"While they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut." (Matt. 25:10)
The coming of the Bridegroom introduced in this parable is not the coming of Christ to the earth, but to the marriage. The marriage is an event that takes place before the Lord's coming. It is expressed in the Gospel recorded by Luke thus: "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately." (Luke 12:35-36)
Receiving a Kingdom Called a Marriage
The coming of the Bridegroom to the marriage is represented in Dan. 7:13, 14, where Christ comes to the Father to receive his kingdom. In ancient times the coming of a king to his capital city to receive his throne and kingdom was called a marriage. This event -the receiving of the capital city as the bride-was celebrated with the pomp and show of a real marriage. So when Christ receives from the Father in heaven his kingdom, he is said to be married to his bride -the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9); and this is called in the parable "the marriage."
After the close of the twenty-three hundred days, Oct. 22, 1844, the Advent people, who compared events in their experience with the facts connected with an Eastern marriage, said, "Christ has gone in to the marriage." As they received clearer light on the nature of the event to take place at the end of the twenty-three hundred days, their faith followed Christ in the work upon which he had entered; so by faith, they "went in with him to the marriage."
"I Will Return"
In a view given Miss Harmon, in 1845, of Christ passing from the first to the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, we find these words: " 'Wait here; I am going to my Father to receive the kingdom; keep your garments spotless, and in a little while I will return from the wedding and receive you unto myself.' Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot, and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat." [1]
Mercy After the Door is Closed
The shut door of this parable seems to have reference to an event that occurs before the actual coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven; for after the door is shut, the other virgins come and knock, and are told to "watch" because they know not the day nor the hour of his coming. Again, this door is shut after the wise virgins go in with the Bridegroom to the marriage.
It would seem from the language used in this parable of the virgins that after the going in to the marriage there is still opportunity for even the "foolish" virgins to make an acceptable preparation to meet the Bridegroom. They are commanded to "watch." Watching and waiting are features connected with the true preparation to meet the Lord. It would appear, therefore, that mercy is not withdrawn when the door in this parable is closed.
Not the Door of Luke 13:25-28
In the past, errors have been made in confounding the door spoken of in this parable with the door mentioned in Luke 13:25-28, which reads, "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are. . . . Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out." It is very evident from the above language that when this door is shut, the fate of those shut out is decided. The kingdom of God has then come; for they shall see the saved in the kingdom. On the contrary, in the parable of the virgins the Lord has not yet come into his kingdom, but has gone to his Father to receive his kingdom.
A Closed Door in the Typical Service
Those who by faith followed Christ in his work, after the close of the period of twenty-three hundred days-Oct. 22, 1844-saw that when the day of atonement came in the typical service the high priest closed the door of the outer apartment and opened the door into the holy of holies, there to perform his work of blotting out the sins confessed in the sanctuary; and that even so Christ, our high priest, had closed the door of the outer apartment of the heavenly temple, and opened that apartment in which was seen "the ark of his testament." (Rev. 11:19)
Who Were in Error?
At this date there were those among the Adventist believers who had not yet received clear light on the sanctuary service of Christ, their attention not yet having been called to the third angel's message. These erred in confounding this outer door of the sanctuary with the shut door in Luke 13:25-28. However, these were not Seventh-day Adventists. But who they were, and how that doctrine originated, and what circumstances led to such conclusions, we shall endeavor to show.
The people who had separated themselves from the nominal churches under the proclamation of the advent message, as well as those from whom they had thus separated, are addressed in the testimony to the fifth and sixth of the seven churches of the Revelation. The admonition to the fifth, the Sardis, church reads, "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." (Rev. 3:3) From this language it is evident that the persons thus addressed had heard the proclamation of the Lord's coming. They had professedly received it, but were now about to renounce the same.
The Philadelphia Church
The Philadelphia church, the sixth state of the gospel church, is next mentioned. This church represents the people who had been brought out under the proclamation of the first and second messages of Revelation 14. To this church the Lord says, "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." (Rev. 3:11) They are still further addressed in the following words: "These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth: I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." (Rev. 3:7-8)
What is the Shut Door of this Parable?
What is to be understood by the open and shut door in the scripture just quoted? We think a satisfactory answer to the question may be found in the accompanying explanation: While there were those among the Adventists who had received advanced light, and were teaching that the Saviour had changed his service from the first to the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and were correctly presenting the open and shut door question to those who would hear, another class opposed this truth, and were trying to establish faith in the doctrine that the open door was closed, and the closed door open. In doing this they were hedging up the way, or hindering the work, of the Lord's servants here on earth. The doors of the heavenly sanctuary are opened and closed by the power of Christ-"He that openeth, and no man shutteth." In the address to the Philadelphia church, the people who hold fast, keep the word, and do not deny his name, gain a victory that opens a door that no man can shut. This undoubtedly refers to the door of access to the people, which door men, seemingly (as we shall see), had effectively shut; but as a recognition of their steadfastness, the Lord sets before the faithful an "open door" that no man can shut.
A Door of Utterance
Many instances are given in the Scriptures in which a door is used in this sense. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, says, "A great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries." (1 Cor. 16:9) Again, in his second letter to the Corinthians, he says, "When I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother." (2 Cor. 2:12-13) He also made request of the Colossians on this wise: "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds." (Col. 4:2-3)
From these scriptures it appears that openings for the proclamation of the truth are called open doors; and from the words spoken to the Philadelphia church it would seem that at the time this people were called out, men were making strenuous efforts to close the door of utterance against them. As the Philadelphia church passed through the trial, holding fast to his "word" and "name," the word of the Lord to them was, that he would place before them an open door that no man could shut.
The Situation after Oct. 22, 1844
Having the case before us as stated in the words of prophecy, let us take a retrospective view of the situation as events developed. As has already been presented, down to April, 1844, churches were opened to the proclamation of the advent message, the calls for laborers being more numerous than could be supplied by the living preachers. After the disappointment, in the spring of 1844, those who had not in sincerity embraced the doctrine, turned to opposing it. When, in the summer of 1844, as the second angel's message of Revelation 14 and the "midnight cry" (Matthew 25) were given, there arose the most bitter persecution of those who still dared affirm their faith in the near coming of the Lord. These opponents sought by various means to suppress the subject, and in every way possible to hinder the work of those who still proclaimed "the hour of his judgement is come." William Miller said of this opposition, "It is the most unnatural and unaccountable." So determined was the opposition near the close of the twenty-three hundred days that Geo. Storrs said of it, "We have done with the nominal churches and all the wicked, except so far as this cry may affect them."
After the close of the period, as the opposition and scoffing from the wicked was doubly and trebly intensified, William Miller said of the situation, "We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door." [2]
The General Hardness of Sinners
This course of the scoffing world not only hardened sinners against the advent doctrine, but the testimony of those in the nominal churches was this: "When we call to mind how 'few and far between' cases of true conversion are, and the almost unparalleled
220 impertinence and hardness of sinners, we almost involuntarily exclaim, 'Has God forgotten to be gracious? or is the door of mercy closed?' " [3]
From another worker we read still further of the situation after the close of the prophetic period: "It was then next to impossible to obtain access to unbelievers, the disappointment in 1844 had so confused the minds of many, and they would not listen to any explanation of the matter." [4]
All Doors of Access to Unbelievers Closed
Such a condition seemed, for the time being, to shut the door of access to any but those who still held fast their faith and hope in the soon coming of Christ. As the door of utterance appeared so completely closed, and the Adventist people saw that there was a shut door in the parable applying to their experience, it can be readily seen how they arrived at the conclusion that there was no more mercy for sinners: or, as some expressed it, that "the door of mercy was closed," especially if they thought the shut door in this parable and the shut door in Luke 13 were the same. If the people utterly refused to hear, thus hardening the heart, how could they be converted?
Who First Taught the False Shut Door?
The question now arises, Who began the teaching of the doctrine of "no mercy for sinners"? who believed it? and who rejected it? As an answer to the first question, we will call attention to the report of a visit made by J. V. Himes in the spring of 1845, to the State of Maine. He says:-
"Brother Joseph Turner and others took the ground that we were in the great Sabbath-that the six thousand years had ended-consequently no Adventist should perform any more manual labor. To do so would surely, in their estimation, result in their final destruction.
"While waiting in this position of idleness as to worldly manual labor, a new light, as it was thought, shone upon Brother Turner's mind, viz., that the Bridegroom HAD COME-that he came on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Jewish year last past -that the marriage then took place-that all the virgins then, in some sense, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut!-none of these could be lost, and none without could be saved. Thus all the spiritual affairs of this mighty globe were finished." [5]
Who Stoutly Opposed the False Theory?
Elder Turner began teaching his "no-more-mercy" doctrine in Paris, Maine, and for a little time had quite a following in that section of country. As there was such a complete shut door of access to the people outside of Adventists, whether professor or nonprofessor, many quite naturally drifted into Turner's view of the subject.
Lest the term Adventists should be misunderstood, we will hereafter speak of this people as First-day Adventists; and it was many of this class that were accepting Mr. Turner's views. They had not as yet seen or heard the Sabbath truth, neither had they heard of the third angel's message. It is of these that Mrs. White speaks thus in one of her publications:-
"After the passing of the time of expectation in 1844, Adventists still believed the Saviour's coming to be very near; they held that they had reached an important crisis, and that the work of Christ as man's intercessor before God had ceased. Having given the warning of the judgment near, they felt that their work for the world was done, and they lost their burden of soul for the salvation of sinners, while the bold, blasphemous scoffing of the ungodly seemed to them another evidence that the Spirit of God had been withdrawn from the rejecters of his mercy. All this confirmed them in the belief that probation had ended, or, as they expressed it, 'the door of mercy was shut.' As has been stated, Adventists were for a short time united in the belief that the door of mercy was shut." [6]
In this quotation Mrs. White states the position taken by the First-day Adventists. She does not even intimate that she believed it. As shown above, the doctrine was first taught by Joseph Turner, at Paris, Maine. Mrs. White (then Miss Harmon) met Joseph Turner at the above-named place in the early spring of 1845, and heard him declare his doctrine of "no more manual labor for Adventists, and no more mercy for sinners," and plainly told him he was "teaching a false doctrine; that there was still mercy for sinners, and for those who had not understandingly rejected the truth."
Opposed to the "No-Mercy" Theory
J. N. Andrews, who resided in Paris, Maine, in 1844 and 1845, and who was fully conversant with the course of the people there, as well as with that of Joseph Turner, who taught that there was no more mercy for sinners, says of Miss Harmon's position on the subject at that time, "Instead of the visions' leading them to adopt this view, it corrected those upon it who still held to it." [7]
Miss Harmon made a second visit to Paris, Maine, in the summer of 1845. Concerning this visit I will quote from Mrs. Truesdail, who then resided in Paris. She says:-
"During Miss Harmon's visit in Paris, Maine, in the summer of 1845, I stated to her the particulars concerning a dear friend of mine whose father had deprived her of attending our meetings, consequently she had not rejected light. She smilingly replied, 'God has never shown me that there is no salvation for such persons. It is those only who have had the light of truth presented to them and knowingly rejected it.' " [8]
She also speaks respecting a third visit of Miss Harmon to Paris, in 1846, as follows:-
Another Reproof of the False Theory
"Another occasion worthy of mention was a vision given in 1846, in Paris, Maine. Miss Harmon was shown that when Satan could not prevent the honest-hearted from doing their whole duty, he would exert his skill in pushing them beyond duty. One good sister had been telling the churches that God had rejected them because they had rejected the message sent from heaven to save them. Sister Harmon was shown that there was no truth in her message, as there were many in the churches who would yet embrace the truth; that the good angels would yet go to work for souls in those churches, and when they did thus, they [the angels] would leave this sister, with her message [meaning her "no-mercy" message], outside the door." [9]
No Contradiction
As there are those who are very zealous in trying to prove that Mrs. White once taught the theory of "no more mercy for sinners," but now teaches the contrary, I will present testimonials from those acquainted with her work from 1845, respecting her labors for the conversion of sinners. The following is a statement from Ira Abbey, of Brookfield, Madison County, State of New York:-
"Between the years 1846 and 1850, Brother and Sister White came to our house, and were very zealous for the children and those that had not rejected the truth. They labored for unconverted souls, and never do I remember of hearing Sister White say that there was no hope of the backsliders and those that had not rejected the truth." [10]
First-day Adventist Testimony
As to what the First-day Adventists of New England know about the extreme shut door doctrine, let the following letter testify:-
"August 5 to 9, 1891, I held a debate with Elder Miles Grant, at Brookston, a city of about 30,000 inhabitants. The debate was in the large tent, and was presided over by Mr. John Barbour, once president of the city council. This city is about twenty miles from Boston. The debate was on the Sabbath question, but Mr. Grant tried to drag into the debate the matter of Sister White's experience in this work. He charged that 'she was shown, way back in 1844, that probation was passed, and there was no more mercy for sinners.' "
"In reply, I told him that the First-day Adventists took that position, nearly all of them, at one time, before we separated from them, and that instead of Mrs. White's favoring the position at all, one of the first things she was shown was that that position was 'false,' and that there was still mercy for sinners. I said, 'This is so, and Elder Grant knows that it is so.' As I said this, numbers of the First-day Adventists people before me [that class constituted quite a portion of the large tent full] nodded their heads in emphatic and positive assent to the statement. Suffice it to say that Elder Grant did not mention that point again in the debate."
Signed "Geo. E. Fifield, South Lancaster, Mass., Dec. 6, 1895."
Mrs. White Ever Seeking the Salvation of Sinners
That Mrs. White has labored for the conversion of sinners from 1844 to the present time, is further proved by these facts: She and Elder White held a meeting in Albert Belden's house, at Rocky Hill, Conn., commencing April 20, 1848. In this meeting labor was put forth for some from the world. Elder White and his wife manifested special interest for such souls. On this point we will give the testimony of one of this class who received baptism at the hands of Elder White. John Y. Wilcox, writing from Kensington, Conn., Feb. 22, 1891, says:-
"I was brought into the truth at the time meetings were held in the unfinished chamber of Brother A. Belden's house, Rocky Hill, Conn. My receiving the light of present truth was under the labors of Brother and Sister White. I was baptized soon after by Brother White. But for the encouragement and strength I received from them I don't know as I would ever have dared to think or feel that I was accepted of the Lord. They were deeply interested for me, and labored to help me."
Elder White said of that meeting in a letter to Stockbridge Howland, Topsham, Maine, "Brother Bates presented the commandments in a very clear light, and their importance was urged home by very powerful testimonies. The word had effect to establish those already in the truth, and to awaken those not fully decided."
Labor for Sinners in Oswego, N.Y
In 1849 Elder James White and his wife labored in Oswego, N.Y. In those meetings Hiram Patch and a Miss Benson, who were engaged to be married, were converted to God and the present truth.
In March, 1850, meetings were again held in Oswego. In the Present Truth for April, Elder White, in speaking of those meetings, said: "A very interesting work is now going on among the children of the remnant in this city. Their salvation has been the principal subject in our meetings for the last two Sabbaths, and God has wonderfully blessed us. The truth has had a good effect upon us as well as upon our children. In the evening following the last first day, we had a meeting for their special benefit, and the Spirit of the Lord was poured out in our midst. The children all bowed before the Lord, and seemed to feel the importance of keeping the commandments, especially the fifth, and seeking salvation through Jesus Christ. This was one of the most interesting meetings that I ever witnessed."
In the Present Truth of November, 1849, Elder White published an account of a number who were converted and baptized; and in the last number of this paper in 1850 there is an account of a meeting held at Waitsfield, Vt., and of the attendance of Heman Churchill, who had just been converted from the world. He is spoken of in the article as "brother." How could that be if there was no more mercy for sinners?
Testimony of Twenty-one Witnesses
In this connection we give a testimonial signed, in 1888, by twenty-one individuals, each of whom was in the advent movement in the year 1844, and was conversant with the rise of the third angel's message. All were in the message prior to 1851, most of them having been connected with the Seventhday Adventists almost from the rise of the message:-
"We, the undersigned, having been well acquainted with the advent movement in 1844 at the passing of the time, and having also embraced the truth of the third angel's message as early as 1850, hereby cheerfully subscribe our names to the following statement concerning the shut-door doctrine held by believers in the third angel's message from the time of its rise to the last mentioned date, and onward.
"They believed, in harmony with Rev. 3:7, 8 and other scriptures, that at the close of the twenty-three hundred days of Dan. 8:14, Christ closed his work in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and changed his ministration to the most holy, and entered upon the work of the judgment, changing his relation in this respect to the plan of salvation. Here was a door opened and a door shut.
"They believed that those who had the clear light upon the first angel's message, and turned against it, bitterly opposing it, were rejected of God. But they did not believe that those who had not had the light or those who had not come to years of accountability previous to 1844, if they should seek God with honest hearts, would be rejected.
"While they believed with William Miller and the great mass of Adventists immediately after the passing of the time, that their work for the world was done, and that the Lord would come very soon, yet after the light upon the sanctuary and the third message explained their disappointment, they did not believe that mercy was past save for those who had rejected the light."
Signed, "J. B. Sweet, South Saginaw, Mich.; Samuel Martin, Westrindge, N.H.; Ira Abbey, North Brookfield, N.Y.; Mrs. R. B. Abbey, North Brookfield, N.Y.; Mrs. Diana Abbey, North Brookfield, N.Y.; Mrs. L. B. Abbey, North Brookfield, N.Y.; Heman S. Guerney, Memphis, Mich.; Ann E. Guerney, Memphis, Mich.; William Gifford, Memphis, Mich.; Mrs. Mary S. Chase, Battle Creek, Mich.; S. M. Howland, Battle Creek, Mich.; Mrs. F. H. Lunt, Battle Creek, Mich.; Mrs. Melora A. Ashley, Battle Creek, Mich.; Mrs. Caroline A. Dodge, Battle Creek, Mich.; Mrs. Sarah B. Whipple, Battle Creek, Mich.; Mrs. Uriah Smith, Battle Creek, Mich.; Mrs. Paulina R. Heligass, Moline, Kan.; R. G. Lockwood, St. Helena, Cal.; Mrs.
R. G. Lockwood, St. Helena, Cal.; Reuben Loveland, North Hyde Park, Vt.; Mrs. Belinda Loveland, North Hyde Park, Vt."
A Vision Misconstrued
An effort has been made to construe a vision given to Mrs. White, at Topsham, Maine, March 24, 1849, as teaching this erroneous doctrine-no more mercy for sinners. This view was given just as the "Rochester knockings" (Spiritualism) was being introduced. Mrs. White saw that the mysterious signs and wonders and false reformations would increase and spread. These reformations were not reformations from error to truth (she did not say there would never be such reformations, but that the kind shown her where they were using human influence were such), but from bad to worse; for those who professed a change of heart had only wrapped about them a religious garb which covered up the iniquity of a wicked heart. Some appeared to be really converted, thus being enabled to deceive God's people; but if their hearts could have been seen, they would have appeared as black as ever.
She then said: "My accompanying angel bade me look for the travail of soul for sinners as used to be.
I looked, but could not see it; for the time of their salvation is past." [11]
The claim has been made that this vision taught that there was no more mercy for sinners, but we ask, How could that be when she had opposed that doctrine from the very time Joseph Turner first taught it in the spring of 1845, and had all the way along been laboring earnestly for the conversion and salvation of sinners?
In Supplement to Experience and Views, published in 1853, Mrs. White says, "The 'false reformations' referred to are yet to be more fully seen. This view relates more particularly to those who have heard and rejected the light of the advent doctrine. They are given over to strong delusions. Such will not have the 'travail of soul for sinners' as formerly." [12]
Opponents claim to know more about what Mrs. White was viewing in this vision than she herself did. Let us examine it a moment in connection with their version of it; viz., that she was viewing the condition of sinners instead of the revivalists. So she looked at the sinners to find a "travail of soul for sinners, but could not see it." Who ever found a travail of soul for sinners by simply looking at the sinner? But, we inquire, what about the persons mentioned in the above testimony who were simply using human influence and mesmerism to gain converts, and calling it the work of the Spirit of God? Are these opponents, who were so anxious to show that Mrs. White taught the extreme "shut door" theory, ready to admit that these revivalists were holy people, and gaining genuine converts?
It is evident to every candid mind that the class of persons addressed in this connection were those who professed to have this travail of soul, while they had rejected light and truth, and were using mesmerism to gain converts. Such could not have a genuine travail of soul for sinners when they themselves were subjects of damnation; for "the time of their [their own] salvation is passed."
From Mrs. White's vision of March 24, 1849, some persons have tried to draw the conclusion that it taught that there was no more mercy for sinners; but we have already shown that in 1845, in Paris, Maine, she taught that there was mercy for all who had not knowingly and understandingly rejected light and truth. In a vision given in the same place in 1846, it was shown that the Lord had a "people in the churches who had not rejected the truth." To those individuals who thought differently, a reproof was given, saying that angels of God would yet work for such, and when they did work, those who were denouncing them would be left outside.
Again, in April, 1848, Elder White and his wife were laboring at Rocky Hill, Conn., for the conversion of sinners. All of which goes to prove that the vision of March 24, 1849, harmonizes with the one given in Paris, Maine, in 1846, and with the course pursued by these servants of God in April, 1848.
A False Revivalist Defeated
This vision was first published in Connecticut, in the year 1849. A minister was working very earnestly there to secure converts, even professing to have the gift of tongues. He was striving to gain an influence over the little company of Sabbath-keepers at Rocky Hill. One of these he called a "dear saint of the Lord," In his presence Mrs. White had a vision showing the deceptive nature of his work, and that his "dear saint" was taking a course not in harmony with the seventh commandment. This lady "saint" denied the charge, and the minister made a strong plea, seeking to gain sympathy for the "poor saint of the Lord," as he called her. In the night following, this young woman had an attack of cholera morbus, and thought she was going to die. She sent for Mrs. White, and confessed that what had been shown concerning her was true; that she was guilty of just what Mrs. White had stated. So this false worker failed in deceiving that company, and the nature of his work was exposed, which suddenly closed his efforts in that place.
Another False Revivalist in Oswego, N.Y
As a further illustration of the principle set forth in the above testimony, and to show how Elder White and his wife still labored in 1849-50 for the conversion of sinners, we give the following facts, which were related to me by Elias Goodwin and others of the early members of the church in Oswego, State of New York:-
There was then (1849) residing in the place a young man by the name of Hiram Patch. He was betrothed to a young lady to whom he was soon afterward married. They were unconverted persons, but were attending the meeting held by Elder White and his wife, and were almost persuaded to become Christians. At this time a revival was started in one of the churches in Oswego, not by the ministry, but by a prominent lay member, a treasurer of the county funds. This man appeared very zealous, and professed to have a great burden for sinners. He would wring his hands as he prayed for the unconverted, being apparently in the greatest distress because of their lost condition.
Mr. Patch and his affianced went to these revival meetings, and were in doubt how to decide. They were present on one occasion when Mrs. White had a vision in which she was pointed to Hosea 5:6, 7, which reads, "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord; for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions." She was shown that those who were conducting this revival were not right with God, and that they had no real burden of soul for sinners.
A Prediction of Failure
Then she said to Mr. Patch, "I was told to say to you that in this case the statement of the text will be literally fulfilled. Wait a month, and you will know for yourself the character of the persons who are engaged in the revival, and who profess to have such a great burden for sinners." Mr. Patch said, "I will wait."
Within a fortnight from the time this vision was given, the said treasurer, who claimed such anguish of soul for sinners, in his affected agony burst a bloodvessel in his stomach, and had to be taken to his bed through loss of blood. The affairs of the treasurer's office had to be taken hold of by the sheriff of the county, who with one of the constables looked at the balance called for on the treasurer's book, and then counted up the money preparatory to taking charge of the business, when, lo, there was a shortage in the money to the amount of an even $1,000.
To the sheriff and constable it seemed impossible that a man so earnest in a revival could be guilty of having taken the money. They thought he must have paid it out, and forgotten to make the proper entry on the book; or perhaps he had deposited it in the bank, and it did not appear in the account in the safe. At all events, they must seek of him a satisfactory explanation, but it must be done with caution; for if he had the money, he would undoubtedly make an effort to conceal it. It was therefore arranged that one of them should go on before and secrete himself in the shed back of the house, so as to watch the back door in case any demonstrations were made, while the sheriff should enter the front door. When the sheriff approached the house and entered the front door, he discovered the dress of a woman just leaving the back door. The man in the shed saw the woman go quickly to a snow-bank, dig a hole in the snow, and deposit something there, which she covered with the snow, and returned to the house.
The sheriff came to the bedside of the treasurer, and after making inquiries as to his condition of health, hinted at their perplexities in the office, suggesting that he could probably explain the difficulty. The man, greatly agitated, raised his hand toward heaven, and calling God to witness, said he knew nothing about the money. Just then the wife stepped in, and wanted to know what was the matter, and why her husband was so much excited. The man replied, "They think we have their money." The woman then lifted her hands in like manner, and called God to witness that they had not the money, and, furthermore, knew nothing about it. Just as she finished this sentence, the constable, who had hastened from his hiding-place to the snow-bank as she went into the house interfered, with these words, "Madam, what is this? I saw you rush from the house, and deposit this in the snow-bank, and here it is, the missing sack of money, marked upon it $1,000."
As might be expected, that revival suddenly collapsed. Mr. Patch and his intended, after learning the character of the one conducting the revival, took their position for the truth, and united with the Seventh-day Adventists, of which church they remained worthy members to the day of their death.
This vision, as is clearly seen, was given in the interest and for the special benefit of the unconverted, and resulted in the conversion of sinners, while its immediate bearing was upon those who were themselves sinners and rejected of the Lord because of their hypocrisy. They had "dealt treacherously against the Lord;" professing to have great travail of soul for sinners, they only begat "strange children."
A Hypocritical Worker in Camden, N.Y
Among other places visited by Elder and Mrs. White during the winter of 1849-50, was the town of Camden, N.Y., about forty miles from Oswego, where they were still living. Of this meeting, Mrs. White says: "Previous to going, I was shown the little company who professed the truth there, and among them I saw a woman who professed much piety, but who was a hypocrite, and was deceiving the people of God." [13]
In January, 1884, while laboring in the State of New York, I learned the following particulars from Mr. Preston, who was a resident of Camden at the time of the above-mentioned conference, and with whom Elder White and his wife tarried during the meeting:-
"This woman taught extreme views on the subject of sanctification, saying there was a state of perfection to be attained where a person would be entirely above the law of God; and she claimed to have reached that perfect state. With this doctrine of holiness she was troubling the minds of some of our people at Camden. Sister White was shown that with all this woman's pretended holiness, her heart was black with sin, and in life she was corrupt.
"While in this place, Sister White was given another vision, in the presence of this woman, who appeared to have a great burden of soul for the unconverted; but Sister White told her it was not a genuine travail of soul for sinners, because her own course of life was such that she did not herself stand right in the sight of God. 'So,' said Mr. Preston, 'what is called the Camden vision applied definitely and especially to the case of that woman, and not to the condition of sinners generally, and we so understood it at the time.' "
After Mrs. White had related her vision, the woman arose, and said, "God knows my heart, and if you could see it, you would see that it is pure and clean." Thus the meeting closed. Not long after, however, the woman was taken seriously ill, and thought she was dying. Said she, "I must see Sister White; I have a confession to make to her. I told her I was a good woman, that I was pure. It is not so. I am a wicked woman. This man that I am living with is not my husband. I left a good husband in England, and one little child, and ran away with this man. We were never married.
I have been professing to be a doctor, and have been selling medicine that I swore in court cost me $1 a bottle, but it only cost me twelve cents a bottle. I also swore that a cow we sold to a poor man cost us $30, when it only cost us $20." [14]
To such hypocritical pretenders do the words of Mrs. White respecting "travail of soul for sinners" apply, and not to sinners in general. Taking into consideration the facts presented above, showing that the doctrine of "no more mercy" for sinners was fully condemned from the first of its being preached in spring of 1845; and that Mrs. White has labored earnestly for the conversion of sinners all the way along since that date, who can believe that in 1850, when her work entitled "Experience and Views" was published, she meant to teach that there was "no more salvation for sinners"?
A No-Mercy Man
Even as late as the year 1848, there remained here and there an individual who held that there was no more mercy for sinners. These, however, were not Seventh-day Adventists. One of this class, by the name of Sweet, resided in the city of Rochester, N.Y. Just after I had made a public profession of religion, and had been baptized among the First-day Adventists, I was attending a tent meeting in Canandaigua, N.Y., conducted by Elders J. C. Bywater and Geo. W. Burnham. This man Sweet was present, and expressed very serious doubts as to the genuineness of my religious experience, because he "thought it not possible now for sinners to be converted."
Notes: