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Ellen G. White — Messenger to the Remnant - Contents
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    Chapter 6—Early Development Of Church Order

    For five years following the disappointment, it was almost impossible for Sabbathkeeping Adventists to secure the attention of even those who had been in the 1844 message, much less that of the public. All doors to the advocating of the third angel’s message seemed closed. But by 1849 a perceptible change was evident. Welcoming the new opportunities for presenting the truth, Elder James White wrote fervently on March 22 of that year:EGWMR 44.1

    “The harvest indeed is great and the laborers are few. ‘What is done must be done quickly.’ Amen. Those who labor in the cause have much to discourage them; also they have much to encourage them. It seems that those who come into the whole truth now will stand. This is encouraging indeed. Much labor and money has been spent in time past where no visible good now appears; but those who spend time, talent, and money in the cause now are sure of a reward. $100 will tell more for the salvation of the remnant now than $10,000 in 1843 and ‘44.”—Record Book I, pp. 41, 42.EGWMR 44.2

    Two years later, the prospects for the message were still brighter. “Now the door is open almost everywhere to present the truth,” reports James White, “and many are prepared to read the publications who have formerly had no interest to investigate.”—Review and Herald, August 19, 1851, p. 13, col. 2.EGWMR 44.3

    In the general gatherings held that summer, God’s blessing was markedly manifest, attendance was doubled, and the meetings were excellent. Elder White’s report of the conference held at Camden, New York, indicates that it “was the best second advent meeting that we ever attended.” Some were present who had “attended spiritual meetings for about thirty years,” and the “unanimous testimony” was that “this meeting exceeded any meeting of the kind they ever witnessed.”—Review and Herald Extra, July 21, 1851, p. 3, col. 3. Of the Oswego Conference held a little later in the summer, he says:EGWMR 44.4

    “The brethren came together in the spirit of the gospel, and perfect harmony and union existed quite through the meeting. It was frequently remarked during the meeting that this was like second advent meetings in 1843 and 1844. The brethren were greatly comforted and strengthened in the truth.”—Review and Herald, September 16, 1851, p. 32, col. 3.EGWMR 44.5

    Then, when the prospects seemed the brightest in seven years, the work was endangered by the introduction, in some regions, of strange and misleading teachings. A few sincere souls were in danger of being led into fanaticism.EGWMR 44.6

    This situation was complicated by the fact that there seemed no way to prevent unworthy persons from traveling and teaching in the name of the little flock, and no way of disfellowshiping those in error. The believers in the various companies had been brought together by certain common beliefs, but there was no church organization to firmly knit them into a body capable of controlling its own membership or of defending itself against impostors. There was no overseeing organization to recognize its teachers or direct in their activities. As early as July, 1851, James White sounded a note of caution in which he names two deceptive lines of teaching:EGWMR 44.7

    “A WARNING.—We feel called upon to warn our brethren to beware of the influence of those who profess to be the lovers of truth and holiness, whose lives and teachings do not correspond. They profess enough of the truth to enable them to deceive some honest souls, and many are led to suppose that we are in fellowship with these characters who hold some doctrines as corrupt and as black as hell. This may seem to be harsh language; but we cannot conceive of language too pointed to express our views of that ‘damnable heresy’ that leads to the violation of the seventh commandment. We mean the doctrine of spiritual union.EGWMR 44.8

    “We feel to pity and mourn over the condition of our honest brethren who have fallen into the mischievous error and bewitching snare of modern Spiritualism, and we would do all in our power to help them. But those who are so abandoned of God as to advance and still urge the abominable heresy above mentioned should not be allowed a place with the saints for one moment.”—Review and Herald Extra, July 21, 1851, p. 4, col. 1. (Italics mine.)EGWMR 44.9

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