Hall, Sister
“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
August 2, 1900
Portions of this letter are published in 3SM 317-319. +NoteOne or more typed copies of this document contain additional Ellen White handwritten interlineations which may be viewed at the main office of the Ellen G. White Estate.
My Dear Sister Hall:
Sister Harlow has been speaking of you to me. She says that you are in some confusion in regard to the day line. Now, my dear sister, this talk about the day line is only something that Satan has devised as a snare. He seeks to bewitch the senses, as he does in saying, “Lo, here is Christ,” and “Lo, there is Christ.” There will be every fiction and devising of Satan to lead persons astray, but the word is, “Believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not.” [Matthew 24:23-26.] 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 1
We have the positive Word of God in regard to the Sabbath. “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily, my Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you. Every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 2
“Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” [Exodus 31:12-18.] 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 3
Is it possible that so much importance can be clustered about those who observe the Sabbath, and yet no one can tell when the Sabbath comes? Then where is the people who bear the badge or sign of God? What is the sign? The seventh day Sabbath, which the Lord blessed and sanctified and pronounced holy, with great penalties for its violation. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 4
The seventh day Sabbath is in no uncertainty. It is God’s memorial of His work of creation. It is set up as a heaven-given memorial, to be observed as a sign of obedience. God wrote the whole law with His finger on two tables of stone, placing it in the ark to be carefully preserved, and presented to the world as the law of His kingdom, never to be changed or altered one jot or tittle. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 5
Christ declares, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 5:17-19.] 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 6
The words, “He shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven,” do not mean that commandment-breakers will have a place in heaven. Those who have had light from the Word of God in regard to His commandments, and yet refuse to walk in obedience because it involves a cross, these shall be pronounced in heaven, by the angels, the least. “But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 7
One of the most solemn messages that comes to our world is represented as given by the third angel, who follows the first and second angels. The third angel gives the declaration with a loud voice, “If any man worship the beast or his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” [Revelation 14:9, 10.] 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 8
John is shown in vision the awful result of worshiping the beast and his image, because the spurious sabbath has been exalted above the only true, sanctified Sabbath. Here is the very warning that Seventh-day Adventists are proclaiming to the world—to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. John beheld the last crisis. Of the woman representing the apostate church he declares that “she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” [Verse 8.] This means the churches that have accepted the spurious sabbath, and have led all people to exalt this child of the papacy above the true Sabbath. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 9
Every soul is under obligation to obey the light he receives. He is to hold fast his profession of faith, heeding not the voice or profession of men with whom Satan is working to confuse minds. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 10
John’s prophetic eye sees a company who have not the mark of the beast. As he beholds them, he exclaims, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” [Verse 12.] Two parties are brought into view: one keeping the commandments of God, in distinction from the one breaking His commandments, enforcing the Sunday sabbath, and compelling the people to conform to the Sunday law. Through union with opposers of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment—the seventh day Sabbath—men will receive the mark of the beast. And all who have that mark will perish with the man of sin, who makes void the law of God. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 11
The seven last plagues will come upon all that unite with the one who has made void God’s law. The point at issue is the observance of the Sabbath. Now these two parties are standing in opposition to each other. One company has the Sabbath sign, testifying their loyalty to God. They are a small company, but loyal and true, distinct from the world. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 12
In Revelation 15 are represented the faithful and obedient. Mark (verse 5): “And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.” See also Revelation 11:15-19: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 13
“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 14
Now, my sister, although I am at present sick, I write sitting up in bed to tell you that we are not to give the least credence to the day line theory. It is a snare of Satan, brought in by his own agents to confuse minds. You see how utterly impossible for this thing to be, that the world is all right observing Sunday, and God’s remnant people are all wrong. This theory of the day line would make all our history for the past fifty-five years a complete fallacy. But we know where we stand. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 15
Bodies of men, as well as individuals, are responsible to God for all their persecution of His people because of their belief in the truth. In Revelation 12 we read, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” [Verse 17.] 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 16
My sister, let not your faith fail. We are to stand fast by our colors, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. All those who hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will keep the seventh day Sabbath, which comes to us marked by the sun. The fallacy of the day line is a trap of Satan to discourage. I know what I am speaking about. Have faith in God. Shine where you are, as the living stone in God’s building. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 17
The children of God will be triumphant. They will come off conquerors and more than conquerors over all the opposing, persecuting elements. Fear not. By the power of Bible truth and love exemplified in the cross, and set home by the Holy Spirit, we shall have the victory. The whole battle before us hinges upon the observance of the true Sabbath of Jehovah. Shall we for a moment credit the assumption that the world is keeping the law of God, and that we are to give up the Sabbath for the first day of the week? No, no. The truth is, we have the original Sabbath to observe, and all the sophistry of human and satanic science combined should only teach us to cling more firmly to the truth. Satan is a powerful, malignant, artful spirit, who has for ages deceived both church and state, all nations bowing to his mandates. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 18
Read the eighteenth chapter of Revelation, which gives the outcome of all those who have refused loyalty to God and His commandments. The whole earth is to be lighted with the glory of that other angel who follows the third angel, and whose message unites with His. Here is the last call to mystic Babylon, the churches that have been corrupt. In these religious bodies is to be heard the last call, the warning, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. ... Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” [Verses 1, 2, 4.] Read Revelation 22:12-18. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 19
I can write no more now, but I say, Give no ear to heresy. Cling to a plain Thus saith the Lord. He will comfort and bless you, and will give you joy in your heart. Praise the Lord that we have clear light, and a plain, distinct message to bear. 15LtMs, Lt 118, 1900, par. 20