Children's Story, Spirit of Prophecy Sabbath, October 16, 2004
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THE LONG FIGHT
The Whites had been traveling again. That was not at all unusual, for it
seemed every church group wanted to hear both of them speak. Rumors of the
marvelous messages they gave and of special blessings the hearers received
kept the speaking invitations pouring in all the time.
It was spring of 1858, and James and Ellen White were at Lovett's Grove,
Ohio, holding a funeral. Elder White spoke first, giving the funeral
sermon,
and then Mrs. White rose to add her own message of comfort for the family.
She spoke of the resurrection at Christ's coming, and of the hope of
seeing
loved ones again.
All at once her message stopped as she seemed to be staring right through
the ceiling. She was having a very special vision, a vision of the whole
great fight between Christ and Satan. She saw the fall of Satan, the
actual
fighting between Satan and his angels and Christ and His angels. She saw
Satan hurled out of heaven, then sitting on earth angrily trying to plot a
way to get even with Christ. She watched as the world's history began and
Satan tempted Eve and thus gained control of our planet Earth. She saw
Cain
kill Abel in the first murder.
Scene after scene appeared before her-the wars, the fights, the bombings,
the persecutions-things that would happen to our planet until Christ came
back to reclaim it. She had seen these pictures before, ten years earlier,
but not in such detail. Now she was being reminded of every scene and was
told, "Write it down! Write it all down! It will not be easy. Satan
doesn't
want the story told. He will try to stop you, but God will send angels to
keep back the evil forces. You just go ahead and write."
When the vision was over, people crowded around asking questions. Mrs.
White
told them briefly about what she had seen and promised to write it all out
soon. Funeral tears dried up as the mourners realized that God had been
right there with them and had promised to come again and raise the dead
someday.
Two days later the Whites were on the train headed back to Michigan. On
the
way they discussed this latest vision and made plans to write it out and
print it at once. Mrs. White could hardly wait to get started. It was such
a
fascinating story!
When they arrived in Jackson, Michigan, Mr. Palmer met them at the station
and took them to his home. Mrs. White climbed out of the buggy and hurried
into the house to greet Mrs. Palmer while the men put away the horses.
The two ladies were chatting, catching up on the news, when suddenly Mrs.
White stopped talking. A surprised look swept over her face. Her tongue
would not form words. It felt thick and heavy. A strange, cold feeling
came
over her right side, and she fell, unconscious.
When she began to wake up, Mrs. White heard voices around her praying
earnestly. She tried to move her arms. They wouldn't move. She tried to
lift
her legs. She couldn't. For a while she thought surely she would die and
never again see her children just 50 miles (80 km.) away! So near home to
die!
Still the Palmers and Elder White kept praying. Gradually a prickling
began
in her arms and legs, the feeling of blood starting to circulate again.
Her
tongue began to feel more normal, and soon she could talk and praise the
Lord that she had not died. Still not well, she spent a miserable night
with
much pain.
In the morning she had regained some strength and decided to hurry on home
to her children.
For several weeks after she got home she could not feel much. The children
touched her arm, but she didn't know it. Her husband poured cold water on
her head, trying to help her regain her sense of feeling. She didn't even
know the water was there. Her balance was upset, too, and she staggered as
she walked. Today we would call this kind of attack a "stroke."
In the midst of all this, something kept bothering her. It was the angel's
command during that last vision. "Write it down, Ellen. Write it down.
Satan
will try to stop you, but write it down. Angels will help you."
All at once it became clear to her. Satan had tried to stop her. God
hadn't
let Satan kill her. She was still alive. She must write the vision.
At first she was so weak that she could only write one page a day and then
she had to rest three days after that! As she kept at it the strength
increased and she was able to write more. Soon she was writing 14 pages at
a
sitting, the words just rolling onto the paper.
That June, during another vision, the Lord showed Ellen White that Satan
had
tried to kill her before she could write the story of his great rebellion
against heaven. The angels had surrounded her and saved her life. She
could
see right then that publi****ng this book wasn't going to be easy. And she
was right.
It's no easy job to write the story of the whole world including what
happened before Creation and what will happen after the end of the world!
But slowly the book took shape. When the first copies came off the press,
there was great rejoicing in the Whites' household.
Mrs. White continued to write more on this story throughout her life. She
enlarged that original little book to tell the story more fully. In
working
on those later editions, many times she would forget what she had seen and
have to think hard and pray about it before she could remember. Other
times
the Lord would show her again in a night dream some scene that she
couldn't
quite recall. Sometimes she would look through history books to find a
description of the scene, and if it helped to express what she had seen,
she
would include that writer's account in her own story.
It has been almost one hundred fifty years since Ellen White first made so
plain the truth about the fight between Christ and Satan. Thousands of
copies of the enlarged book The Great Controversy have been spread around
the world in many languages. Satan knows that this book will change lives
because it is filled with truth from God. Even today he hates to have
people
read that book. It shows him up for what he really is-a liar and a
murderer.
It makes the reader love God and hate the devil. Is it any wonder that he
tries to get rid of The Great Controversy?
Again and again Satan has tried to stop the sale of that book, but God has
protected it and put it in the hands of those honestly seeking for truth.
Based on Life Sketches, pp. 161-163. Adapted from The Spirit of Prophecy
Emphasis Stories, vol. III, pp. 49-53.
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