, she was taken off in vision, which lasted some twenty minutes or more.”  PUR, March 7, 1912.

 

“The congregation watched every move with intense interest.  Most of those present had never seen her in vision.  The vision over and Ellen White breathing again, she soon stood and told briefly of what had been revealed to her.  An indelible impression was made on the minds of those in the audience.  Later Loughborough recounted his memory of her statement:

 

“ ‘Men are making light of the secession ordinance that has been passed by South Carolina.  They have little idea of the trouble that is coming on our land.  No one in this house has even dreamed of the trouble that is coming.

 

“ ‘I have just been shown in vision that a number of States are going to join South Carolina in this secession, and a terrible war will be the result.  In the vision I saw large armies raised by both the North and the South.  I was shown the battle raging.  I heard the booming of the cannon, and saw the dead and wounded falling on every side.  I was then taken to hospitals, and saw the sufferings of the sick and wounded prisoners.  I was taken in the vision to the homes of those who had lost sons, brothers, or husbands in the war.  There was distress and mourning all over the land.’

 

“Then, looking pensively over the congregation, Ellen White declared:

 

“ ‘There are men in this house who will lose sons in that war.’ ”  1BIO:463.

 

 

In 1885, Ellen White predicted:  “When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism. . . then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.”  5T:451.

 

At the time she wrote those words, Protestants and Catholics were all but at war with each other.  In 1885 the ecumenical movement was still a long way in the future.  Just one example:  On March 29, 1994, 39 leading evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics signed a document entitled, “Evangelicals and Catholics Together:  The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium.”

 

“After coming out of vision, I said to my husband:  ‘I have a message for you.  You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people.  Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first.  From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of light that went clear round the world.’ ”  Life Sketches, p. 125.

 

 

C) AVONDALE AUSTRALIA

 

 

In LS:351, EGW urges the location of the Avondale school to be “a wide distance from the cities.”

 

In 1894, the Avondale property is located at 70 miles from Sydney, 1500 acres for $3 an acre.

 

On May 21, 1894, the Australian Government fruit expert states:  “The land. . . has the great drawback of being in the first place expensive to clear, and when cleared, of requiring draining and liming to produce satisfactory returns, and even when got into condition the land will require constant manuring to maintain its fertility. . . It is my opinion that the Society will be unwise to select the land I visited.”  A. H. Benson.

 

On May 25, 1894, Pastor McCullagh is miraculously healed at Avondale, inspiring the decision to purchase the land.

 

In Letter 82, 1894, EGW writes:  “There was perfect unity in making the decision to purchase the 1500 acres of land at the price of $4,500.”

 

However, bad reports led the brethren to delay further operations, reconsider location, and possibly forfeit the deposit.

 

On August 27, 1894, Ellen White writes:  “When the board wants to go back on this purchase, I pledge myself to secure the land. . . No one need to have regret in reference to this land, for with proper working, it will surprise the people in this section of the country.  All the regret I have is that we have not money to take in sections of the land that would expand the ground.  I have not one doubt in reference to the securing of this land. . . In the dream you have heard me relate, words were spoken of land which I was looking at, and after deep ploughing and thorough cultivating, it brought forth a bountiful harvest.  Having had this matter presented to me at different times, I am more than ever convinced that this is the right location for the school.”  Ms. 35, 1894.

 

On July, 1895, Ellen White bought 66 acres, and on August, 1895, she moved into four tents on her land.

A. G. Daniel’s wrote in, Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 314:  “On one occasion she quoted words from the Heavenly messenger spoken to her for our assurance, ‘They have borne false witness against the land.’  Repeatedly she assured us, ‘God will spread a table in the wilderness. . .’ “

 

On April 28, 1897, the Avondale School was opened.  All prophecies of the Avondale School were fulfilled as early as 1909.  Professor C. W. Irwin, Avondale principal from 1903-1908, stated in Abiding Gift of Prophecy, p. 318:  “As time has gone on, and we have had an opportunity to watch the work develop, we can say most assuredly, from our experience, that God led in the selection of this place.  Everything that has been said about the location of the school in this place has been fulfilled -- everything.”

 

 

D) NON-REFORM OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE

 

 

“God. . . has a controversy with the managers of the publishing house.  I have been almost afraid to open the Review, fearing to see that God has cleansed the publishing house by fire. . . Unless there is a reformation, calamity will overtake the publishing house, and the world will know the reason.”  8T:91, 96.

 

“On December 30, 1902, the publishing house was totally destroyed by fire of an unknown origin.  Within an hour of its discovery, at 7:25 p.m., by employees working the night shift, the entire four-story structure was a mass of blazing ruins.  Nothing of value was saved.  The machinery, furniture, printed books and periodicals, paper stock, and other materials were a total loss.  The $150,000 insurance did not fully cover the building and its contents.”  10 BC, p. 1213 (Revised 1976).  In a side note:  No lives were lost.

 

“I have been shown that in Southern California there are properties for sale on which buildings are already erected that could be utilized for our work, and other properties in localities especially suited to sanitarium work, and that such properties will be offered to us at much less than their original cost.”  Letter 157b, 1902.

 

 

E) SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SANITARIUM NEEDED

 

 

In January, 1904, the Paradise Valley Sanitarium was purchased (Story of Our Health Message, pp. 338, 339).

 

In September, 1904, the Glendale Sanitarium was purchased (Ibid, pp. 340, 341).

 

In June, 1905, the Loma Linda Property was purchased (Ibid, pp. 343-361).

 

From The Minutes of Southern California Conference, June 20, 1905; D. E. Robinson, Story of Our Health Message, pp. 351, 352, speaking of the importance of Loma Linda:  “The Southern California Conference president then spoke of the importance of the decision that was to be made.  In an official report of this meeting, it is recorded:  ‘He then stated that Sister White had said that this sanitarium should be the principal training school on this coast.’  At this point Sister White interrupted him and said, ‘This will be.’ ”

 

 

F) MANIFESTATIONS OF DEPARTED FRIENDS

 

 

In 1897 EGW made the prediction of the appearance of departed friends:  “It is not difficult for the evil angels to represent both saints and sinners who have died, and make these representations visible to human eyes.  These manifestations will be more frequent, and developments of a more startling character will appear as we near the close of time.”  RH, April 4, 1897; Ev:604.

 

In The Ring of Truth, pp. 118, 119, J. B. Phillips writes:  “Many of us who believe in what is technically known as the Communion of Saints must have experienced the sense of nearness, for a fairly short time, of those whom we love soon after they have died.  This has certainly happened to me several times.  But the late C. S. Lewis, whom I did not know very well and had only seen in the flesh once, but with whom I had corresponded a fair amount, gave me an unusual experience.  A few days after his death, while I was watching television, he ‘appeared’ sitting in a chair within a few feet of me, and spoke a few words which were particularly relevant to the difficult circumstances through which I was passing.  He was ruddier in complexion than ever, grinning all over his face and, as the old-fashioned saying has it, positively glowing with health.  The interesting thing to me was that I had not been thinking about him at all.

 

“I was neither alarmed nor surprised nor. . . did I look up to see the hole in the ceiling that he might have made on arrival!  He was just there -- ‘large as life and twice as natural.’  A week later, this time when I was in bed, reading before going to sleep, he appeared again, even more rosily radiant than before, and repeated to me the same message, which was very important to me at the time.  I was a little puzzled by this, and I mentioned it to a certain saintly bishop who was then living in retirement here in Dorset.  His reply was ‘My dear J, this sort of thing is happening all the time.’ ”

 

 

G) THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE

 

 

On September 1, 1902, EGW wrote in Ev:403-404:  “Not long hence these cities will suffer under the judgments of God.  San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them in wrath.”

 

From LS:407-409 [See the original in RH, May 24, 1906; only a few words are left out]:

 

“While at Loma Linda, Cal., April 16, 1906, {NOTE, TWO DAYS BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE; however, she was not given the time nor place in order to warn people; maybe because our Lord did not want them to be WARNED} {And here is RH, July 19, 1906 par. 13, “Many perished in the fearful calamity at San Francisco. How many who were destroyed by that awful earthquake, were prepared for death? How many who are still alive, will be admonished? None of us can foretell where the next destructive earthquake may be permitted to come. Who are prepared?”} 

 

“there passed before me a most wonderful representation.  During a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which I could see houses shaken like a reed in the wind.  Buildings, great and small, were falling to the ground.  Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes of the wealthy were shaken and shattered.  Many lives were blotted out of existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the terrified. {LS:407.2}

 

“The destroying angels of God were at work.  One touch {NOTICE WHO IS DOING WHAT AN EARTHQUAKE COULD NOT}, and buildings so thoroughly constructed that men regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of rubbish.  There was no assurance of safety in any place.  I did not feel in any special peril {BECAUSE SHE WAS IN L.A.}, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed before me I cannot find words to describe.  It seemed that the forbearance of God was exhausted, and that the judgment day had come. {LS:407.3}

 

“The angel that stood by my side then instructed me that but few have any conception of the wickedness [408]

 

“existing in our world today, and especially the wickedness in the large cities.  He declared that the Lord has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in wrath for persistent disregard of His Law. {LS:407.4}

 

“Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which impressed itself most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given me in connection with it.  The angel that stood by my side declared that God’s supreme rulership, and the sacredness of His Law, must be revealed to those who persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of kings.  Those who choose to remain disloyal, must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course. {LS:408.1}

 

“Throughout the following day I pondered the scenes that had passed before me, and the instruction that had been given.  During the afternoon we journeyed to Glendale, near Los Angeles; and the following night. . . I seemed to be in an assembly, setting before the people the requirements of God’s Law.  I read the Scriptures regarding the institution of the Sabbath in Eden at the close of the creation week, and regarding the giving of the Law at Sinai; and then declared that the Sabbath is to be observed ‘for a perpetual covenant,’ as a sign between God and His people forever, that they may know that they are sanctified by the Lord, their Creator. {LS:408.2}

 

“Then I further dwelt upon the supreme rulership of God above all earthly rulers.  His Law is to be the standard of action.  Men are forbidden to pervert their senses by intemperance, or by yielding their minds to satanic influences; for this makes impossible the keeping of God’s Law.  While the Divine Ruler [409]

 

“bears long with perversity, He is not deceived, and will not always keep silence.  His supremacy, His authority as Ruler of the universe, must finally be acknowledged, and the just claims of His Law vindicated. {LS:408.3}

 

“Much more instruction regarding the long-sufferance of God and the necessity of arousing transgressors to a realization of their perilous position in His sight, was repeated to the people, as received from my instructor.” {LS:409.1}

 

“It has taken me many days to write out a portion of that which was revealed those two nights at Loma Linda and Glendale.” {LS:409.2}

 

“On April 18, two days after the scene of falling buildings had passed before me, I went to fill an appointment in the Carr Street Church, Los Angeles.  As we neared the Church, we heard the newsboys crying, ‘San Francisco destroyed by an earthquake!’  With a heavy heart I read the first hastily printed news of the terrible disaster.” {LS:409.3}.

 

Thus, the San Francisco Earthquake of April 18, 1906 left 503 dead and 28,000 buildings destroyed either by earthquake or fire in San Francisco alone.  The area of destruction included some surrounding cities also.  She mentions “San Jose,” which is South-East of San Francisco in LS:410.1.

 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE IS THAT THE SDA CHURCHES WERE NOT DESTROYED

 

“On Sabbath morning Elder Haskell spoke in the Laguna Street Church in San Francisco -- the Church that was not destroyed by the earthquake; Elder Hibbard spoke in Oakland, others in Alameda and Berkeley {THUS, THESE WERE NOT DESTROYED EITHER}.  In all these Churches the appointment was given out that I would speak in the afternoon.”  RH, November 29, 1906 par. 6.

 

“I was much pleased to have the privilege of speaking in the Church at San Francisco.  My husband and I and a few others worked together to obtain the means to erect this building, over thirty years ago.  It would have been a heavy loss if this Church had been destroyed; but it was not seriously injured by the earthquake.”  RH, February 7, 1907 par. 2.

 

 

H) MISCELLANEOUS

 

 

Inflation Predicted:  “Money is needed now.  One dollar now, when it is actually needed, is worth as much as one hundred dollars will be by-and-by, when means are flowing into the treasury.”  RH, March 14, 1878.

 

“The great earthquake of San Francisco is to be followed by earthquakes in other places.  We need not be surprised if after a time Oakland should become so wicked that calamities will fall on this city also.”  Letter 10, 1907, p. 2; 5MR:111.1; 21MR:93.5; SpTB09:37.2.

 

NOTE:  In 1989 an earthquake name the “Loma Prieta Earthquake” struck when the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics was taking place {WHICH TEAMS WERE PLAYING?}.  63 deaths and nearly 3,800 injuries were recorded.

 

“There are some who are now boasting that in restoring San Francisco they will make it proof against such casualties in the future.  But these worldly wise men do not know that there is an omnipotent Ruler in the heavens, who possesses all power, and that He will do according to His Will.”  21MR:83.3.