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Heavenly Visions

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    COUNSEL GIVEN IN EUROPE

    Even then it was never thought that we could do it outside the United States. But Mrs. White went over to Europe in 1885. When she arrived at Basel, Switzerland, she was first shown over the printing house, the newly built Imprimerie Polyglotte of our early European reports. She went into the pressroom. She said, I have seen a scene just like this. Nine years before she had been given a view of the publishing interests in different parts of the world. And she recognized this pressroom scene as being familiar. They introduced two young men to her, and she said. “Where is the other man, an older man?”HEVI 92.5

    “Oh,” they said, “that is the superintendent; he is down in the city, attending to business.” She said, “I have a message for him.” She had been shown about some of his personal problems, though never had she known him. One cannot explain things like that; and they worked out in the lives of those concerned. Yes, they work out. Her French translator at Basel, at that council, wrote that perplexities and difficulties that had baffled the ingenuity of them all, were solved right there by the work of the Spirit of prophecy. Mrs. White bore her testimony about this one and that one, people she had never seen before, speaking of their work, and how they could best serve. The living God has wrought in this advent movement.HEVI 92.6

    In Europe they thought they never could sell books by our colporteur plan. Mrs. White, on this visit, was shown that they could sell books in Europe by the colporteurs, just as they did in America. Our brethren sought advice from the great publishers in Basel and Leipzig. Last summer I was in Leipzig and went into the big publishing center that is one of the sights of that city. Here are found the large houses where the great German lexicons, encyclopedias, and dictionaries are put out. I thought of that visit of our brethren of 1886, when these book publishers said they never could sell books by colporteurs as in America. “It may work there,” they were told, “but it will never work here.” Mrs. White said the Lord had shown her that it would work. And our brethren began in faith; they followed the counsel of the Spirit of prophecy. And at once it began to work. And it has worked ever since. Ah, brethren, there was a gift in this movement by which God has led us step by step into this thing and that thing for the upbuilding of the work of carrying this message of salvation to men.HEVI 92.7

    Let the critics seek to find occasion for fault in these writings. The critics in Christ’s time did it with Jesus’ words. On one occasion Jesus said: “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.” John 5:31. The scribes jotted that down. Later He said, “I am the light of the world.” John 8:12. Now the scribes thought they had caught Him in a contradiction. They said. You bear record of yourself, and your record is not true. Jesus said: “Though I bear record of Myself, yet My record is true.” John 8:14. What contradiction! critics cried. They clung to the letter of the word and not to the meaning, insisting on putting their own construction on statements in order to bring charges of contradiction.HEVI 92.8

    Just so the critics have searched Mrs. White’s writings to find contradictions. But, brethren, when you see a gift such as this in operation, see it doing things that one knows the human agent could never do of herself, you know there is a divinely set gift in the midst of the church of God by which He leads the work.HEVI 93.1

    So our publishing houses are doing a great work. Why, over in Korea our work was being watched. Some Koreans watched for months to see how our colporteurs did their work. They were astonished at the success. At last they came to our office, we were told, and said they had been watching our colporteurs to find the secret of their success. They had discovered it, they thought, in a little book which our colporteur leaders often studied. “Could we get copies of that book?” they asked. You know that little book; it is “The Colporteur Evangelist,” writings of the Spirit of prophecy. It is a wonderful book. I read it through a little time ago. It gets right down the details of the colporteur life. It was not written by our experienced colporteur leaders. It was written by a sister who had the gift of the Spirit of prophecy. Answering the idea that the world would not buy our doctrinal books, this little book said there were in the world not only many who needed to see our books, but many who would want the very things in them.HEVI 93.2

    N. F. Brewer, of China, told me a story that illustrates this simple truth. He was traveling on a railway train. He carried along with him some small Chinese books-those Crisis books, we call them. He went through the train selling the books. After he had returned to his seat in the third class, presently a European gentleman, nicely dressed, a fine-looking man, came down the aisle slowly, as if he were looking for some one. When he saw Elder Brewer, he said:HEVI 93.3

    “Who are you?”HEVI 93.4

    “I am a missionary.”HEVI 93.5

    “Of what church?”HEVI 93.6

    “Seventh-day Adventist.”HEVI 93.7

    “You are the very man I want to see; I am a secretary of a missionary organization. I want you to tell me how Seventh-day Adventists sell books as they do. We cannot do it. How do you do it?”HEVI 93.8

    Well, Elder Brewer was a bit taken by surprise and did not know just how to start, but he picked up one of his little books, and turned through it, showing the gentleman the pictures and explaining the texts. The book was on fulfillment of prophecy in current events. When he had finished, the gentleman said: “That is a most interesting book. I would like to read it, but I cannot read Chinese. Do you have the same book in English? Elder Brewer searched in his luggage and found an English copy, Review which he handed him. The man gave him the half dollar silver. As he did so, Elder Brewer said, “That is the way we sell our books.” It is just as simple as that. But remember that we were guided into this way by the gift that so many in the world deride.HEVI 93.9

    There is a vital message in the books, and when our book evangelists tell the message to the people, it is just as the Spirit of prophecy says: many see that this is what they want. They want to know about that. Somehow we have been encompassed on the right hand and on the left by instruction and counsels that have led this movement into right ways. It is service given that counts. By its fruits we know it.HEVI 93.10

    Next, note how this gift wrought in our educational work. (To be concluded in Part IV) The Review and Herald, January 20, 1938.HEVI 93.11

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