Unreleased Manuscript titled, "Lack of Appreciation of the Ministry".

[SDAnonymous]

From time-to-time, we want to share from the unpublished writings of Ellen White that we are preparing as part of the Complete Letters and Manuscripts collection. This one, coming from the recently released Volume II of Manuscripts, spanning 1857-1863, only has one paragraph that has been published (appears in italics here). It was written soon after the message of Laodicea was first applied to Sabbath-keeping Adventists and only months after the teaching of the Investigative Judgement was introduced to the believers. It is an encouragement to those who serve as ministers in the church and a powerful testimony that the Church should appreciate their ministry in these last days.

Quote:

---- Start Manuscript ----

Manuscript 1, 1857.

Written in June, somewhere in Vermont.

This manuscript is titled, “Lack of Appreciation of the Ministry”, Portions of this manuscript appear in Last Day Events, pp. 234-235.

I was shown some things concerning the preaching brethren. I saw their energies and strength were exhausted in laboring for a church that does not generally appreciate their labors. I saw that it would be better for the church to be thrown upon their own effort for a time. I saw they must be laborers. I saw that the principal part of Bro. Hutchins’ and Bro. Sperry’s labor has been to keep the church together. They have taken the burden of the church upon themselves, to dig around it, labor and labor for them until the church would, after the brethren had gotten a little victory, enjoy it, but make scarcely any effort for it themselves. [Then] in a few weeks [they] are sleepy and need the same effort made for them again. They tire and exhaust the strength of the worn-out servants of God. Again the servants of God plow through and get a little victory, [only] to be lost as easily as before. But when, with their own faith and wrestling with God, they obtain the victory, then it is lasting. They know then how much it costs, and they will preserve their consecration. I saw that so much of the efforts of these brethren should not be spent upon a world-loving and sleepy church. I saw that those who have not yet embraced the truth are anxious to hear, and these brethren should go where, at the present time, they can accomplish the most good with their feeble strength.

The church must arise. They do not half heed the message to the Laodicean church. There are those in the church who love this world better than they love Jesus. They love their treasures here better than they love heaven or eternal life, and with their earthly treasure they will perish. The True Witness now speaks to a lukewarm church. Be zealous and repent; but they scarcely hear or heed the message. A few are afflicting their souls. A few are heeding the counsel of the True Witness. Unless the church speedily arouses they will go into darkness, be ensnared and overcome by the enemy.

I saw we are in the investigative judgment. Soon judgment will be pronounced on our works and our actions which are passing in review before God. A solemn, awful period! Who realize this great work? I saw that those who do not now appreciate, study, and dearly prize the Word of God, spoken by His servants, will have cause to mourn bitterly hereafter.

I saw that the Lord in judgment will, at the close of time, walk through the earth; the fearful plagues will begin to fall. Then those who have despised God’s Word, those who have lightly esteemed it, shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord and shall not find it. A famine is in the land for hearing the Word. The ministers of God will have done their last work, offered their last prayers, shed their last bitter tear for a rebellious church and an ungodly people. Their last solemn warning has been given.

O then how quickly would houses and lands, dollars that have been miserly hoarded and cherished and tightly grasped, be given for some consolation by those who have professed the truth and have not lived it out, for the way of salvation to be explained or to hear a hopeful word, or a prayer, or an exhortation from their ministers. But no, they must hunger and thirst on in vain; their thirst will never be quenched, no consolation can they get; their cases are decided and eternally fixed. It is a fearful, awful time. There can much be done now to bring in those jewels who are hid beneath the rubbish, who will highly prize the truth as it falls from the lips of God’s servants.

I was shown that many of the church have at this time of peril more care for their farm and their cattle than they have for the servants of God, or the truth which they preach; their labors are so common among them that the laborers are not considered worthy of their hire. His strength must be exhausted, his life embittered by scarcely a well day, must spend and be spent, and yet the church asleep as to these things.

But I saw that God was not asleep. Said the angel, Jesus says, I know thy works; yes, selfish, professed Sabbath-keepers. God knows thy works. Ye covetous, world-loving Sabbath-keepers, said the angel, God knows thy works. I saw that every privation the servants of God have endured are all written in the book, every tear is bottled up. Every pang of agony they have endured is recorded in the book. I know thy works, says the True Witness. All that has been done to help the servants of God is all recorded; all of it is written in the book. All the selfish withholding from God’s servants are all written in the book. All thy deeds, said the angel, are passing in review before God.

I saw that the church now must afflict their souls. They must labor, they must agonize or go down. I saw it was best to leave the churches to work for themselves now, that they may feel their weakness while there is a chance for

---- End Manuscript ----

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God bless you all. If this is your interest area, we hope you can partner with us to bring this project closer to completion!

[Dr. Shane]

How do we know this is authentic?

[SDAnonymous]

How do we know this is authentic?

Hi Shane, This is from our FAQ on our website:

How much is really unavailable from Ellen White's writings?

Here is a way you can get a bit of an idea for yourself.

http://www.llu.edu/webapps/univ_library/speccolls/EGWLetters.php

http://www.llu.edu/webapps/univ_library/speccolls/EGWManuscripts.php

Go to these two pages above, one for the Ellen White Letters and the other for the Ellen White Manuscripts. Leave the fields blank, and just press "Search". You will receive a full listing of the letters and manuscripts indexed by the White Estate, respectively, and in each table is a column which has "Where Published".

A lot of the rows in these columns are blank altogether, showing that those manuscripts or letters have never been published.

However, many that have something entered in this column are only published in part, some with only a few sentences or paragraphs in a compilation or manuscript release. This will give you just a little idea of how much has never been released to the general public. We have found that when one manuscript is found across several compilations, none of those give the entire context, therefore reading the letter is a much more enlightening experience than reading the extracts across the compilations. Sometimes the compilations begin mid-sentence.

These are old lists, though, and some of the numbering has changed in recent years as researchers have learned that a particular letter wasn't from one year, it was really from another. Our eBooks refer to these changes in numbering and we are researching for more.

Anyone who supports our ministry and obtains any of our Volumes of the writings will receive free updates to these volumes if we add more information about the letters, for example, and when we have finished compiling everything into a database similar to the Ellen White Published CD, they will have first opportunity to know about it.

We estimate that between a half and a third of what Ellen White wrote has never been released!

How do we know that what you are releasing is genuine?

Our ministry is relatively new. If we are peddling forgeries, it will soon become evident. There are enough Adventists with access to the internet who live near Ellen White Research Centers who can verify the content. We are confident that as word spreads, so will the confirmation that we have the genuine article.

If you don't have the luxury of living near one of these centers, then there are some other ways to confirm. Firstly, our eBooks have two color fonts. Letters/Manuscripts or portions thereof which do appear in published works are in a dark grey font. Unpublished Letters/Manuscripts or sections thereof are published in standard black font. As an introduction to each letter, we identify where it is located, if at all, through the published works so you can verify it.

The other way to confirm is to check the list of letters and manuscripts above as a checklist to see what we have included.