Diary/“Execute True Judgment”
Battle Creek, Michigan
April 28, 1901
Previously unpublished. +NoteOne or more typed copies of this document contain additional Ellen White handwritten interlineations which may be viewed at the main office of the Ellen G. White Estate.
I retired at eight o’clock. It is now eleven. I am unable to sleep. My soul is in great distress. Will my brethren allow this Conference to end without making matters right? For years the Lord has been sending messages to this institution with regard to the way in which principles have been perverted and the injustice that has been done. He has declared that the crooked dealing should be made straight. But has this been done? No, no. There has been and is unjust dealing in regard to many things. Cannot those who act a part in these transactions see the influence of such dealing upon the whole work? Will they always be blinded in regard to the perversion of principle? The work of some has been of such a character that the rebuke of God rests on them for injustice. His rebuke rests on all who had any part in the misappropriation of the funds raised for the special purpose of helping the Southern work in its great need. In His mercy and longsuffering, He has given all an opportunity to make wrongs right. Why has not this been done? 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 1
The Lord stretched out His hand to save J. E. White. His brethren did not try to save him, but the Lord wrought for him. He was warned not to take up a certain work, because there were those who were watching his every movement, and who would make him an offender for a word, construing his actions into evil if they had the semblance of an excuse. They would magnify every supposed wrong. Things not in themselves objectionable would be made the subject of unkind criticism. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 2
There were those who did not try to discover their own errors, but exaggerated every seeming inconsistency in one who was trying to do the Lord’s will. They hindered the work that they should have done their utmost to advance. God would have been better pleased had such ones been engaged in prayer instead of in criticism. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 3
How many there are who seem anxious to detect something wrong in the words and actions of their brethren. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 4
The debt on the Central Manufacturing Company should never have been incurred. But the reports made with regard to this debt were very different from the reality. The conclusion reached with regard to it were very much exaggerated. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 5
I was very desirous that the work that Edson had begun in the South should be carried forward, and I thought that if I assumed the debt, it could not then be used as an excuse for oppressing Edson and hindering him in his work. I therefore took this debt upon myself, and the office agreed to hold me responsible until it is paid. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 6
The Lord put it into J. E. White’s mind to prepare a book for circulation in the Southern field, a book that could be used in schools as a textbook for younger children. The profits on the sale of this book were to be used for the advancement of the work in the South. But the matter was so managed by selfish men that J. E. White was not allowed to retain the ownership of this book. Thus he was deprived of an income that he had hoped to use to train workers for the Southern field. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 7
The situation J. E. White was in made him powerless in the hands of those who were ready to take advantage of him. He was forced to do, in regard to his books, things that he would not have done had circumstances been different, things that he did with the greatest reluctance. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 8
Matters might have been adjusted kindly, mercifully, without a vestige of oppression. There was no need to drive Edson into a hard place, where he would be obliged to assent to unjust propositions. But sternness was shown. His brethren brought to bear on him an iron-like pressure, because they had the advantage, the power to do what they liked. God saw it all. He pronounced it injustice, underhand and merciless dealing. He says, “Shall I not judge for these things?” [Jeremiah 5:9.] 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 9
The whole matter was opened before me. I was shown the dishonest scheming, and the selfish, unholy principles lying at the foundation of this scheming. For many years wrong principles have been followed by some in connection with the Lord’s work. What was looked upon as wise business management was in reality a dishonor to the Lord’s institutions. The temple of God was defiled by robbery. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 10
The whole chapter is a shameful record, which should never have been traced. Wrongs existed, but they were not such as should have produced the miserable history that will be seen when the record books of heaven are opened. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 11
Sometimes I lie awake almost all night thinking of these things. Some nights I do not close my eyes, so burdened am I over the matter, feeling that I ought to write of the wrongs that have been done, yet fearing that any words I might write would be set aside as idle tales, and that it would be said that I had written them because J. E. White is my son. So heavy did the burden become that at last I made a solemn vow that I would vindicate the right, whether men would hear or whether they would forbear. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 12
Edson has been represented in such a way that those who are not acquainted with the real facts in the case are filled with prejudice. They have judged him unjustly, to the hindrance of the work. He might have been much more useful, he might have been a much greater blessing, than he has been; but some of his brethren have put up bars against his progress. They thought they were doing God service. But their unfair dealing has made Him ashamed to call them brethren. May He pity them in their blindness. They will do in the case of others as they have done in Edson White’s case. Let them remember that as they judge, so they will be judged. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 13
The Lord desires His work no longer to bear the marks of defective management. Souls are too precious, they cost Christ too much, to be bruised and wounded, at the impulse of men who need to humble their hearts before God and repent of their sins. In spite of the failure of his brethren to give him encouragement, J. E. White took up the work the Lord gave him. I know there were those who wanted to drive him from his work in the South. If their hearts had been pure and holy, they would have encouraged Brother Palmer and J. E. White in this work, feeling that it was a blessing for them to take it up; and they would have encouraged others to join them. But how differently they acted. Brother Palmer was called away from the work at the very time that he was most needed, and Edson was left alone to manage as best he could. Selfishness was the root that bore this fruit. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 14
The Lord has made this experience a great blessing to Edson. God has gone before him, and he has not allowed obstructions to drive him from the field. Notwithstanding all that has been done to weaken his hands, he has been given strength to hold on. A good work has been done by him and his fellow laborers. But this work is still in its infancy. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 15
I asked Edson if he would not engage with me in the work of getting out my books. I feared that his health would give way. And the work the Lord gave him to do was made so hard by some of his brethren that I was afraid that he would fail because of discouragement. But not even to unite [with] his mother could he be prevailed [upon] to leave his field of labor. He refused to leave the work in the South; for the Lord has not released him. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 16
God has been giving Edson an experience of great value. He has sent him forth as His messenger to proclaim present truth. He has given him helpers of more than ordinary ability. And now Brother Palmer, who, thought separated from the work in the South, has never lost his interest in it, feels that it is his duty to engage in this work once more, and to devote his energies to the establishment of the interests that the Lord has said should be built up in Nashville. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 17
I dare not leave Nashville without presenting this message to those who have engaged in the strange work of hindering the Lord’s servants. Men have had it in their power greatly to help the work in the South by being men of principle—honest with their brethren and with God. What a different showing there would today be in the Southern field had they fulfilled God’s purpose for them. The neglect of this field stands as a witness against them. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 18
“The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in His Spirit by the former prophets; therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass, that as He cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts; but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through, nor returned; for they laid the pleasant land desolate.” [Zechariah 7:8-14.] 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 19
“Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll. ... Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts; and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.” [Zechariah 5:1-4.] 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 20
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This morning I talked with Brother Kilgore, Brother Palmer, and Edson, and I said, Go, in the name of the Lord, to the Southern field. Move forward steadily, but do not become involved in debt. Establish the publishing work in Nashville, that suitable reading matter may be provided for the Southern field. You will find many sympathizers among unbelievers. Go to them, and ask them for help. Tell them what you wish to do for the colored people. Worldly honor, convenience, pleasure, sink into insignificance beside the work of saving souls. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 21
Beside all waters we are to sow the seeds of truth. Among the white and the colored people of the South there are men and women of talent who will be brought into the truth to answer the many calls of the Lord for workers. They will go forth into the harvest field proclaiming the last message of mercy. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 22
It is a terrible thought that there are so many in the South who are living in utter indifference to the claims of God. The Lord points His people to this neglected field and bids them spread abroad in it the knowledge of His love. Churches must be built and schools and sanitariums established. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 23
God calls. Do you hear His voice? He calls upon human beings to unite with divine intelligences. Will you hear, and, denying self, take up the cross and follow Him? Those who give themselves up to love of ease and prosperity suffer an eternal loss. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 24
Time is passing; the end is near. Every one has a work to do for the Master. God’s people are to be channels for the communication of His grace to the world. 17LtMs, Ms 64, 1902, par. 25