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Time is Almost Finished
Some will be translated, while others will die
But Lucinda said Ellen White predicted...and set date after date
But Lucinda said Ellen White predicted...they would be put in prison
But lucinda said Ellen White...was into deep fanaticism
This is a very significant statement. Mrs. White was saying that the truths that she and her associates had spent five years learning would have to be learned by new converts in only a few months.
Rev. 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev. 22.7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev. 22.12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev. 22.20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The above accusation is simply fulfillingNo, of course not! For each person has only their lifetime to find salvation in the Lord. "Today," God says to each individaul, "is the day of salvation". Be prepared "TODAY"!
The truth is:
The methods the antagonists use to discredit Ellen G. White will work just as effectively to discredit the Bible.
Those who follow the line of reasoning used against EGW are walking on very shaky ground as they develop thinking patterns that would just as effectively deny the Bible as truth.
The same methods that vindicate the Bible also vindicate Ellen White. Ellen White's prophecies follow the same pattern as BIBLICAL prophecies. And to me that is evidence that she is a true prophet.
Some will be translated, Others Food for Worms
What about this quote, is it to be read and considered as well?
GC.458.001 It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in the wilderness; He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan and establish them there, a holy, happy people. But "they could not enter in because of unbelief." Hebrews 3:19. Because of their backsliding and apostasy they perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the Promised Land. In like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed and His people should remain so many years in this world of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to do the work which He had appointed them, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In mercy to the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning and find in Him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out.
The thing we must realize is that God has NOT revealed the time of Christ's coming TO ANY PROPHET!
No prophet ever received a revelation of the exact TIME of the second coming,
even Christ Himself, while He walked on earth as a man, DID NOT KNOW THE HOUR. (Mark 13:32)
The message has always been "watch and pray for you DON'T KNOW THE HOUR!...Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping" (Mark 13: 33,36)
In other words, every person no matter what time period in earth's history they lived in were to "watch and pray" for it might be in their life time!
We believe Christ could have come "ere this". His messages to His people sought to rouse and rally them to active service for HIM, and to sound the message to the world, and if the urgency of the message had done it's work, Christ could have come ere this.
Also consider these Bible texts:
Matt. 24.30
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Firstly, the disciples all died without literally seeing the second coming of Christ.
No, they did not live to see the actual coming of Christ to claim His kingdom, they only saw "tokens" of it. They saw the message spread, they fully believed in their hearts and minds the certainity of Christ's coming. They experienced the fulfilment BY FAITH, not literally.
In the same way the message of EGW was a message of preparation and faith. The New Testament is full of texts dealing with the tension between "now is" and "yet to come". (See John 5:25)
So thus we know THERE IS MORE!
Every generation is told that time is short, and indeed it is short for each generation as they only have their life spans to wait. Then they sleep in death till the resurrection. YET, there will be a generation which will see the endtime events wrap up and Christ will come during their actual life span. During that last generation, some will die, some will go through the last plagues, and some will be translated without dying even the first death. Finally, people who have died [yes the people sitting in that room listening to EGW] who died with the hope of the third angel's message, will be resurrected in that special resurrection, some in the resurrection of life, and others in the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:29) To experience the last scenes of the unfolding drama of this earth. At that time Matt. 26:64 will be fulfilled as Caiaphas rises to see Christ coming. But Caiaphas will not be translated into heaven, he will die again, but God's people will meet Christ in the air and join Him "in the Glory of His kingdom".
Verily I [Jesus] say unto you,[His disciples] There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
Matt. 24.33-34 So likewise you, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Yet, they had a "foretaste" of it. At the transfiguration they witnessed Christ in His glory. Elijah and Moses stood beside Him. Moses was a witness to Christ's victory over sin and death. He represented those who shall come forth from the grave at the resurrection of the just. Elijah, who had been translated to heaven without seeing death, represented those who will be living upon the earth at Christ's second coming, and who will be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump;" when "this mortal must put on immortality," and "this corruptible must put on incorruption." 1 Cor. 15:51-53. Jesus was clothed with the light of heaven, as He will appear when He shall come "the second time without sin unto salvation." For He will come "in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Heb. 9:28; Mark 8:38. The Saviour's promise to the disciples was now fulfilled. Upon the mount the future kingdom of glory was represented in miniature.
Indeed some at that meeting died within a few weeks-- for them the message to prepare for death was timely. Others struggled on through many trials, preaching the three angels last message of warning to the world and seeing results. Yet the vision of Christ's coming was ever reality to them THROUGH FAITH!
Christ's prediction that there would BE PEOPLE alive who would never see death--(no not even the first death),
And EGW's prediction that there would BE PEOPLE alive who would never see death, will come true.
First a person must recognize that the Millerite movement involved thousands of people.
Secondly one must recognize that the great disappointment of 1844 fractured this large group of people into many divisions. Many gave up the whole message of 1844. When Ellen White received her first vision, December 1844, she and the whole group in Portland, Maine where her parents lived had pretty much given up the idea that God had led in the 1844 movement. (See WLF 21) In that first vision God showed her that He had led them in the movement and as long as they did not reject the "light behind them" and kept their eyes upon Jesus, He would lead them to the heavenly home.
Now it is true that many of the Millerites were setting repeated dates for the second coming of the Lord.
That they believed that Christ had “delayed” His coming but would come very soon is true. Yet the human longing for “a time” must not be confused with the messages given by God as HE was leading a people INTO understanding truth.
In the year 1845 there was as yet no Seventh-day Adventists as such, there were just people searching for answers. The “primary group” who were to become the leaders of Seventh-day Adventism had no published paper during this time. They didn't start publishing their "Present Truth" paper until 1849. James White's first published works were "Word to Little Flock" in April, 1847 and a single sheet containing Ellen's first two visions, in April, 1846. Neither of which specified any DATES. There were, however, papers published by other Millerites who did advocate DATES. So to say, Ellen White was “publishing“ her views in a “little shut door paper“ that Christ would come in 1845 is false. The truth is that Millerite Adventists were publishing such views quite apart from any input by Ellen White.
Thirdly, supposition that God miraculously made EGW all knowing, with mature and full understanding of all prophecy and complete knowledge of all the foundation of truths of Seventh-day Adventism in her first few visions, is pure fantasy. Ellen White was very much a human being, and one should not confuse the messages of the visions God gave her to lead them into fuller Bible study and truth, with her own human growth in understanding as she receive those messages.
All SDA doctrines came about by serious Bible Study, as the pioneers searched the scriptures to find the truth. In the year 1845 we know that many Millerites were hoping that Christ would come that October. That Ellen longed for the visions of heaven she had seen to come true at that time, is quite likely-- UNTIL, before the date even arrived, God revealed to her not to look for any SET date.
James White wrote:
These statements relative to time setting were printed about thirty years ago, and the books containing them have been circulated everywhere; yet some ministers claiming to be well acquainted with me, state that I have set time after time for the Lord to come, and those times have passed, therefore my visions are false. No doubt these false statements are received by many as truth; but none who are acquainted with me or with my labors can in candor make such report. This is the testimony I have ever borne since the passing of the time in 1844: "Time after time will be set by different ones, and will pass by; and the influence of this time setting will tend to destroy the faith of God's people." If I had in vision seen definite time, and had borne my testimony to it, I could not have written and published, in the face of this testimony, that all times that should be set would pass, for the time of trouble must come before the coming of Christ. Certainly for the last thirty years, that is, since the publication of this statement, I would not be inclined to set time for Christ to come, and thus place myself under the same condemnation with those whom I was reproving. And I had no vision until 1845, which was after the passing of the time of general expectation in 1844. I was then shown what I have here stated.
And has not this testimony been fulfilled in every particular? The First-day Adventists have set time after time, and notwithstanding the repeated failures, they have gathered courage to set new times. God has not led them in this. Many of them have rejected the true prophetic time, and ignored the fulfillment of prophecy, because the time passed in 1844, and did not bring the expected event. They rejected the truth, and the enemy has had power to bring strong delusions upon them that they should believe a lie. The great test on time was in 1843 and 1844; and all who have set time since then have been deceiving themselves and deceiving others.
Again in 1851 there were individuals setting a date based on "the seven year" principle (seven years following 1844) but that view was also spoken against by both Ellen White and her husband.
James White wrote:
You see, Ellen White, contrary to Lucinda's charge was speaking AGAINST date setting for Christ's coming. God revealed to her that there would be a "time of trouble" BEFORE Christ would return. That is the message God revealed to her while the "Millerites" in general were setting date after date for Christ's return, her message was that they were NOT to look for ANY message based on time, there was yet prophecy to fulfilled BEFORE Christ would come that had not yet been fulfilled.
The message she taught that a great time of trouble was ahead for those who "kept the commandments of God and had the faith of Jesus", she consistantly presented for the rest of her life and it is based upon the prophetic messages of Revelation, especially Revlation 12:17, and chapters 13 and 14 etc.
Lucinda, however, presents these messages as if EGW were predicating "the time of trouble" would happen to them personally on a certain trip. This of course is a total distortion of what her message was.
Much of Ellen White's early travels and messages were to caution AGAINST fanaticism which had invaded the "millerite" groups [There was no Seventh-day Adventist church in 1845, just the varied fragments of the Millerite movement].
What does Ellen White herself say about this fanaticism:
Life Sketches pages 85-86
There were some who professed great humility, and advocated creeping on the floor like children, as an evidence of their humility. They claimed that the words of Christ in Matthew 18:1-6 must have a literal fulfillment at this period, when they were looking for their Saviour to return. They would creep around their houses, on the street, over bridges, and in the church itself.
I told them plainly that this was not required; that the humility which God looked for in His people was to be shown by a Christlike life, not by creeping on the floor. All spiritual things are to be treated with sacred dignity. Humility and meekness are in accordance with the life of Christ, but they are to be shown in a dignified way.
A Christian reveals true humility by showing the gentleness of Christ, by being always ready to help others, by speaking kind words and performing unselfish acts, which elevate and ennoble the most sacred message that has come to our world.
Now Ellen White also wrote against "cold formalism" as well as "fanatacism", thus her critics from both "extremes", by pushing to the other extreme, brought forth their misrepresentations.
As to James White traveling with Ellen White---
The way it was presented by the "critics" was that they travelled together, alone. And as our thus traveling subjected us tot he reproaches of the enemies of the Lord and His truth, duty seemed very clear that the one who had so important a message to the world should have a legal protector, and that we should unite our labors....[later James wrote] We were married August 30, 1846, and from that hour to the present she has been my crown of rejoicing.
Often it was a rather large group that traveled with her, as is shown here:
This was not the case.
It was necessary that she should have one or more attendants. Either her sister Sarah or her faithful companion Louisa Foss traveled with her. And as neither her aged father nor feeble brother were suitable persons to travel with one so feeble, and introduce her and her mission to the people, the writer [James] fully believing that her wonderful experience and work was of God, became satisfied that it was his duty to accompany them.
Back to EGW page.
Oct. 17,2003