The Practical Nature of the Messages

Next I want to take up the practical nature of the messages. In a letter which came to me only yesterday, my secretary summarized briefly a “message” which reached my desk in Washington from some people who think themselves to be prophets today. But when I read their words I found them to be not very practical, in fact, anything but practical. I shall not go into detail on that. Let me call your attention back to the things which are more important.DGRGC 78.1

Mrs. White did not write such impractical things. She never engaged in any kind of imagination or speculation of that nature. She was dealing with real people. She was giving counsel on actual practical situations. She was concerned with real problems, and therefore every message was direct, and every message had its objective and accomplished its purpose.DGRGC 78.2

Let me refer to just one phase of her work in Australia which I think will illustrate the practical nature of the messages given. When she went over there, our work was in its infancy. It had just begun. The church was very weak. In fact, the number of believers was very small. But soon after she arrived there she made it clear to the brethren that she had come because the Lord wanted her to help them to establish the work in Australia and do it in the way it should be done, according to God’s own plan.DGRGC 78.3

One phase of her work was to be the establishment of a Seventh-day Adventist training school for Australia. It was not to be just another college. Australia had colleges and universities—good ones—but the kind of a school that God wanted established in Australia was not just an ordinary school. He had in mind exactly the kind of school which he wanted established in that country, and for that reason He sent His messenger there to direct the minds of the people in the achievement of His purpose.DGRGC 78.4

Oh, that we, too, might know the kind of a school God wants in India, in Burma, in Egypt, in Beirut, in every centre around the world. My brother, my sister, I appeal to you one and all, read the messages, follow the instruction and the counsel given by God! When He told the brethren over there that they should build a school, He also told them the kind of school that it should be.DGRGC 79.1

You will find a very interesting chapter in the book Fundamentals of Christian Education, entitled, “Work and Education.” It is a wonderful chapter on education. If you have not read it recently, turn to it and read it in the light of what I have to say this morning. As she went on to describe the school to be established, the Australian brethren shook their heads, and some of them came to a conclusion that Sister White was all wrong.DGRGC 79.2

One of them even took time to talk with Elder W. C. White concerning his attitude toward the proposed school, and Elder White has given us a short paragraph which summarized the whole situation very clearly. He says:DGRGC 79.3

“One day an influential and talented member of the Melbourne church after listening to our plans for the establishment of such a school as we had at Healdsburg said to me, ‘Brother White, this plan of building such a school is not an Australian plan at all, the demand for having such a school is not an Australian demand. The idea of establishing a school at this time, when our cause is so young and weak, is not an Australian idea!’”DGRGC 79.4

He was right. It was not an Australian idea. It was not an Australian demand. It was not the kind of a school that the Australians would have built. It was God’s idea. It was God’s plan. It was, therefore, God’s demand, expressed through His servant, Ellen G. White.DGRGC 79.5

I think, dear friends, there is something there that all of us should catch as significant. We are following not man’s ideas, not man’s plans; but God’s ideas, and God’s plans. The closer we follow the pattern, the nearer we shall come to carrying out the specifications for the building of God’s kingdom, and the greater will be the blessing that will rest upon us as we carry out God’s plan. I hope all of us will ever bear in mind that this work is not our work. The success or failure of this work does not depend entirely upon us, nor upon our efforts. God will see His work through to a successful conclusion. You and I might stand in His way a bit and hinder His plans for a while but not for long. God will finish His work and He will see it done in His own time and way.DGRGC 80.1

The brethren in Australia looked at each other and wondered, “Where shall we find the kind of a place that she wants us to use for such a school?” Mrs. White was sure that God had a place somewhere there in Australia. She suggested that they should look for a farm away from the cities. So they appointed a committee to search for a suitable area, but each time they returned with the report that the price was far beyond their financial resources.DGRGC 80.2

Now I do not know how much your land costs here in Southern Asia, but when I was over in Egypt the other day, they took me right out on the desert. There was nothing but sand, and I said to them, “How far are you away from the water?” “Oh,” they said, “we are at least a half a mile.” “Well,” I said, “How much is this worthless land? How much does it cost?” And they told me, “It costs $200 American money an acre.” I said, “I would not give you two hundred pence for an acre of this sand!” Then as I was at their school property I thought to myself of this story of finding a piece of land in Australia. The brethren went everywhere looking for land. They came back and reported the most beautiful land, wonderful land, but it cost several hundred dollars an acre, the cheapest was $75 an acre, but Sister White shook her head, and said, “No, that is not it.”DGRGC 80.3

So she sent them out again, and soon they came back with this report, “We have found the place. Just a lot of sand and timber. A thousand five hundred acres of it, and we can have it for $3 an acre, but what land for a farm! A day was appointed to visit the property and make a decision.DGRGC 80.4

“She and Elder and Mrs. Starr got on the train that morning; the rest had gone the day before. During the trip Sister White told Brother and Sister Starr of the dream she had some nights before. She said, “I dreamed we were looking over land for a school, and while we were walking along we came to a place where a furrow was turned over about a quarter of a yard deep and several yards long. While we were standing looking at that turned furrow, two of the brethren came along and looking at it said, “This is not good land. The soil is not favourable.” Sister White said, “When I heard those words, I was much depressed.” Then an angel appeared and declared that false witness had been borne against the land. The angel explained the properties of the soil and declared, “With proper care this soil will yield a rich harvest.”DGRGC 81.1

In their conversation they discussed many other matters, and in due time they reached their destination on May 23, 1894. The next morning, May 24, the party arose. They made their preparations for the day, and then came together for morning worship. Sister White took charge of worship that morning and read a passage of Scripture. As they knelt to pray, she felt impressed to pray for the healing of a member of the group, Brother McCullagh, who was in the very last stages of tuberculosis. He looked as though he were ready to pass away any time. But Sister White felt impressed to pray for his healing.DGRGC 81.2

Brother McCullagh told of the experience that when she prayed for his healing something like an electric shock passed through his body and he knew that he was healed. For thirty-five years he lived in perfect health following that memorable morning of May 24, 1894. The whole group felt impressed that God was with them, and certainly with that kind of evidence of God’s presence, they would not make a mistake with regard to the selection of the land for the school. So they went out.DGRGC 81.3

They walked all over that 1,500 acres of land. The party separated and scattered. Elder and Mrs. Starr, accompanied Sister White as they walked over it. During the course of their walk, they stopped and looked, and there was a furrow a quarter of a yard deep and a few yards long, neatly turned. And as they were looking at it, one brother came from one direction and a second one from another direction. These two men had grown up in Iowa (U. S. A.), and were accustomed to heavy black soil. As they stood there and looked at that worthless sand, they said, “Sister White, this is not good land! The soil is not favourable.”DGRGC 82.1

Ellen G. White smiled. She looked at Elder and Mrs. Starr. Then she told those two good brethren her dream and the words of the angel. That day they decided to buy the land. But some of the group were still very sceptical. They could not see how one thousand five hundred acres of sand would ever produce anything of value. So they secretly went to the government agricultural experiment station, and asked that one of their experts go over and look at the one thousand five hundred acres and give his counsel regarding it.DGRGC 82.2

He went, and came back to report that if a jack rabbit wanted to cross that one thousand five hundred acres, he would have to find some way to carry a lunch basket, for there would not be enough for even a jack rabbit to eat!” That was his report. The brethren thought, If that is the agricultural expert’s opinion regarding the land, then Mrs. White would most certainly be convinced that the area was wholly unsuitable for a school.DGRGC 82.3

But she was not convinced. “Is there not a God in Israel that ye have gone to the gods of Ekron?” On the other hand, Ellen G. White said, “I want to buy sixty-six acres of this land and I want to build my house right here. I wish to see what God can do with land like this.” So there she built her house. She took her sixty-six acres and began to develop that place. Fourteen months after planting fruit trees she was picking the fruit. Anybody who has visited the Avondale school will agree that the one thousand five hundred acres of worthless land is today a little Garden of Eden.DGRGC 82.4

I have never been there myself, but I have seen pictures of it. It is a lovely place with beautiful green grass, wonderful flowers and trees, the finest kinds of fruit trees. I tell you, dear friends, the messages that came from the servant of the Lord were down-to-earth practical messages. Sometimes we could not see the wisdom of the message or the counsel, and yet when our people have followed the instruction given we have made no mistakes. It is when we have failed to follow the instruction that we have made mistakes. The very practical nature of all the messages given through the servant of the Lord must appeal to us as another evidence that God is in her work.DGRGC 83.1