p. 116 | A PLAIN TALK TO THE MURMURERS

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 12, 1877

A PLAIN TALK TO THE MURMURERS.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Some Facts for Those Who Are not in Harmony with the Body.

Now let us apply these facts and principles to our work. Admitting that the time has come for the third angel’s message to be given to the world, the question arises, Has the Lord forgotten to attend to it? Is he not able to find proper men to do the work? Or has this message actually begun, and has somebody been engaged in giving it? Or we might ask, What is present truth, what are the truths which should now be preached to the world? Do we not all agree that the second advent is near, and the world is now to be warned concerning it? Do we not all agree that in the providence of God, special light is now being given upon the subjects of the second advent near, the kingdom, the new earth, the sleep of the dead, the destruction of the wicked, the doctrine of the trinity, the law of God, God’s holy Sabbath, etc.? All Seventh-day Adventists will agree in these things. The time has come that these truths must be preached to the world; and the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:9-12 is a prophecy of this work.

To come a little closer, we ask, If these truths are now being published to the world, by whom are they heralded? If we go to the first-day Adventists, we find them very zealous in preaching a part of them; but other parts, as the law of God, the Sabbath, the third angel’s message, etc., they not only fail to preach, but they are bitterly opposed to them, as we know very well. They, then, certainly are not preaching present truth. We cannot look to them as standing in the light and doing the special work of God for our time. On the other hand, our S. D. Baptist brethren love the law of God, and advocate the Sabbath the same as we do, but the second advent, kingdom, the new earth, the sleep of the dead, destruction of the wicked, the third angel’s message, and other important truths which we all cherish so dearly, they neither believe nor teach. They take no interest in them, and, indeed, frequently feel it their duty to oppose them. Then we certainly cannot look to them as giving this last message to the world. They do not claim to be giving it. They hardly think that we are in the last days.

Where else shall we look then? If we go to other Protestant churches; we find them still farther in the dark, and much more opposed to all our work. Are there then any people on earth, who are preaching the whole truth which we believe? Yes, verily; Seventh-day Adventists are proclaiming these truths. Every point which we hold as sacred, they are teaching, and those peculiar truths which we denominate “present truth,” they are especially engaged in promulgating to the world. Do we believe in the near coming of Jesus? They are advocating it. Do we believe the saints inherit the new earth? They teach it? Do we believe in the sleep of the dead, and destruction of the wicked? They preach it everywhere. Do we believe in the holy Sabbath and law of God? Who are more zealous in its defense than they? Do we believe the third angel’s message is due now? This is their battle cry. This is inscribed on all their banners, and carried in front in every battle. Surely, to us who believe these things, this is very strong presumptive evidence that this is the people whom God is leading, whom God has raised up. All that is being done in the world to advocate these truths as a whole is being done by this people.

They have succeeded in establishing several printing offices, from which tons of tracts and books and papers are going out all over the land, bearing these blessed truths. They have a school where men are trained to teach these doctrines. Their ministers are pushing out in every direction, heralding them to the world. It is through some of these agents that every last one of us has received the truths for which we now profess so much love. Every day upon our knees we thank God for the present truth. But stop, my brother, where did you get this present truth? You did not first find it out, did you? I know that you did not, and you know it too. You know that I tell the truth when I say that there is not a Seventh-day Adventist in all this broad land but that has received these blessed truths through the very channel to which I have been pointing. Reader, I want to press this point. Where did you get the light on these subjects that you now have? I can tell you. You either first read it in some paper or book published by the S. D. Adventists, or else you heard it from some one who had got it from the S. D. Adventists. Let any man hold up his hand, who can deny this. Well, who started this? Did Elder Canright? No. He received it from the lips of one who had already preached it for years. Did Elder Butler or Elder Haskell or Elder Smith—did any of these men first dig it out, and start the stone rolling? They have helped some since it has started; but I ask, who started it? Where is the fountain head of this stream, so far as human means are concerned? You anticipate my answer, for you all know very well.

We go back to the close of the first and second messages in 1844; in the following year our good Father Bates began to keep the Sabbath and teach this in connection with his Advent views. In a few months’ time Brother and Sister White also received the Sabbath, and united its observance with the Advent doctrine. They very soon received the light upon the subject of the Sanctuary, the sitting of the Judgment in Heaven, and all those kindred truths which explain the disappointment in 1844. Here they received light upon the third angel’s message, and took the position there and then, that the time had now come for the third angel’s message to be given, after the close of the other two, and thus finish the last warning to the world. Shortly, Eld. J. N. Andrews joined them in this work. So these brethren began to preach this message to the world; but they were without means, without position, without churches, without influence, and everything in the message was new, and it had to be searched out and defended. Yet their faith in the message was then as strong as it is now, and their confidence in its final triumph was expressed in very strong terms. To all human appearance, they had no hope of success; but still they went to work in the fear of God, studying, preaching, traveling, and meeting all kinds of objections and opposition. Elder Bates wrote the first little book in favor of the Sabbath, which was ever published by an Adventist Sabbath-keeper.

In 1849, Brother White, by a great exertion, published the first paper advocating the third angel’s message, the Sabbath, and the Advent united. Of course I have not space to relate all the struggles, sacrifices, and arduous labors they put forth to advance the work of this message,

Suffice it to say, that all the Sabbath-keeping Adventists, from the start, looked to Brother White as the leading mind in the work. None were more hearty in this feeling than Father Bates.

The first Conference ever held by Seventh-day Adventists was appointed and attended by Bro. White, Elder Bates, Elder Andrews, and other faithful men, co-operating with him, and Sister White also uniting her labors with his. They went everywhere, exhorting the brethren, encouraging the churches, counseling the ministers, and pushing on the work. They moved the paper from one place to another. While the REVIEW was published at Rochester, N.Y., Brother Uriah Smith embraced the truth.

In 1855 Brother White moved the REVIEW Office to Battle Creek, Michigan. Here, by his advice, the first S. D. A. meeting-house was built. To us now, it is rather amusing to know that some zealous brethren opposed that as a move in the wrong direction, as a denial of our Advent faith, as a long stride towards apostasy! But what would our work have amounted to now, had that fanatical view carried?

From first to last, a good share of the trials which the brethren have had with Brother White has been on such points as this. He has always been crying “broader plans,” while others have pulled back, and felt great alarm at such moves. Time was too short, this was too much like the world and the nominal churches, &c., &c. And because their fanatical, narrow-minded views were not heeded, they turned to fault-finding, and some of them have done nothing else for the last quarter of a century.

At length the question of church organization came up. Of course, on the start, our people were very few and much scattered. Largely they had been expelled from the other churches for their Advent faith. Hence there was naturally a strong feeling against organization. But when our people became more numerous, and larger bodies began to be formed here and there, it became evident that some kind of organization must be entered into, to save the cause from confusion and ruin. Here, again, Brother White was the first one to strike out in favor of church organization. As unreasonable as it may appear to us now, a large majority of the brethren and sisters were opposed to it. Influential ministers also took a decided stand against it. But the counsel and argument of Bro. White, together with the influence of Sister White, finally carried it, and church organization became established among our people.

Who now questions the wisdom of that? No one. We all see that it was absolutely necessary. Confusion and ruin must have unavoidably resulted without it. Here again these narrow-minded murmurers had a good chance to show themselves, and they improved it well. They set up a terrible cry of “popery” and “one-man power.” Some of them left our ranks entirely, and have done nothing but howl about it ever since. They have proved themselves zealous and able in only one direction, viz., to tear down and scatter.

D. M. CANRIGHT.