“God Is Right—I Am Wrong”

At the General Conference of 1901 Mrs. White went into the pulpit and forcefully met dangerous teachings which had arisen in one local conference and threatened to involve our work in fanatical experiences. The leader of this movement was present when the issues were clearly set forth as they had been opened to Mrs. White before she left Australia. The day following her pointed address, in which she laid open all the dangers of the misleading teachings, the one who had led out in their presentation asked for the privilege of addressing the Conference. Permission was granted. His statement, which follows, indicates his hearty response to the message which cut directly across his work and views:EGWMR 19.16

“I feel unworthy to stand before this large assembly of my brethren this morning. Very early in life I was taught to reverence and to love the Word of God; and when reading in it how God used to talk to His people, correcting their wrongs, and guiding them in all their ways, when a mere boy I used to say: ‘Why don’t we have a prophet? Why doesn’t God talk to us now as He used to do?’EGWMR 20.1

“When I found this people, I was more than glad to know that there was a prophet among them, and from the first I have been a firm believer in, and a warm advocate of, the Testimonies and the Spirit of prophecy. It has been suggested to me at times in the past that the test on this point of faith comes when the testimony comes directly to us.EGWMR 20.2

“As nearly all of you know, in the testimony of yesterday morning the test came to me. But, brethren, I can thank God this morning that my faith in the Spirit of prophecy remains unshaken. God has spoken. He says I was wrong, and I answer, God is right, and I am wrong. Yea, let God be true, and every man a liar.EGWMR 20.3

“I am very, very sorry that I have done that which would mar the cause of God, and lead anyone in the wrong way. I have asked God to forgive me, and I know that He has done it. As delegates and representatives of the cause of God in the earth, I now ask you to forgive me my sins, and I ask your prayers for strength and wisdom to walk aright in the future. It is my determination, by the help of God to join glad hands with you in the kingdom of God.”—The General Conference Bulletin, April 23, 1901.EGWMR 20.4