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Country
Living
(compilation
of EGW Comments 1946)
Table of Contents
Contents
A Call to Leave the
Cities
5
Avoiding Labor Conflicts
9
An Appeal to Parents
12
Occupations in
Rural Locations
17
Preparing for
the Sunday Law Crisis
20
Colonizing at
Institutional Centers
21
Guided by God's
Providences
24
Our
Institutional Centers to Be Away From Congested Areas
28
Emergency
Flight in Closing Conflict
32
Section I
- A Call to Leave the Cities
The Perils of the Cities
Few realize the importance of
shunning, so far as possible, all associations unfriendly to
religious life. In choosing their surroundings, few make
their spiritual prosperity the first consideration.
{CL 5.1}
Parents flock with their
families to the cities, because they fancy it easier to
obtain a livelihood there than in the country. The children,
having nothing to do when not in school, obtain a street
education. From evil associates, they acquire habits of vice
and dissipation. The parents see all this, but it will
require a sacrifice to correct their error, and they stay
where they are, until Satan gains full control of their
children.
{CL 5.2}
Better sacrifice any and every
worldly consideration than to imperil the precious souls
committed to your care. They will be assailed by
temptations, and should be taught to meet them; but it is
your duty to cut off every influence, to break up every
habit, to sunder every tie, that keeps you from the most
free, open, and hearty committal of yourselves and your
family to God.
{CL 5.3}
Instead of the crowded city,
seek some retired situation where your children will be, so
far as possible, shielded from temptation, and there train
and educate them for usefulness. The prophet Ezekiel thus
enumerates the causes that led to Sodom's sin and
destruction: "Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of
idleness was in her and in her daughters; neither did she
strengthen the hands of the poor and needy." All who would
escape the doom of Sodom, must shun the course that brought
God's judgments upon that wicked city.-- Testimonies, vol.
5, pp. 232, 233. (1882)
{CL 5.4}
City Living Not
God's Plan
The world over, cities are
becoming hotbeds of vice. On every hand are the sights and
sounds of evil. Everywhere are enticements to sensuality and
dissipation. The tide of corruption and crime is continually
swelling. Every day brings the record of violence,
--robberies, murders, suicides, and crimes unnamable.
{CL 5.5}
Life in the cities is false and
artificial. The intense passion for money getting, the whirl
of excitement and pleasure seeking, the thirst for display,
the luxury and extravagance, all are forces that, with the
great masses of mankind, are turning the mind from life's
true purpose. They are opening the door to a thousand evils.
Upon the youth they have almost irresistible power.
{CL 6.1}
One of the most subtle and
dangerous temptations that assails the children and youth in
the cities is the love of pleasure. Holidays are numerous;
games and horse racing draw thousands, and the whirl of
excitement and pleasure attracts them away from the sober
duties of life. Money that should have been saved for better
uses is frittered away for amusements.
{CL 6.2}
Through the working of trusts,
and the results of labor unions and strikes the conditions
of life in the city are constantly becoming more and more
difficult. Serious troubles are before us; and for many
families removal from the cities will become a necessity.
{CL 6.3}
The physical surroundings in the
cities are often a peril to health. The constant liability
to contact with disease, the prevalence of foul air, impure
water, impure food, the crowded, dark, unhealthful
dwellings, are some of the many evils to be met.
{CL 6.4}
It was not God's purpose that
people should be crowded into cities, huddled together in
terraces and tenements. In the beginning He placed our first
parents amidst the beautiful sights and sounds He desires us
to rejoice in today. The more nearly we come into harmony
with God's original plan, the more favorable will be our
position to secure health of body, and mind, and soul.--The
Ministry of Healing, pp. 363-365. (1905)
{CL 6.5}
A Loitering Spirit
I could not sleep past two
o'clock this morning. During the night season I was in
council. I was pleading with some families to avail
themselves of God's appointed means, and get away from the
cities to save their children. Some were loitering, making
no determined efforts.
{CL 6.6}
The angels of mercy hurried Lot
and his wife and daughters by taking hold of their hands.
Had Lot hastened as the Lord desired him to, his wife would
not have become a pillar of salt. Lot had too much of a
lingering spirit. Let us not be like him. The same voice
that warned Lot to leave Sodom bids us, "Come out from among
them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean."
Those who obey this warning will find a refuge. Let every
man be wide awake for himself, and try to save his family.
Let him gird himself for the work. God will reveal from
point to point what to do next.
{CL 6.7}
Hear the voice of God through
the apostle Paul: "Work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will
and to do of His good pleasure." Lot trod the plain with
unwilling and tardy steps. He had so long associated with
evil workers that he could not see his peril until his wife
stood on the plain a pillar of salt forever.--Review and
Herald, Dec. 11, 1900.
{CL 7.1}
Cities to Be Visited by God's
Judgments
The time is near when the large
cities will be visited by the judgments of God. In a little
while, these cities will be terribly shaken. No matter how
large or how strong their buildings, no matter how many
safeguards against fire may have been provided, let God
touch these buildings, and in a few minutes or a few hours
they are in ruins.
{CL 7.2}
The ungodly cities of our world
are to be swept away by the besom of destruction. In the
calamities that are now befalling immense buildings and
large portions of cities, God is showing us what will come
upon the whole earth.--Testimonies, vol. 7, pp. 82, 83.
(1902)
{CL 7.3}
Results of Unheeded Warnings
I am bidden to declare the
message that cities full of transgression, and sinful in the
extreme, will be destroyed by earthquakes, by fire, by
flood. All the world will be warned that there is a God who
will display His authority as God. His unseen agencies will
cause destruction, devastation, and death. All the
accumulated riches will be as nothingness. . . .
{CL 7.4}
Calamities will come--calamities
most awful, most unexpected; and these destructions will
follow one after another. If there will be a heeding of the
warnings that God has given, and if churches will repent,
returning to their allegiance, then other cities may be
spared for a time. But if men who have been deceived
continue in the same way in which they have been walking,
disregarding the law of God,
and
presenting falsehoods before the people, God allows them to
suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened.
{CL 7.5}
The Lord will not suddenly cast
off all transgressors, or destroy entire nations; but He
will punish cities and places where men have given
themselves up to the possession of Satanic agencies.
Strictly will the cities of the nations be dealt with, and
yet they will not be visited in the extreme of God's
indignation, because some souls will yet break away from the
delusions of the enemy, and will repent and be converted,
while the mass will be treasuring up wrath against the day
of wrath.--Evangelism, p. 27. (1906)
{CL 8.1}
Imminence of God's Judgments
There are reasons why we should
not build in the cities. On these cities, God's judgments
are soon to fall.--Letter 158, 1902.
{CL 8.2}
The time is near when large
cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these
coming judgments.--Evangelism, p. 29. (1910)
{CL 8.3}
O that God's people had a sense
of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now
almost given to idolatry.--Review and Herald, Sept. 10,
1903.
{CL 8.4}
A View of Great Destruction
Last Friday morning, just before
I awoke, a very impressive scene was presented before me. I
seemed to awake from sleep, but was not in my home. From the
windows I could behold a terrible conflagration. Great balls
of fire were falling upon houses, and from these balls fiery
arrows were flying in every direction. It was impossible to
check the fires that were kindled, and many places were
being destroyed. The terror of the people was indescribable.
--Evangelism, p. 29. (1906)
{CL 8.5}
God's Efforts to Arouse the
People
While at Loma Linda, Calif.,
April 16, 1906, there passed before me a most wonderful
representation. During a vision of the night, I stood on an
eminence, from which I could see houses shaken like a reed
in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were falling to the
ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes of
the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were
blotted out of existence, and the air was filled with the
shrieks of the injured and the terrified. {CL 8.6}
The destroying angels of God
were at work. One touch, and buildings so thoroughly
constructed that men regarded them as secure against every
danger, quickly became heaps of rubbish. There was no
assurance of safety in any place. I did not feel in any
special peril, but the awfulness of the scenes that passed
before me I cannot find words to describe. It seemed that
the forbearance of God was exhausted, and that the judgment
day had come.
{CL 9.1}
The angel that stood at my side
then instructed me that but few have any conception of the
wickedness existing in our world today, and especially the
wickedness in the large cities. He declared that the Lord
has appointed a time when He will visit transgressors in
wrath for persistent disregard of His law.
{CL 9.2}
Terrible as was the
representation that passed before me, that which impressed
itself most vividly upon my mind was the instruction given
in connection with it. The angel that stood by my side
declared that God's supreme rulership, and the sacredness of
His law, must be revealed to those who persistently refuse
to render obedience to the King of kings. Those who choose
to remain disloyal, must be visited in mercy with judgments,
in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a
realization of the sinfulness of their course.--
Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 92, 93. (1909)
{CL 9.3}
Peril to Those Who Remain
Unnecessarily
In harmony with the light given
me, I am urging people to come out from the great centers of
population. Our cities are increasing in wickedness, and it
is becoming more and more evident that those who remain in
them unnecessarily do so at the peril of their soul's
salvation.--Manuscript 115, 1907.
{CL 9.4}
Section II
- Avoiding
Labor Conflicts
Withdraw to the Freedom of Rural
Areas
The time is fast coming when the
controlling power of the labor unions will be very
oppressive. Again and again the Lord has instructed that our
people are to take their families away from the cities, into
the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for
in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a
very serious one. We should now begin to heed the
instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the
cities into rural districts, where the houses are not
crowded closely together, and where you will be free from
the interference of enemies.--Letter 5, 1904.
{CL 9.5}
Avoid Party Strifes
Men have confederated to oppose
the Lord of hosts. These confederacies will continue until
Christ shall leave His place of intercession before the
mercy-seat, and shall put on the garments of vengeance.
Satanic agencies are in every city, busily organizing into
parties those opposed to the law of God. Professed saints
and avowed unbelievers take their stand with these parties.
This is no time for the people of God to be weaklings. We
cannot afford to be off our guard for a
moment.--Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 42. (1904)
{CL 10.1}
Labor Trouble Ahead
The trades unions will be one of
the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of
trouble such as has not been since the world began.--Letter
200, 1903.
{CL 10.2}
Conflicts Between Trade
Confederacies and Labor Unions
The work of the people of God is
to prepare for the events of the future, which will soon
come upon them with blinding force. In the world gigantic
monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together
in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A
few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained
in certain lines of business. Trades unions will be formed,
and those who refuse to join these unions will be marked
men.--Letter 26, 1903.
{CL 10.3}
Preparing for the Issue
The trades unions and
confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep out of them,
and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with them.
Because of these unions and confederacies, it will soon be
very difficult for our institutions to carry on their work
in the cities. My warning is: Keep out of the cities. Build
no sanitariums in the cities. Educate our people to get out
of the cities into the country, where they can obtain a
small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and
their children. . . . {CL 10.4}
Our restaurants must be in the
cities; for otherwise the workers in these restaurants could
not reach the people and teach them the principles of right
living. And for the present we shall have to occupy
meetinghouses in the cities. But erelong there will be such
strife and confusion in the cities, that those who wish to
leave them will not be able. We must be preparing for these
issues. This is the light that is given me.--General
Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903.
{CL 11.1}
To Preserve Our Individuality
For years I have been given
special light that we are not to center our work in the
cities. The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities,
the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the
strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are
seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under
bondage to certain unions. This is not God's planning, but
the planning of a power that we should in no wise
acknowledge. God's Word is fulfilling; the wicked are
binding themselves up in bundles ready to be burned.
{CL 11.2}
We are now to use all our
entrusted capabilities in giving the last warning message to
the world. In this work we are to preserve our
individuality. We are not to unite with secret societies or
with trades unions. We are to stand free in God, looking
constantly to Christ for instruction. All our movements are
to be made with a realization of the importance of the work
to be accomplished for God.-- Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 84.
(1902)
{CL 11.3}
In Disregard of the Decalogue
These unions are one of the
signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready
to be burned. They may be church members, but while they
belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the
commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to
disregard the entire Decalogue.
{CL 11.4}
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as
thyself." These words sum up the whole duty of man. They
mean the consecration of the whole being, body, soul, and
spirit, to God's service. How can men obey these words, and
at the same time pledge themselves to support that which
deprives their neighbors of freedom of action? And how can
men obey these words, and form combinations that rob the
poorer classes of the advantages which justly belong to
them, preventing them from buying or selling, except under
certain conditions?--Letter 26, 1903.
{CL 11.5}
Unions That Are Formed or Shall
Be Formed
Those who claim to be the
children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor
unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the
Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and
understand what is before us?--Letter 201, 1902.
{CL 12.1}
Section III -
An Appeal
to Parents
Keep the Children From Hotbeds
of Iniquity
Let no temporal advantages tempt
parents to neglect the training of their children. Whenever
possible, it is the duty of parents to make homes in the
country for their children. The children and youth should be
carefully guarded. They should be kept away from the hotbeds
of iniquity that are to be found in our cities. Let them be
surrounded by the influences of a true Christian home--a
home where Christ abides.--Letter 268, 1906.
{CL 12.2}
Before the Scourge Shall
Overflow
Before the overflowing scourge
shall come upon the dwellers of the earth, the Lord calls
upon all who are Israelites indeed to prepare for that
event. To parents He sends the warning cry, Gather your
children into your own houses; gather them away from those
who are disregarding the commandments of God, who are
teaching and practicing evil. Get out of the large cities as
fast as possible. Establish church schools. Give your
children the Word of God as the foundation of all their
education.--Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 195.
{CL 12.3}
I am instructed by the Lord to
warn our people not to flock to the cities to find homes for
their families. To fathers and to mothers I am instructed to
say, Fail not to keep your children within your own
premises.--Manuscript 81, 1900.
{CL 12.4}
Souls of Children Versus Ease
and Comfort
Let children no longer be
exposed to the temptations of the cities that are ripe for
destruction. The Lord has sent us warning and counsel to get
out of the cities. Then let us make no more investments in
the cities. Fathers and mothers, how do you regard the souls
of your children? Are you preparing the members of your
families for translation into the heavenly courts? Are you
preparing them to become members of the royal family?
children of the heavenly King? "What shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
How will ease, comfort, convenience, compare with the value
of the souls of your children?--Manuscript 76, 1905.
{CL 12.5}
Christian Qualities Better
Gained in Retired Locations
There is not one family in a
hundred who will be improved physically, mentally, or
spiritually, by residing in the city. Faith, hope, love,
happiness, can far better be gained in retired places, where
there are fields and hills and trees. Take your children
away from the sights and sounds of the city, away from the
rattle and din of streetcars and teams, and their minds will
become more healthy. It will be found easier to bring home
to their hearts the truth of the Word of God.--Manuscript
76, 1905.
{CL 13.1}
Send the children to schools
located in the city, where every phase of temptation is
waiting to attract and demoralize them, and the work of
character building is tenfold harder for both parents and
children.--Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 326.
(1894).
{CL 13.2}
The Refuge of Country Places
Let parents understand that the
training of their children is an important work in the
saving of souls. In country places abundant useful exercise
will be found in doing those things that need to be done,
and which will give physical health by developing nerve and
muscle. Out of the cities is my message for the education of
our children.
{CL 13.3}
God gave to our first parents
the means of true education when He instructed them to till
the soil and care for their Garden home. After sin came in,
through disobedience to the Lord's requirements, the work to
be done in cultivating the ground was greatly multiplied,
for the earth, because of the curse, brought forth weeds and
thistles. But the employment itself was not given because of
sin. The great Master Himself blessed the work of tilling
the soil.
{CL 13.4}
"As . . . In The Days Of Noah"
It is Satan's purpose to attract
men and women to the cities, and to gain his object he
invents every kind of novelty and amusement, every kind of
excitement. And the cities of the earth today are becoming
as were the cities before the Flood.
{CL 14.1}
We should carry a continual
burden as we see the fulfillment of the words of Christ, "As
the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be." Matt. 24:37. In the days before the Flood, every
kind of amusement was invented to lead men and women to
forgetfulness and sin. Today, in 1908, Satan is working with
intensity, that the same conditions of evil shall prevail.
And the earth is becoming corrupt. Religious liberty will be
little respected by professing Christians, for many of them
have no understanding of spiritual things.
{CL 14.2}
We cannot fail to see that the
end of the world is soon to come. Satan is working upon the
minds of men and women, and many seem filled with a desire
for amusement and excitement. As it was in the days of Noah,
every kind of evil is on the increase. Divorce and marriage
is the order of the time. At such a time as this, the people
who are seeking to keep the commandments of God should look
for retired places away from the cities. . . .
{CL 14.3}
Not A Deprivation
Who will be warned? We say
again, Out of the cities. Do not consider it a great
deprivation that you must go into the hills and mountains,
but seek for that retirement where you can be alone with
God, to learn His will and way. . . .
{CL 14.4}
I urge our people to make it
their lifework to seek for spirituality. Christ is at the
door. This is why I say to our people, Do not consider it a
privation when you are called to leave the cities and move
out into the country places. Here there await rich blessings
for those who will grasp them. By beholding the scenes of
nature, the works of the Creator, by studying God's
handiwork, imperceptibly you will be changed into the same
image.--Manuscript 85, 1908.
{CL 14.5}
To Secure Life's Best Results
An expensive dwelling, elaborate
furnishings, display, luxury, and ease, do not furnish the
conditions essential to a happy, useful life. Jesus came to
this earth to accomplish the greatest work ever
15
accomplished among men. He came as
God's ambassador, to show us how to live so as to secure
life's best results. What were the conditions chosen by the
infinite Father for His Son? A secluded home in the Galilean
hills; a household sustained by honest, self-respecting
labor; a life of simplicity; daily conflict with difficulty
and hardship; self-sacrifice, economy, and patient, gladsome
service; the hour of study at His mother's side, with the
open scroll of Scripture; the quiet of dawn or twilight in
the green valley; the holy ministries of nature; the study
of creation and providence; and the soul's communion with
God,--these were the conditions and opportunities of the
early life of Jesus.
{CL 14.6}
Country Heritage of Noble Men
So with the great majority of
the best and noblest men of all ages. Read the history of
Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, of Moses, David, and Elisha.
Study the lives of men of later times who have most worthily
filled positions of trust and responsibility, the men whose
influence has been most effective for the world's uplifting.
{CL 15.1}
How many of these were reared in
country homes. They knew little of luxury. They did not
spend their youth in amusement. Many were forced to struggle
with poverty and hardship. They early learned to work, and
their active life in the open air gave vigor and elasticity
to all their faculties. Forced to depend upon their own
resources, they learned to combat difficulties and to
surmount obstacles, and they gained courage and
perseverance. They learned the lessons of self-reliance and
self-control. Sheltered in a great degree from evil
associations, they were satisfied with natural pleasures and
wholesome companionships. They were simple in their tastes
and temperate in their habits. They were governed by
principle, and they grew up pure and strong and true. When
called to their lifework, they brought to it physical and
mental power, buoyancy of spirit, ability to plan and
execute, and steadfastness in resisting evil, that made them
a positive power for good in the world.
{CL 15.2}
Better Than Wealth
Better than any other
inheritance of wealth you can give to your children will be
the gift of a healthy body, a sound mind, and a noble
character. Those who understand what constitutes life's true
success will be wise betimes. They will keep in view life's
best things in their choice of a home. {CL 15.3}
Instead of dwelling where only
the works of men can be seen, where the sights and sounds
frequently suggest thoughts of evil, where turmoil and
confusion bring weariness and disquietude, go where you can
look upon the works of God. Find rest of spirit in the
beauty and quietude and peace of nature. Let the eye rest on
the green fields, the groves, and the hills. Look up to the
blue sky, unobscured by the city's dust and smoke, and
breathe the invigorating air of heaven. Go where, apart from
the distractions and dissipations of city life, you can give
your children your companionship, where you can teach them
to learn of God through His works, and train them for lives
of integrity and usefulness.--The Ministry of Healing, pp.
265-267. (1905)
{CL 16.1}
Manifold Benefits of Active
Out-to-Door Life
It would be well for you to lay
by your perplexing cares, and find a retreat in the country,
where there is not so strong an influence to corrupt the
morals of the young.
{CL 16.2}
True, you would not be entirely
free from annoyances and perplexing cares in the country;
but you would there avoid many evils and close the door
against a flood of temptations which threaten to overpower
the minds of your children. They need employment and
variety. The sameness of their home makes them uneasy and
restless, and they have fallen into the habit of mingling
with the vicious lads of the town, thus obtaining a street
education. . . .
{CL 16.3}
To live in the country would be
very beneficial to them; an active, out-of-door life would
develop health of both mind and body. They should have a
garden to cultivate, where they might find both amusement
and useful employment. The training of plants and flowers
tends to the improvement of taste and judgment, while an
acquaintance with God's useful and beautiful creations has a
refining and ennobling influence upon the mind, referring it
to the Maker and Master of all.--Testimonies, vol. 4, p.
136. (1876)
{CL 16.4}
Expect No Miracle to Undo
Results of Wrong Course
I look at these flowers, and
every time I see them I think of Eden. They are an
expression of God's love for us. Thus He gives us in this
world a little taste of Eden. He wants us to delight in the
beautiful things of His creation, and to see in them an
expression of what He will do for us.
{CL 16.5}
He wants us to live where we can
have elbow room. His people are not to crowd into the
cities. He wants them to take their families out of the
cities, that they may better prepare for eternal life. In a
little while they will have to leave the cities.
{CL 17.1}
These cities are filled with
wickedness of every kind,--with strikes and murders and
suicides. Satan is in them, controlling men in their work of
destruction. Under his influence they kill for the sake of
killing, and this they will do more and more. . . .
{CL 17.2}
If we place ourselves under
objectionable influences, can we expect God to work a
miracle to undo the results of our wrong course? --No,
indeed. Get out of the cities as soon as possible, and
purchase a little piece of land, where you can have a
garden, where your children can watch the flowers growing,
and learn from them lessons of simplicity and
purity.--General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903.
{CL 17.3}
Section IV -
Occupations in Rural Locations
The Land to
Supply Our Necessities
If the land is cultivated, it
will, with the blessing of God, supply our necessities. We
are not to be discouraged about temporal things because of
apparent failures, nor should we be disheartened by delay.
We should work the soil cheerfully, hopefully, gratefully,
believing that the earth holds in her bosom rich stores for
the faithful worker to garner, stores richer than gold or
silver. The niggardliness laid to her charge is false
witness. With proper, intelligent cultivation the earth will
yield its treasures for the benefit of man. The mountains
and hills are changing; the earth is waxing old like a
garment; but the blessing of God, which spreads a table for
His people in the wilderness, will never cease.
{CL 17.4}
Serious times are before us, and
there is great need for families to get out of the cities
into the country, that the truth may be carried into the
byways as well as the highways of the earth. Much depends
upon laying our plans according to the Word of the Lord, and
with persevering energy carrying them out. More depends upon
consecrated activity and perseverance than upon genius and
book-learning. All the talents and ability given to human
agents, if unused, are of little value.
{CL 17.5}
A return to simpler methods will
be appreciated by the children and youth. Work in the garden
and field will be an agreeable change from the wearisome
routine of abstract lessons, to which their young minds
should never be confined. To the nervous child, who finds
lessons from books exhausting and hard to remember, it will
be especially valuable. There is health and happiness for
him in the study of nature; and the impressions made will
not fade out of his mind, for they will be associated with
objects that are continually before his eyes.--Testimonies,
vol. 6, pp. 178, 179. (1900)
{CL 18.1}
With a Piece of Land and a
Comfortable Home
The earth is to be made to give
forth its strength; but without the blessing of God it could
do nothing. In the beginning, God looked upon all that He
had made, and pronounced it very good. The curse was brought
upon the earth in consequence of sin. But shall this curse
be multiplied by increasing sin? Ignorance is doing its
baleful work. Slothful servants are increasing the evil by
their lazy habits. Many are unwilling to earn their bread by
the sweat of their brow, and they refuse to till the soil.
But the earth has blessings hidden in her depths for those
who have courage and will and perseverance to gather her
treasures. Fathers and mothers who possess a piece of land
and a comfortable home are kings and queens.
{CL 18.2}
Many farmers have failed to
secure adequate returns from their land because they have
undertaken the work as though it was a degrading employment;
they do not see that there is a blessing in it for
themselves and their families. All they can discern is the
brand of servitude. Their orchards are neglected, the crops
are not put in at the right season, and a mere surface work
is done in cultivating the soil.--Fundamentals of Christian
Education, pp. 326, 327. (1894)
{CL 18.3}
Fruit, Vegetables, and Poultry
Suggested for One Region
In this neighborhood there is a
large tract of unoccupied land. Some of our people who are
living in the poisoned atmosphere of the cities might
profitably secure a few acres of this land. They could
support themselves by raising fruit and vegetables and
poultry. The Sanitarium would gladly buy eggs and vegetables
from them. I wish that some such enterprise as this might be
started. A great blessing
would come to parents and to children,
if they would leave the wicked, polluted cities, and go into
the country.--Letter 63, 1904.
{CL 18.4}
Country Living--A Blessing to
the Poor
If the poor now crowded into the
cities could find homes upon the land, they might not only
earn a livelihood, but find health and happiness now unknown
to them. Hard work, simple fare, close economy, often
hardship and privation, would be their lot. But what a
blessing would be theirs in leaving the city, with its
enticements to evil, its turmoil and crime, misery and
foulness, for the country's quiet and peace and purity.
{CL 19.1}
To many of those living in the
cities who have not a spot of green grass to set their feet
upon, who year after year have looked out upon filthy courts
and narrow alleys, brick walls and pavements, and skies
clouded with dust and smoke,--if these could be taken to
some farming district, surrounded with the green fields, the
woods and hills and brooks, the clear skies and the fresh,
pure air of the country, it would seem almost like heaven.
{CL 19.2}
Cut off to a great degree from
contact with and dependence upon men, and separated from the
world's corrupting maxims and customs and excitements, they
would come nearer to the heart of nature. God's presence
would be more real to them. Many would learn the lesson of
dependence upon Him. Through nature they would hear His
voice speaking to their hearts of His peace and love, and
mind and soul and body would respond to the healing,
life-giving power. --The Ministry of Healing, pp. 190-192.
(1905)
{CL 19.3}
Industries for Families From
Cities
Believers who are now living in
the cities will have to move to the country, that they may
save their children from ruin. Attention must be given to
the establishment of industries in which these families can
find employment. Those who have charge of the school-work at
----- and ----- should see what can be done by these
institutions to establish such industries, so that our
people desiring to leave the cities, can obtain modest homes
without a large outlay of means, and can also find
employment. In both ----- and ----- there are favorable and
encouraging features for the development of this plan. Study
what these features are.
{CL 19.4}
All that needs to be done cannot
be specified till a beginning is made. Pray over the matter,
and remember that God stands at the helm, that He is guiding
in the work of the various enterprises. A place in which the
work is conducted on right lines is an object lesson to
other places. There must be no narrowness, no selfishness,
in the work done. The work is to be placed on a simple,
sensible basis. All are to be taught not only to claim to
believe the truth, as the truth, but to exemplify the truth
in the daily life.--Letter
25, 1902.
{CL 19.5}
The Health-Food Work
The health-food business should
be established here [Avondale]. It should be one of the
industries connected with the school. God has instructed me
that parents can find work in this industry, and send their
children to school. But everything that is done should be
done with the greatest simplicity. There is to be no
extravagance in anything. Solid work is to be done, because,
unless the work is done solidly, a slipshod experience is
the result.--Australasian Union Conference Record, July 28,
1899.
{CL 20.1}
Section V -
Preparing for the Sunday Law Crisis
Troublous Times Before Us
We are not to locate ourselves
where we will be forced into close relations with those who
do not honor God. . . . A crisis is soon to come in regard
to the observance of Sunday. . . .
{CL 20.2}
The Sunday party is
strengthening itself in its false claims, and this will mean
oppression to those who determine to keep the Sabbath of the
Lord. We are to place ourselves where we can carry out the
Sabbath commandment in its fullness. "Six days shalt thou
labor," the Lord declares, "and do all thy work; but the
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work." And we are to be careful not to
place ourselves where it will be hard for ourselves and our
children to keep the Sabbath.
{CL 20.3}
If in the providence of God we
can secure places away from the cities, the Lord would have
us do this. There are troublous times before us.--Manuscript
99, 1908.
{CL 20.4}
Make Haste to Get Ready
When the power invested in kings
is allied to goodness, it is because the one in
responsibility is under the divine dictation. When power is
allied with wickedness, it is allied to Satanic agencies,
and it will work to destroy those who are the Lord's
property. The Protestant world have set up an idol sabbath
in the place where God's Sabbath should be, and they are
treading in the footsteps of the Papacy. For this reason I
see the necessity of the people of God moving out of the
cities into retired country [places,] where they may
cultivate the land and raise their own produce. Thus they
may bring their children up with simple, healthful habits. I
see the necessity of making haste to get all things ready
for the crisis.--Letter 90, 1897.
{CL 21.1}
Section VI -
Colonizing at Institutional Centers
We Are Not to Colonize
In our day the Lord desires that
His people shall be dispersed throughout the earth. They are
not to colonize. Jesus said, "Go ye into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15. When the
disciples followed their inclination to remain in large
numbers in Jerusalem, persecution was permitted to come upon
them, and they were scattered to all parts of the inhabited
world.
{CL 21.2}
For years messages of warning
and entreaty have been coming to our people, urging them to
go forth into the Master's great harvest-field, and labor
unselfishly for souls.--Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 215. (1904)
{CL 21.3}
Scatter to Unwarned Places
Many of the members of our large
churches are doing comparatively nothing. They might
accomplish a good work if, instead of crowding together,
they would scatter into places that have not yet been
entered by the truth. Trees that are planted too thickly do
not flourish. They are transplanted by the gardener, that
they may have room to grow, and not become dwarfed and
sickly. The same rule would work well for our large
churches. Many of the members are dying spiritually for want
of this very work. They are becoming sickly and inefficient.
Transplanted, they would have room to grow strong and
vigorous.
{CL 21.4}
It is not the purpose of God
that His people should colonize, or settle together in large
communities. The disciples of Christ are His representatives
upon the earth, and God designs that they shall be scattered
all over the country, in the towns, cities, and villages, as
lights amidst the darkness of the world. They are to be
missionaries for God, by their faith and works testifying to
the near approach of the coming Saviour.
{CL 22.1}
Where there is an Opening for a
Livelihood
The lay members of our churches
can accomplish a work which, as yet, they have scarcely
begun. None should move into new places merely for the sake
of worldly advantage; but where there is an opening to
obtain a livelihood, let families that are well grounded in
the truth enter, one or two families in a place, to work as
missionaries. They should feel a love for souls, a burden of
labor for them, and should make it a study how to bring them
into the truth. They can distribute our publications, hold
meetings in their homes, become acquainted with their
neighbors, and invite them to come to these meetings. Thus
they can let their light shine in good works.-- Testimonies,
vol. 8, pp. 244, 245. (1904)
{CL 22.2}
Let Not Institutional
Attractions Lure You
Those who feel like settling
close to our publishing house or our sanitarium and school
at Takoma Park should take counsel before they move.
{CL 22.3}
To those who are looking toward
Mountain View as a favorable place in which to live, because
the Pacific Press is to be established there, I would say:
Look to other parts of the world, which need the light that
you have received in trust. Remember that God has given to
every man his work. Choose some locality where you will have
opportunity to let your light shine forth amid the moral
darkness.
{CL 22.4}
It is always the case that when
an institution is established in a place, there are many
families who desire to settle near it. Thus it has been in
Battle Creek and in Oakland, and, to some extent, in
almost every place where we have a
school or a sanitarium.-- Fundamentals of Christian
Education, pp. 494, 495. (1904)
{CL 22.5}
Establish No Jerusalem Centers
Our people are not . . . to
regard ----- as a Jerusalem center. Let them not think,
because a number of our brethren are called here to connect
with the publishing work, that this is a place for large
numbers of our people to settle with their families. And let
everyone connected with the office hold himself in readiness
to leave, if God shall call him to some new
place.--Manuscript 148, 1905.
{CL 23.1}
Do not crowd into one place,
making the same mistake that has been made in Battle Creek.
There are hundreds of places that need the light God has
given you.--Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 495.
(1904)
{CL 23.2}
Remain in Small Churches--Start
New Schools
Many families, who, for the
purpose of educating their children, move to places where
our large schools are established, would do better service
for the Master by remaining where they are. They should
encourage the church of which they are members to establish
a church school where the children within their borders
could receive an all-round, practical Christian education.
It would be vastly better for their children, for
themselves, and for the cause of God, if they would remain
in the smaller churches, where their help is needed, instead
of going to the larger churches, where, because they are not
needed, there is constant temptation to fall into spiritual
inactivity.
{CL 23.3}
Wherever there are a few
Sabbathkeepers, the parents should unite in providing a
place for a day school where their children and youth can be
instructed. They should employ a Christian teacher, who, as
a consecrated missionary, shall educate the children in such
a way as to lead them to become missionaries.--Counsels to
Teachers, pp. 173, 174. (1913)
{CL 23.4}
How Must the Angels Feel
I think how the angels must feel
seeing the end approaching, and those who claim to have the
knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, huddle
together, colonize, and attend meetings, and feel
discouraged and dissatisfied if there is not much preaching
to benefit their souls and strengthen the church, while they
are doing literally nothing.--Letter 16e, 1892.
{CL 23.5}
Enlarge and Expand--But Not at a
Center
The people are encouraged to
center in Battle Creek, and they pay their tithe and give
their influence to the building up of a modern Jerusalem
that is not after God's order. In this work other places are
cut off from facilities which they should have. Enlarge ye,
spread, yes; but not in one place. Go out and establish
centers of influence in places where nothing, or next to
nothing, has been done. Break up your consolidated mass;
diffuse the saving beams of light, and shed light into the
darkened corners of the earth.--Testimonies to Ministers,
pp. 254, 255. (1895)
{CL 24.1}
Section VII -
Guided by God's Providences
As God Opens the Way
The time has come, when, as God
opens the way, families should move out of the cities. The
children should be taken into the country. The parents
should get as suitable a place as their means will allow.
Though the dwelling may be small, yet there should be land
in connection with it, that may be cultivated.--Manuscript
50, 1903.
{CL 24.2}
God Will Help His People
Parents can secure small homes
in the country, with land for cultivation, where they can
have orchards and where they can raise vegetables and small
fruits to take the place of flesh meat, which is so
corrupting to the life blood coursing through the veins. On
such places the children will not be surrounded with the
corrupting influences of city life. God will help His people
to find such homes outside the cities.--Medical Ministry, p.
310. (1902)
{CL 24.3}
To Help Open the Way
More and more, as time advances,
our people will have to leave the cities. For years we have
been instructed that our brethren and sisters, and
especially families with children, should plan to leave
25
the cities as the way opens before them
to do so. Many will have to labor earnestly to help open the
way. But until it is possible for them to leave, so long as
they remain, they should be most active in doing missionary
work, however limited their sphere of influence may be.--
Review and Herald, Sept. 27, 1906.
{CL 24.4}
Counsel and Caution to Those Who
Anticipate Leaving the Cities
[A COMMUNICATION WRITTEN
DECEMBER 22, 1893, IN RESPONSE TO A LETTER FROM A LEADING
WORKER IN BATTLE CREEK, INFORMING MRS. WHITE THAT IN
RESPONSE TO THE ADMONITION THAT OUR PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE OUT
OF BATTLE CREEK, "BETWEEN ONE AND TWO HUNDRED" WERE
PREPARING TO LEAVE "AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."--COMPILERS.]
{CL 25.1}
Your letter tells me, my
brother, that there are many who are stirred deeply to move
out of Battle Creek. There is need, great need, of this work
being done, and now. Those who have felt at last to make a
move, let it not be in a rush, in an excitement, or in a
rash manner, or in a way that hereafter they will deeply
regret that they did move out. . . .
{CL 25.2}
Take heed that there shall be no
rash movements made in heeding the counsel in moving from
Battle Creek. Do nothing without seeking wisdom of God, who
hath promised to give liberally to all who ask, and who
upbraideth not. All that anyone can do is to advise and
counsel, and then leave those who are convicted in regard to
duty to move under divine guidance, and with their whole
hearts open to learn and obey God.
{CL 25.3}
I am troubled when I consider
that there may be even some of our teachers who need to be
more evenly balanced with sound judgment. The messengers who
bear the message of mercy to our world, who have the
confidence of the people, will be appealed to for advice.
Great caution must be exercised by these men who have not
genuine experience in practical life, and who will be in
danger of giving advice, ignorant of what that advice may
lead others to do.
{CL 25.4}
The Gift to Counsel
&nbs | 