With mixed emotions Ellen White traveled from Minneapolis to Battle Creek following the General Conference session. Her heart rejoiced with the precious revived truth of Christ our righteousness. Somewhat fearfully, however, she pondered what to expect in the attitude of the leaders residing in Battle Creek to whom the people looked. She did not have to wait long for the answer.
After an absence she would customarily fill the pulpit in the Tabernacle on her first Sabbath back in the city. This she was now invited to do. Two local elders from the church called on her Sabbath morning to inquire what her subject would be. Understanding well the intent of the question, she replied that this was a matter best left between her and the Lord. She urged the men to invite also A. T. Jones to speak soon in the Tabernacle. They replied they would have to check with Uriah Smith. "Then do this at once," Ellen White urged, "for time is precious and there is a message to come to this people and the Lord requires you to open the way."--Manuscript 30, 1889.
It was now clear that those whose hearts were fired with the light revived at Minneapolis would have to work around the prejudice of some of the leaders who had long resided in Battle Creek, and take the message to the churches. Even the church paper, the Review and Herald, would be of but little help under the circumstances.
And take it to the churches Ellen White and A. T. Jones did. Both began in the pulpit of the Battle Creek Tabernacle. In the normal order of things, meetings of one kind or another were held in the local conferences through the coming months. Further, by special arrangement of the General Conference Committee, three institutes were held during the spring and summer. The General Conference session late in October climaxed activities for the year. In a unique three-page statement near the close of 1889, Ellen White summarized in sweeping terms a review of her activities between the two General Conference sessions, 1888 and 1889.
Her Resume of Labors Through 1889
After the General Conference [of 1888] I journeyed to Battle Creek and commenced labor in Battle Creek. Visited Potterville [Michigan], by invitation, to attend the State ministers' meeting [November 22-27]. Returned to Battle Creek, and the same week felt urged by the Spirit of God to go to Des Moines, Iowa. Attended the Iowa ministers' meeting [November 29 to December 5]; spoke six times.
Returned to Battle Creek and labored in speaking to the institutions in this place, the Sanitarium, especially during the Week of Prayer [December 15-22] in the early morning. I also spoke on other occasions to patients and helpers. Spoke to the workers in the office of publication. Spoke in the Tabernacle.
Attended the South Lancaster meeting [beginning January 10]. Spoke there eleven times. Stopped on our way to Washington, D.C., and spoke in the evening to a goodly number assembled in the Brooklyn Mission. Spoke six times in Washington. Spoke on our returning route one evening in Williamsport. Spent Sabbath and first day in [Syracuse] New York. Spoke three times and was several hours in important council.
Returned to Battle Creek [February 4] and labored earnestly. Attended two weeks' meeting in Chicago [March 28-April 8] [The Review and Herald, May 7, 1889]. Spoke there many times. Returned to Battle Creek, attended special meeting for ministers in Battle Creek, and spoke several times. Continued to labor in Battle Creek until the Kansas camp meeting; was three weeks in that workers' meeting [May 7 to 21] and camp meeting [May 21-28]. Labored to my utmost strength to help the people assembled. Attended meeting at Williamsport June 5-11. Spoke ten times, including morning meetings.
Attended camp meeting in [Rome] New York [June 11-18] and labored as God gave me strength. Returned worn and exhausted to Battle Creek and was obliged to refrain from speaking for a time. Attended camp meeting at Wexford, Michigan [June 25-July 2], and the Lord strengthened me to speak to the people. After the meeting I was again prostrated through over labor.
Attended the camp meeting in Kalamazoo [Michigan, August 13 to 20], and the Lord strengthened me to speak and labor for the people. Returning home to Battle Creek, I was again prostrated, but the Lord helped me. I attended the meeting in Saginaw [Michigan, August 27 to September 3], and to the praise of God He raised me above my feebleness, and I was made strong when before the people.
After the meeting I was again greatly prostrated but started on my journey to attend camp meeting in Colorado [September 10-17]. The Lord greatly blessed me in these meetings as I bore my testimony. I then continued my journey to California.
I spoke twice to the people in Healdsburg. Attended Oakland meeting and was very sick, but the Lord raised me up and strengthened me with His Spirit and power, and I spoke to the people eight times and several times before committees and ministers and in morning meetings. Then I came across the Rocky Mountains to attend the [1889] General Conference.--Manuscript 25, 1889.
Michigan State Meeting at Potterville
The Michigan State meeting convened in late November, 1888, opening on Thursday, November 22 and extending to Tuesday, November 27. I. D. Van Horn, conference president and longtime acquaintance of Ellen White, invited her to attend. This she did, speaking five times. In his report Van Horn, who had been with ministers at Minneapolis who had treated lightly the presentations made there, often with jesting, reported:
From the very first, a deep feeling of solemnity rested upon all, and no manifestation of levity or lightness was shown at any time. Sister White was with us, and her clear testimony each day, evidently dictated by the Spirit of God, added much to the interest and power of the meeting. By this, a mold and character were given which will not soon be forgotten by those who were present.
A. T. Jones was present a part of the time, and gave three discourses, two of which related to our nation, with the impending issues relating to church and state, and the warning--the third angel's message--that must be given by our people. Surely there is no time to idle away, for the crisis is right upon us; the battle must be fought and the victory won.--Ibid., December 11, 1888
This was typical of many reports of important meetings held through 1889. The Blair amendment to the United States Constitution and the threat of Sunday laws that it posed was a prominent topic. The reception of the message of Minneapolis usually served as a dominant motivating influence, even though at times it was resisted initially. Much to Ellen White's disappointment, the resistance at the Potterville meeting was maintained to the end.
Ellen White's Sixty-First Birthday
But first, a brief interlude, as for a few hours seemingly ever-present concerns were laid aside for a celebration of Sister White's birthday. Monday morning, November 26, she spoke to the workers at Potterville, then took the train to Battle Creek. Soon she was settled in pleasant rooms at the Sanitarium. She reported in a letter to Mary:
Soon after I arrived, all tired out with labor, sisters began to come in and I did not mistrust anything for some time, and at last learned that it was a little party of my old friends to celebrate my sixty-first birthday. We all took dinner which had been arranged at the Sanitarium. All passed off well and pleasantly. I was too thoroughly wearied out to enjoy the matter as I otherwise would.--Letter 82a, 1888.
Urged by the Spirit of God, on Thursday she took the train for Des Moines, Iowa, to attend the six-day Statewide ministers' meeting; she spoke six times.
The Remarkable Revival in Battle Creek
It was just after this, in Battle Creek, that the real breakthrough came. J. O. Corliss, Jones, and Ellen White led out in the meetings of the Week of Prayer. It was scheduled from December 15 to 22--but it lasted a month. As the week opened, Ellen White, because of infirmities of the moment, dared not leave the Sanitarium. So she began her work there, with physicians, nurses, and the rest of the Sanitarium staff. Jones and Corliss held meetings at the Tabernacle, the publishing house, and the college. Reported Ellen White in the Review:
The revival services held during the Week of Prayer and since that time have accomplished a good work in the Battle Creek church. Elders A. T. Jones, J. O. Corliss, and others took an active part in conducting the meetings. The principal topic dwelt upon was justification by faith, and this truth came as meat in due season to the people of God. The living oracles of God were presented in new and precious light....
The truth as it is in Jesus, accompanied by divine energy, has been brought before the people, and we have reason to praise God that it has been with marked effect upon the church. The work of deep heart searching has been gradually going forward. Many have sought the Lord with confession of sins and contrition of soul, and have been blessed and made joyful by the God of their salvation. Those who have hitherto been almost destitute of faith have discerned its simplicity, and have been enabled to lay hold of the promises of God.--The Review and Herald, February 12, 1889.
The meetings held daily in the college were reported as intensely interesting, with the Spirit of the Lord working upon hearts.
At the Sanitarium, Ellen White met with such members of the staff who could be freed from their duties each morning at five-thirty. "I had much freedom," she wrote, "in speaking to the workers from the various departments.... There were many whose minds had been clouded with doubt, but the light received from the explanation of Scripture encouraged their faith, while the truth was revealed to their minds and hearts in a light in which they had never before seen it."--Ibid.
At the publishing house, meetings were held daily from twelve to one o'clock. As the week progressed and she gained strength, she was able to slip down and meet with the workers. Of her experience there, which refreshed her soul, she wrote:
Many good testimonies were borne, and it made my heart glad to see those who had been connected with the publishing work for a period of thirty years rejoice as young converts rejoice in their first love. They expressed their gladness and gratitude of heart for the sermons that had been preached by A. T. Jones; they saw the truth, goodness, mercy, and love of God as they never before had seen it....
There were many who testified that they were free in the Lord--not free from temptations, for they had these to contend with every day, but they believed that their sins were forgiven. Oh, how we long to have every soul come out into the liberty of the sons of God!--Ibid.
From day to day Ellen White spelled out in her diary many of the activities, and the progress that was made toward spiritual victory.
Thursday at 5:00 P.M. I spoke to the college students. The Lord gave me the word which seemed to reach hearts. Professor Prescott arose and attempted to speak, but his heart was too full. There he stood five minutes in complete silence, weeping. When he did speak he said, "I am glad I am a Christian." He made very pointed remarks. His heart seemed to be broken by the Spirit of the Lord. I invited those who had not accepted the truth, and those who had not the evidence of their acceptance with God, to come forward. It seemed that the whole company were on the move....
Thursday night I spoke at the Tabernacle, and many bore precious testimonies that the Lord had forgiven their sins and given them a new heart. The words of truth spoken by Elder Jones had been blessed to their souls.--Manuscript 25, 1888.
Sabbath was the last day of the Week of Prayer. Ellen White wrote:
Elder Jones spoke in the forenoon with great freedom. The message the Lord has given him to bear has taken hold upon his soul and the souls of those who have heard and received the light which the Lord has given them.
In the afternoon I spoke to the people and then there was a social meeting. Many confessed that they were much blessed during the Week of Prayer.--Ibid.
But the revival was just well under way, and much the same program was continued. Sunday just before noon she was called down to the publishing house to address the workers at the noon hour. In the afternoon Jones spoke in the Tabernacle. Ellen White continues her account:
In the evening, listened to another discourse from Brother Jones upon the love of God. Soul-stirring truths were uttered, and many in that large congregation were fed with the Bread of Life and their hearts were awakened to more earnest activity and zeal.--Ibid.
About this time she declared:
Wherever this message [righteousness by faith] comes, its fruits are good. A vigor and a vital energy are brought into the church, and where the message is accepted, there hope and courage and faith beam in the countenances of all those who open their eyes to see, their understanding to perceive, and their hearts to receive the great treasure of truth.--Manuscript 24, 1888.
Such was the case in Battle Creek. Ellen White addressed herself to practical topics. On Sabbath, December 29, she arose early and engaged in prayer and reading, and in writing a discourse for the people:
I spoke in afternoon from Isaiah 58 upon the Sabbath and the many ways the Lord could be robbed. Read in regard to robbing God in tithes and offerings. Called the people forward for prayers.--Manuscript 25, 1888.
Sunday evening she spoke in the Tabernacle to a well-filled house, dwelling particularly on evil speaking and its sure results.
All these sins of which we have been guilty must be removed, and all this robbery of God must be repented of and the rubbish removed from the door of the heart....
Brother Winslow was coming to the light. Said he had been to some whom he had wronged and made confession, and the Lord blessed him. Brother Lucas and his wife came forward and made confessions. Brother Lucas said he had not paid his tithes; he had robbed God of $500 which he would pay into the treasury in a short time. Our meeting continued until past ten o'clock. The Spirit of the Lord was working upon the hearts.--Ibid.
The next day found Ellen White calling on several families in personal work, including Oren Frisbie and his wife and the Lucas family. Writing of it, she commented, "The Lord is certainly at work, subduing and purifying the hearts of all who choose to be fully on the Lord's side.--Ibid. She visited the Lucas family again on January 2, 1889, and noted in her diary:
He has paid no tithe for two years and he was becoming a changed man in spirituality because he was robbing God. He gave me a note for the treasury of God for $571.50. He recounted up all the interest, and faithfully paid an honest tithe. Then he was happy.--Manuscript 17, 1889.
Others were visited also, some giving their notes for withheld tithe, to be paid soon. Ellen White wrote to Mary on Sunday, January 6, picking up a letter she had started two weeks before:
I have tried to get at it to finish this letter, but I could not do it. There would be private testimonies to write and many to counsel with and sometimes I have spoken at three different assemblies each day, but the Lord has wonderfully sustained me. The work of God is seen in our midst. Meetings have been held now four weeks and many souls have a true conversion. They say they never knew what the converting power of God was before.
Sabbath, yesterday, was a precious day indeed. I talked to a full house, and the blessing of the Lord rested upon me in large measure, and the whole congregation was moved....Oh, what a changed atmosphere from four weeks ago. Jesus indeed was present.--Letter 83, 1889.
In concluding her report of the victorious experience in the Review and Herald of February 12, she exclaimed: "May the good work begun in the Battle Creek church be carried onward and upward till every soul shall be consecrated, purified, refined, and fitted for the society of heavenly angels!" But this wish was not to see fulfillment, for some who had been at Minneapolis and had resisted the light given there still held back.
The decision in response to light is a personal one, and some took the wrong course. Wrote Ellen White:
The blessings of that Week of Prayer extended through the church. Confessions were made. Those who had robbed God in tithes and in offerings confessed their wrong and made restitution, and many were blessed of God who had never felt that God had forgiven their sins. All these precious fruits evidenced the work of God.... The Lord wrought in our midst, but some did not receive the blessing.--Manuscript 30, 1889.
Ellen White and others rejoiced when, as the subject of righteousness by faith was presented at the various meetings through 1889, some of those who had taken a firm stand in resistance at Minneapolis saw their true condition, repented, and joined their brethren.
But what of those who, in firm self-complacency, resisted light and truth in the face of clear evidence? They paid a price, of which Ellen White wrote later:
I have been shown that not one of the company who cherished the spirit manifested at that meeting would again have clear light to discern the preciousness of the truth sent them from heaven until they humbled their pride and confessed that they were not actuated by the Spirit of God, but that their minds and hearts were filled with prejudice. The Lord desired to come near to them, to bless them and heal them of their backslidings, but they would not hearken. They were actuated by the same spirit that inspired Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.--Letter 2a, 1892.
The Revival at South Lancaster
As S. N. Haskell announced the general meeting to be held at South Lancaster, Massachusetts, to open on Thursday, January 10, he stated that "the important interests to be considered make this meeting one of the most important, if not the most so, of any ever held in South Lancaster."--The Review and Herald, January 1, 1889. He enumerated the reasons why he believed this was so. First: "The important crisis that has been brought upon us as a people by the Sunday bill now before Congress": and second: "Another important consideration is the presence of Sister White." He spoke of the great value of her counsel and testimony "in a time like this." It was time also for the annual meeting of the South Lancaster Academy, and the New England Tract and Missionary Society would hold its general meeting.
Wednesday evening, January 9, after a day filled with important interviews and the writing of "several important letters that could not be safely delayed" (Manuscript 17, 1889), Ellen White took the train at Battle Creek to meet the New England appointments. Arriving at South Lancaster early Friday afternoon, she found W. C. White already on the ground. She spoke at the Sabbath afternoon meeting. The church was well filled with Adventists who lived in the community, the students in the school, and delegates from Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and other states (Ibid., March 5, 1889). In a report written for the Review and Herald, she disclosed her sentiments as she stood before the people that Sabbath afternoon:
We realized that there was a work to be done in setting things in order, which man's best efforts could not accomplish without the aid of God. Our hearts were drawn out in earnest supplication to God that He would work in our behalf. We had a message of present truth for the people; and if they would place themselves in the channel of light, they would be prepared to do a work for others similar to the work that should be done for them....
On Sabbath afternoon, many hearts were touched, and many souls were fed on the bread that cometh down from heaven.--Ibid.
Her address was an earnest appeal to be right with God. She declared:
It is the privilege of everyone to say, "I will carry out my Captain's orders to the very letter, feeling or no feeling. I will not wait for a happy sensation, for a mysterious impulse. I will say, 'What are my orders? What is the line of my duty? What says the Master to me? Is the line of communication open between God and my soul? What is my position before God?'" Just as soon as we come into right relations to God, we shall understand our duty and do it; and we shall not think the good things we do entitle us to salvation.
As she brought her soul-stirring address to a close she declared, "We are coming to a crisis, and I am in terror for our souls." She then asked some penetrating questions:
Why is it that we find men leaving the faith? Are we in a position where we shall know what we believe, and shall not be shaken out? That souls leave the truth should not discourage us in the least, but only make us seek more earnestly for the blessing of God.
It is not the education, or the talents, or the position of men, that is to save them. We are to be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. How do you stand before God today? The question is not, How will you stand in the day of trouble, or at some future time? but How is it with your soul today? ...We want a personal, individual experience today. Today, we want Christ abiding with us.--Ibid., April 9, 1889.
This was the beginning of a revival that was to extend far beyond the scheduled dates for the convocation, with a response beyond all expectations, as well. Of this Ellen White reported:
As our brethren and sisters opened their hearts to the light, they obtained a better knowledge of what constitutes faith. The Lord was very precious; He was ready to strengthen His people. The meetings continued a week beyond their first appointment.
The school was dismissed, and all made earnest work of seeking the Lord. Elder Jones came from Boston, and labored most earnestly for the people, speaking twice and sometimes three times a day. The flock of God were fed with soul-nourishing food. The very message the Lord has sent to the people of this time was presented in the discourses. Meetings were in progress from early morning till night, and the results were highly satisfactory....
Both students and teachers have shared largely in the blessing of God. The deep movings of the Spirit of God have been felt upon almost every heart. The general testimony was borne by those who attended the meeting that they had obtained an experience beyond anything they had known before. They testified their joy that Christ had forgiven their sins. Their hearts were filled with thanksgiving and praise to God. Sweet peace was in their souls. They loved everyone, and felt that they could rest in the love of God.--Ibid., March 5, 1889.
Truly the presenting of righteousness by faith yielded good fruit. Ellen White had participated in many revivals across the land and overseas, but of this experience at South Lancaster she wrote:
I have never seen a revival work go forward with such thoroughness, and yet remain so free from all undue excitement. There was no urging or inviting. The people were not called forward, but there was a solemn realization that Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
The honest in heart were ready to confess their sins, and to bring forth fruit to God by repentance and restoration, as far as it lay in their power. We seemed to breathe in the very atmosphere of heaven. Angels were indeed hovering around.
Friday evening the social service began at five, and it was not closed until nine. No time was lost, for everyone had a living testimony to bear. The meeting would have continued hours longer, if it had been allowed to run its full course; but it was thought best to close at that time.--Ibid.
Sabbath morning A. T. Jones spoke with "great power" (Manuscript 17, 1889), and in the afternoon Ellen White presented her message "with great freedom." She wrote:
This was a most precious Sabbath to our souls. We felt that we were breathing in an heavenly atmosphere, and Christ was indeed found of all those who sought for Him. This is indeed a wonderful outpouring of the Spirit of God, testifying to us what the Lord is willing to do for His people who will believe in Jesus for themselves.--Ibid.
Through Sunday the meetings continued with no diminishing of interest; the final meeting was held Monday morning.
Revivals Across the Land
As meetings were held through the spring and summer across the land, Ellen White and Jones labored as a team. This chapter opened with her summary of this work. No two meetings were alike. R. M. Kilgore, president of the Illinois Conference, in reporting the two-week-long convocation in Chicago, which grew out of the "State meeting," observed that "at the beginning of the meeting, darkness and lack of faith seemed to close up the avenues by which the Spirit of God could operate upon our minds."--Ibid., May 7, 1889. At Minneapolis he had hesitated about receiving the light that was caused to shine there. Not until midway in the Chicago meetings did the tide turn. Ellen White described this in a letter to Willie:
There began to be a break on Thursday [April 4], and on Friday the meetings were excellent, but oh, how hard it was to educate the people to look away from themselves to Jesus and to His righteousness. A continuous effort has had to be put forth.--Letter 1, 1889.
She wrote of the effort called for to aid the people--in this case mostly ministers--to reach out by faith and cling to the righteousness of Christ.
We have been earnestly and steadily at work to encourage faith in our brethren. This seemed to be as difficult as to teach a child to take its first steps alone.--Letter 85, 1889.
Now that the enlightenment of the Spirit of God has come, all seem to be learning fast; but at first the lessons presented seemed strange and new, and their hearts and minds could not take them in. More real good could now be accomplished in one day than in one full week before, because they have now opened their hearts to Jesus, and He is abiding with them. All regret that they have been so long ignorant of what constituted true religion. They are sorry that they have not known that it was true religion to depend entirely upon Christ's righteousness, and not upon works of merit.--Letter 1, 1889.
In this letter she names some of the ministers who experienced a turnaround in their experience: Ballenger, Tate, and the conference president, Kilgore. "He talks things right out," she reported to Willie:
He weeps and rejoices. He says he has had a new conversion, that his eyes are opened, that he no longer sees men as trees walking in his religious experience, but that he sees clearly that it is Christ's righteousness that he must rely upon or he is a lost man.--Ibid.
As Kilgore wrote his report of the meeting for publication in the Review and Herald, he penned these words:
The labors of Sister White and Elder Jones were highly appreciated by our brethren. The clear and forcible elucidation of the truth of justification by faith, as set forth by Brother Jones, was truly meat in due season. As Christ was lifted up in all His attributes of love and mercy for poor sinners, we were drawn nearer to Him; and from faith to faith, we were enabled to see new beauties and glories in the great plan of human redemption. The righteousness of God's law and the exalted character of Jesus Christ made us all sensible that sin had wrought ruin in the human family and rendered sinners wholly unable to rescue themselves.
Sister White labored hard for the best good of all present; and we have never seen her present her testimony with more power than at this time.--The Review and Herald, May 7, 1889.
Such victories brought joy to Ellen White's heart. The Sabbath meetings she felt were especially precious, and wrote: "From the commencement of the Sabbath to its close it was a day of especial blessing, and it forms one of the most precious pictures that I have to hang in memory's hall to look upon with delight and rejoicing. Good is the Lord and greatly to be praised."--Letter 1, 1889.
The Williamsport Camp Meeting
Thursday night, May 30, Ellen White, accompanied by Sara McEnterfer, boarded the train in Battle Creek bound for Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where the camp meeting was to open Tuesday, June 4. Because of heavy rains, the train moved slowly. They had expected to reach Williamsport the next afternoon at five o'clock, but they could soon see that this objective could not be met. Bridges had been swept away and roads washed out by the Johnstown Flood. When they reached Elmira, New York, they were advised to give up their journey.
But neither Ellen nor Sara was easily dissuaded. They were determined to go as far as possible, hoping that the reports concerning the conditions of travel were exaggerated. At Canton, some forty miles from Williamsport, their car was switched onto a side track because of a washout; they spent the Sabbath there in a hotel. Determined to get through, Ellen and Sara put their heads together and left no stones unturned in their attempts to find a way. Traveling by carriage part of the way and walking part of the way, they compassed the forty miles in four days, in a hair-raising venture described in her report in The Review and Herald, July 30, 1889. One interesting feature was the manner in which she was sustained physically. She reported:
We were obliged to walk miles on this journey, and it seemed marvelous that I could endure to travel as I did. Both of my ankles were broken years ago, and ever since they have been weak. Before leaving Battle Creek for Kansas, I sprained one of my ankles, and was confined to crutches for some time; but in this emergency I felt no weakness or inconvenience, and traveled safely over the rough, sliding rocks.
At one point they waited for three hours as, at their direction, a raft was constructed upon which to ferry the carriage in which they traveled across a swiftly flowing stream. A small boat pulled it across, the horses swam the stream, and the two lady travelers were rowed across. Then they continued their journey by horse and carriage. The destruction reminded Ellen White of what is to come in the last days, and encouraged her to be even more diligent in preparation for that day. Her report in the Review closes with these words:
We arrived at Williamsport at three o'clock Wednesday afternoon. The experience and anxiety through which I passed on this journey greatly exhausted me in mind and body; but we were grateful that we had suffered no serious trouble, and that the Lord had preserved us from the perils of the land, and prospered us on our way.
When they reached the town they were told that the campground had been flooded out and that the tents had been taken down. Actually, they found the tents had been moved to higher ground and the meeting was in progress.
While it was a difficult meeting to get to, it was an easy meeting to work in. Wrote Ellen White:
The Lord had a work for me to do at Williamsport. I had much freedom in speaking to the brethren and sisters there assembled. They did not seem to possess a spirit of unbelief and of resistance to the message the Lord had sent them. I felt that it was a great privilege to speak to those whose hearts were not barricaded with prejudice and evil surmising. My soul went out in grateful praise that, weary and exhausted as I was, I did not have to carry upon my heart the extra burden of seeing brethren and sisters whom I loved unimpressed and in resistance of the light that God had graciously permitted to shine upon them.
I did not have to set my face as a flint, and press and urge upon them that which I knew to be truth. The message was eagerly welcomed; and although I had to speak words of reproof and warning, as well as words of encouragement, all were heartily received by my hearers.--Ibid., August 13, 1889.
Ellen White spoke thirteen times at the Williamsport camp meeting, including the early-morning meetings.
She worked her way west in the late summer to Colorado and then to California. After the camp meeting in Oakland she hastened back to Battle Creek for the General Conference session, which opened Friday morning, October 18.
The 1889 General Conference Session
Carefully Ellen White watched developments at the 1889 General Conference session. When the meeting was well along she was ready to report her observations:
We are having most excellent meetings. The spirit that was in the meeting at Minneapolis is not here. All moves off in harmony. There is a large attendance of delegates. Our five o'clock morning meeting is well attended, and the meetings good. All the testimonies to which I have listened have been of an elevating character. They say that the past year has been the best of their life; the light shining forth from the Word of God has been clear and distinct--justification by faith, Christ our righteousness. The experiences have been very interesting.
I have attended all but two morning meetings. At eight o'clock Brother Jones speaks upon the subject of justification by faith, and great interest is manifested. There is a growth in faith and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There are quite a number who have not had an opportunity to hear upon this subject before, but they are taking it in, and are being fed with large morsels from the Lord's table.
The universal testimony from those who have spoken has been that this message of light and truth which has come to our people is just the truth for this time, and wherever they go among the churches, light, and relief, and the blessing of God is sure to come in. We have a feast of fat things, and when we see souls grasping the light we are rejoiced.--Manuscript 10, 1889 (see also Selected Messages 1:361, 362).
What she wrote to Mary White, on Tuesday, October 29, is significant in its portrayal of this experience and of the attitude of the ministers present:
We are having a good meeting. There seems to be no dissension. The testimonies which have been borne by ministers are that the light that came to them at Minneapolis and during the past year has been highly appreciated and they will walk in the light. They have seen more of the blessedness of the truth and the love of Jesus than ever before in their lives. That success has attended their labors during the past year as never before and they enjoyed the presence and the love of God in large measure. This has been the testimony borne and the meetings are excellent.
At the same time there are a number who apparently stand where they did at Minneapolis. Oh, that God would work mightily for His people and scatter the clouds of darkness and let the sunlight of His glory in.
I am much pleased with the meeting. Thus far, not one voice of opposition is heard. Unity seems to prevail.--Letter 76, 1889.
Two days later she wrote Mary: "Our meetings are crowded in thick and fast. We see in five o'clock meetings and in eight o'clock meetings many tokens for good. The testimonies are of altogether a different character than they have been in any conference we have had for some time. I do long for the work to go deep and I believe it is."--Letter 77, 1889. Speaking of the manner in which the Lord had blessed her, she wrote:
I am much better in health than I have been for years. After I came home, I was very weary; but I was lifted up above my infirmities and am real well. Praise the name of the Lord. I look to the Lord and trust in Him. He has done all things well.--Ibid.
E. G. White Review Articles Tell The Story
Fifteen of the thirty-one E. G. White articles appearing in the Review and Herald for the first nine months of 1889 are stenographic reports of her addresses given throughout this period of special labor. These, together with her five reports of the convocations, carried the benefits of her arduous work to the church generally.
Some today ask why this movement in the church, emphasizing the subject of righteousness by faith, did not usher in the "loud cry." In answer, it might be suggested that the polarization of attitudes militated against such an advance. Further, that which proved to be so great a blessing to many individuals could easily be allowed to slip away if the recipient failed to renew daily the precious experience. With many, the righteousness by faith message brought a turning point in their experience, lifting them to an enduring, victorious life. The numerous articles E. G. White published in the journals of the church and the E. G. White books published from 1888 onward, especially Steps to Christ (1892), The Desire of Ages (1898), and Christ's Object Lessons (1900), kept the theme of "Christ our righteousness" before Seventh-day Adventists and the world.