Digging For Truth

                      T h e     C i t i e s                

                                                        T H E     o r i g i n a l    c i t y    b u i l d e r s                                                                                   

Original Quotation:   Upon receiving the curse of God, Cain had withdrawn from his father’s household. He had first chosen his occupation as a tiller of the soil, and he now founded a city, calling it after the name of his eldest son. He had gone out from the presence of the Lord, cast away the promise of the restored Eden, to seek his possessions and enjoyment in the earth under the curse of sin, thus standing at the head of that great class of men who worship the god of this world. In that which pertains to mere earthly and material progress, his descendants became distinguished. But they were regardless of God, and in opposition to His purposes for man. To the crime of murder, in which Cain had led the way, Lamech, the fifth in descent, added polygamy, and, boastfully defiant, he acknowledged God, only to draw from the avenging of Cain an assurance of his own safety. Abel had led a pastoral life, dwelling in tents or booths, and the descendants of Seth followed the same course, counting themselves “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” seeking “a better country, that is, an heavenly.” Hebrews 11:13, 16. { PP 81.1} 

Original Quotation:    For a time the descendants of Noah continued to dwell among the mountains where the ark had rested. As their numbers increased, apostasy soon led to division. Those who desired to forget their Creator and to cast off the restraint of His law felt a constant annoyance from the teaching and example of their God-fearing associates, and after a time they decided to separate from the worshipers of God. Accordingly they journeyed to the plain of Shinar, on the banks of the river Euphrates. They were attracted by the beauty of the situation and the fertility of the soil, and upon this plain they determined to make their home. { PP 118.4} 

 Here they decided to build a city, and in it a tower of such stupendous height as should render it the wonder of the world.  These enterprises were designed to prevent the people from scattering abroad in colonies. God had directed men to disperse throughout the earth, to replenish and subdue it; but these Babel builders determined to keep their community united in one body, and to found a monarchy that should eventually embrace the whole earth. Thus their city would become the metropolis of a universal empire; its glory would command the admiration and homage of the world and render the founders illustrious. The magnificent tower, reaching to the heavens, was intended to stand as a monument of the power and wisdom of its builders, perpetuating their fame to the latest generations. { PP 118.5} 

           the   c i t i e s    a r e     h o t b e d s     o f    v i c e            

Original Quotation:     The pursuit of pleasure and amusement centers in the cities. Many parents who choose a city home for their children, thinking to give them greater advantages, meet with disappointment, and too late repent their terrible mistake. The cities of today are fast becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. The many holidays encourage idleness. The exciting sports—theatergoing, horse racing, gambling, liquor-drinking, and reveling—stimulate every passion to intense activity. The youth are swept away by the popular current.  Those who learn to love amusement for its own sake open the door to a flood of temptations. They give themselves up to social gaiety and thoughtless mirth, and their intercourse with pleasure lovers has an intoxicating effect upon the mind. They are led on from one form of dissipation to another, until they lose both the desire and the capacity for a life of usefulness. Their religious aspirations are chilled; their spiritual life is darkened. All the nobler faculties of the soul, all that link man with the spiritual world, are debased. { COL 54.3} 

Original Quotation:   Light has been given me that the cities will be filled with confusion, violence, and crime, and that these things will increase till the end of this earth’s history.  { 7T 84.4} 

Original Quotation:   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. { MH 363.2} 

             j u d g m e n t s    c o m i n g    o n    t h e    c i t i e s         

Original Quotation:   Terrible shocks will come upon the earth, and the lordly palaces erected at great expense will certainly become heaps of ruins. The earth’s crust will be rent by the outbursts of the elements concealed in the bowels of the earth. These elements, once broken loose, will sweep away the treasures of those who for years have been adding to their wealth by securing large possessions at starvation prices from those in their employ. And the religious world, too, is to be terribly shaken; for the end of all things is at hand.—Manuscript 24, 1891, 3, 4. (Diary, cir. January 1, 1890.) { 3MR 208.3 }   

  Note:  The part not printed is quoted in Earthquakes and Floods section on page 25 par. 3  

Original Quotation:   When God’s restraining hand is removed, the destroyer begins his work. Then in our cities the greatest calamities will come. Is this because people do not keep Sunday? No; but because men have trampled upon the law of Jehovah. The Lord is slow to anger. This should inspire the heart with gratitude. “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet” ( Nahum 1:3). { 3MR 314.3 } 

Original Quotation:   MS 127, 1897 is not in my CD

Original Quotation:     If we can get a place that is completed or partially finished, that will be better than to put up a large building just now, when we know that the end is near, and every city is to be turned upside down every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken, and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had. If they have had the truth, according to that light will be the punishment. Christ pronounced His woes on the cities that had had most of His instruction. That is why I am so afraid of their putting up a great building in Battle Creek, or in any place where the truth has been known for years. To receive from the people that have not accepted the truth, money to help build up the sanitarium,—I can see no light in it. { 1MR 248.3 }    Exact same paragraph appears in 10MR 250.7 

 If we can get a place that is completed or partially finished, that will be better than to put up a large building just now, when we know that the end is near and every city is to be turned upside down every way. There will be confusion in every city. Everything that can be shaken is to be shaken, and we do not know what will come next. The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had. If they have had the truth, according to that light will be the punishment. Christ pronounced His woes on the cities that had had most of His instruction. That is why I am so afraid of their putting up a great building in Battle Creek, or in any place where the truth has been known for years. To receive from the people that have not accepted the truth, money to help build up the sanitarium—I can see no light in it. { 10MR 250.7 } 

Original Quotation:   O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry.— Evangelism, 29.4 (1903).    original quote from — Review and Herald, September 10, 1903. 

O that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost given to idolatry! But many of those who should be proclaiming the truth are accusing and condemning their brethren. When the converting power of God comes upon minds, there will be a decided change. Men will have no inclination to criticize and tear down. They will not stand in a position that hinders the light from shining to the world. Their criticism, their accusing, will cease. { RH September 10, 1903, par. 2 }

Original Quotation from MS 53, 1910:    Everywhere there are men who should be out in active ministry, giving the last message of warning to a fallen world. The work that should long ago have been in active operation to win souls to Christ has not been done. The inhabitants of the ungodly cities so soon to be visited by calamities have been cruelly neglected. The time is near when large cities will be swept away, and all should be warned of these coming judgments. But who is giving to the accomplishment of this work the wholehearted service that God requires? ... { Ev 29.2} 

At the present time there is not a thousandth part being done in working the cities, that should be done, and that would be done if men and women would do their whole duty. — Manuscript 53, 1910.

   c a t a s t r o p h e - p r o o f    b u i l d i n g s    will  become   ashes      

Original Quotation:   God has a storehouse of retributive judgments, which he permits to fall upon those who have continued in sin in the face of great light. I have seen the most costly structures in buildings erected and supposed to be fireproof. And just as Sodom perished in the flames of God’s vengeance, so will these proud structures become ashes. I have seen vessels which cost immense sums of money wrestling with the mighty waters, seeking to breast the angry billows. But with all their treasures of gold and silver, and with their human freight they sink into a watery grave. Man’s pride will be buried with the treasures he has accumulated by fraud. God will avenge the widows and orphans who in hunger and nakedness have cried to Him for help from oppression and abuse. { 3SM 418.3} 

The time is right upon us when there will be sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal. The flattering monuments of men’s greatness will be crumbled in the dust, even before the last great destruction comes upon the world.... { 3SM 418.4} 
Only by being clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness can we escape the judgments that are coming upon the earth.—Letter 20, 1901. { 3SM 419.1} 

If you can't find Letter 20, 1901, the same quote is in Manuscript Release, Vol. 3, page 315 par. 2

God has a storehouse of retributive judgments, which He permits to fall upon those who have continued in sin in the face of great light. I have seen the most costly structures in buildings erected and supposed to be fireproof. And just as Sodom perished in the flames of God’s vengeance, so will these proud structures become ashes. I have seen vessels which cost immense sums of money wrestling with the mighty waters, seeking to breast the angry billows. But with all their treasures of gold and silver, and with their human freight they sink into a watery grave. Man’s pride will be buried with the treasures he has accumulated by fraud. God will avenge the widows and orphans who in hunger and nakedness have cried to Him for help from oppression and abuse. And the Lord keeps a record of every action for good or evil. { 3MR 315.2 } 
The time is right upon us when there will be sorrow in the world that no human balm can heal. The flattering monuments of men’s greatness will be crumbled in the dust, even before the last great destruction comes upon the world.—Letter 20, 1901. { 3MR 316.1 } 

Original Quotation:   The outlook in our world is indeed alarming. God is withdrawing His Spirit from the wicked cities, which have become as the cities of the antediluvian world, and as Sodom and Gomorrah. The inhabitants of these cities have been tested and tried. We have reached a time when God is about to punish the presumptuous wrongdoers, who refuse to keep His commandments and disregard His messages of warning. He who bears long with evildoers gives everyone an opportunity to seek Him and humble their hearts before Him. { TDG 152.2} 

Everyone has opportunity to come to Christ and be converted, that He may heal them. But there will come a time when mercy will be no longer offered. Costly mansions, marvels of architectural skill, will be destroyed without a moment’s notice, when the Lord sees that the owners have passed the boundaries of forgiveness. The destruction by fire of the stately buildings supposed to be fireproof is an illustration of how in a short time earth’s architecture will lie in ruins.... { This Day with God, page 152.3} 

Original Quotation:    2 ( Luke 19:44). Angels Did Work of Destruction — Men will continue to erect expensive buildings, costing millions of money; special attention will be called to their architectural beauty, and the firmness and solidity with which they are constructed; but the Lord has instructed me that despite the unusual firmness and expensive display, these buildings will share the fate of the temple in Jerusalem. That magnificent structure fell. Angels of God were sent to do the work of destruction, so that one stone was not left one upon another that was not thrown down (Manuscript 35, 1906). { 5BC 1098.7 } 

                         n e w    y o r k    c i t y       

Original Quotation:   I saw that costly buildings in the cities, supposed to be fire-proof, would be consumed by fire. The fire that lately swept through Patterson, New York, and the fires that have been in other places, are a fulfillment in part of the warning. Yet God has not executed his wrath without mercy. His hand is stretched out still. His message must be given in Greater New York. The people must be shown how it is possible for God, by a touch of His hand, to destroy the property they have gathered together against the last great day. { 3MR 310.4 } 
A little longer will the voice of mercy be heard; a little longer will the gracious invitation be given, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.” God sends His warning message to the cities everywhere.—Letter 43, 1902. { 3MR 311.1 } 

Original Quotation:   “How comes the word that I have declared that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave? This I have never said. I have said, as I looked at the great buildings going up there, story after story, ‘What terrible scenes will take place when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth! Then the words of Revelation 18:1-3 will be fulfilled.’ The whole of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation is a warning of what is coming on the earth. But I have no light in particular in regard to what is coming on New York, only that I know that one day the great buildings there will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God’s power. From the light given me, I know that destruction is in the world. One word from the Lord, one touch of his mighty power, and these massive structures will fall. Scenes will take place the fearfulness of which we can not imagine. { RH July 5, 1906, par. 14 }

“The destroying angels are today executing their commission. Death will come in all places. This is why I am so anxious for our cities to be warned. There is a work to be done by canvassing in our cities that has not yet been done.... The blessing of God rests on the workers who warn those that are unready to meet him.... Now is our time to work.” { RH July 5, 1906, par. 16 }

Original Quotation:    On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: “How can we best glorify God?” The Lord was not in their thoughts. { 9T 12.1} 

The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: “They are perfectly safe.” But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines. { 9T 13.1}   Read entire section (pages 11 - 18 )

Quotation on page 34:   God calls for workmen. He wants those who have gained an experience in the cause to enter the work in America. He wants them to take up the work in New York and in other cities where iniquity prevails. He wants them to start the work in his fear. Just as soon as possible let schools be established and workers educated to do medical missionary work. This work is the right hand of the body. It is bound up with the ministry of the gospel. God lives and reigns, and he desires those who have opposed health reform, who have worked against it by their influence, by their actions, by their sarcastic remarks, to make a thorough change. Do not longer divorce yourselves from the medical missionary work. Dr. Kellogg has been driven almost to despair as he has sought for some way in which he could bring the truth more prominently before the world. Let every minister of the gospel heed the words of Paul: “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway.” God wants you to observe the strictest principles of temperance. He wants you to stand in a position of sacred nearness to him, where you can ask and he will hear, where you know that he will always be with you. { GCB April 10, 1901, par. 20 }

         c h I c a g o    and    l o s    a n g e l e s                     

Original Quotation:    At the time that I saw this representation, scenes that would soon take place in Chicago, and other large cities also, passed before me. As wickedness increased, and the protecting power of God was withdrawn, there were destructive winds and tempests; buildings were destroyed by fire and shaken down by earthquakes. I saw the expensive building above referred to fall, with many others. { PC 50.3 } 
As I related some of these matters, and described the building that had been shown me, Judge Arthur said: “I can tell you something in regard to that building. A plan was drawn up for the erection of just such a building in Chicago. It seemed necessary to our work. It would have cost considerable money. Brother William Loughborough of Battle Creek, drew up the plans, and several men occupying responsible positions in the medical work met together to consider the matter. Various locations were considered. One of the plans discussed was very similar to what you have described. { PC 50.4 } 
Some time after this, I was shown that the vision of buildings in Chicago and the draft upon the means of our people to erect them, and their destruction, was an object lesson for our people, warning them not to invest largely of their means in property in Chicago, or any other city, unless the providence of God should positively open the way and plainly point out duty to build or buy as necessary in giving the note of warning. A similar caution was given in regard to building in Los Angeles. Repeatedly I have been instructed that we must not invest means in the erection of expensive buildings in cities. { PC 50.5 } 

                 S a n   f r a n c i s c o    and    o a k l a n d                     

Original Quotation:   There is a great work to be done in sounding the gospel message for this time in these large cities, but the fitting up of large buildings for some apparently wonderful work has been a mistake. The Lord would have men walk humbly with Him. The message of warning should be sounded in the large, wicked cities such as San Francisco. Well equipped tent meetings should be held. San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them. Not far hence they will suffer under His judgments. { 2SAT 226.4 } 

Original Quotation:   Let there be nothing done in a disorderly manner that there shall be a great loss or sacrifice made upon property because of ardent, impulsive speeches which stir up an enthusiasm which is not after the order of God, that a victory that was essential to be gained, shall, for lack of level-headed moderation and proper contemplation and sound principles and purposes, be turned into a defeat. Let there be wise generalship in this matter, and all move under the guidance of a wise, unseen Counselor, which is God. Elements that are human will struggle for the mastery, and there may be a work done that does not bear the signature of God. Now I plead with every soul to look not too strongly and confidently to human counselors, but look most earnestly to God, the One wise in counsel. Submit all your ways and your will to God’s ways and to God’s will.... { 2SM 363.1}  Note: This quote also used on page 120: 2-4  ( see below )

Original Quotation:  This letter is not in my collection, if anyone has it please sent it to me.

                o t h e r    w i c k e d    c i t i e s                                     

Original Quotation:   MR No. 1517—Dedication of Paradise Valley Sanitarium; Results of the San Francisco Earthquake; (Written May 12 and 26, 1906, from Sanitarium, California, to Edson and Emma White. Portions appear in Manuscript Release No. 285.)

  Light has been given me that as we near the close of this earth’s history we shall have the scenes of the San Francisco calamity repeated in other places; and I do want to gather strength, that I may be able to stand before the people and bear a clear, decided testimony. The period of time in which we are living is a very solemn one. { 21MR 86.6 } 
We had quite a shaking up in our houses here at home. Chimneys were thrown down, but no great damage was done. The printing plant at Mountain View suffered considerably. The side and back walls of the factory were shaken down. The front remained standing. The new post office building, just finished, was a complete wreck, and some large store buildings were also in ruins. Several other buildings in Mountain View were twisted and broken in pieces, more or less. In San Jose, very many of the buildings were ruined, and many chimneys were thrown down. { 21MR 86.7 } 

These things make me feel very solemn, because I know that the judgment day is right upon us. The judgments that have already come are a warning, but not the finishing, of the punishment that will come on wicked cities. Our cities are most terrible places, wherein are practiced all kinds of sin and iniquity of the most revolting character. The Lord’s name is greatly dishonored. { 21MR 87.1 } 
When we reached San Francisco on our way home, we took a carriage and rode through the streets of the city for an hour and a half. We went up to Van Ness Avenue, and on to our church building. The meetinghouse is still standing. It has sustained some damage, but can soon be repaired. It would have been a hard matter to arouse courage sufficient to rebuild if it had been destroyed. Beautiful Jefferson Park, close by the church property, is filled with tents and people. { 21MR 87.2 } 

These scenes will soon be witnessed, just as they are clearly described. I present these wonderful statements from the Scriptures for the consideration of everyone. The prophecies recorded in the Old Testament are the word of the Lord for the last day, and will be fulfilled as surely as we have seen the desolation of San Francisco. { 21MR 87.9 } 

Original Quotation:   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.... Manuscript 35  1906  { Ev 27.2} 
Bible history is to be repeated.  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.... — Manuscript 35, 1906. (“Adopting Infant Children,” General manuscript bearing date of April 27, 1906.) { 4MR 91.3 } and { Ev 27.3}

Original Quotation exactly same as book:

              l a b o r    u n i o n s    i n    t h e    c i t i e s                  

Original Quotation:  Satan is busily at work in our crowded cities. His work is to be seen in the confusion, the strife and discord between labor and capital, and the hypocrisy that has come into the churches. That men may not take time to meditate, Satan leads them into a round of gayety and pleasure-seeking, of eating and drinking. He fills them with ambition to make an exhibition that will exalt self. Step by step, the world is reaching the conditions that existed in the days of Noah. Every conceivable crime is committed. The lust of the flesh, the pride of the eyes, the display of selfishness, the misuse of power, the cruelty, and the force used to cause men to unite with confederacies and unions—binding themselves up in bundles for the burning of the great fires of the last days—all these are the working of Satanic agencies. This round of crime and folly men call “life.”...   { 18MR 40.3 } also { Ev 26.1}

Quotation in Bible Commentary:   ( 2 Corinthians 6:17.) The wicked are being bound up in bundles, bound up in trusts, in unions, in confederacies. Let us have nothing to do with these organizations. God is our Ruler, our Governor, and He calls us to come out from the world and be separate. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” If we refuse to do this, if we continue to link up with the world, and to look at every matter from a worldly standpoint, we shall become like the world. When worldly policy and worldly ideas govern our transactions, we cannot stand on the high and holy platform of eternal truth (Manuscript 71, 1903). { 4BC 1,142.6 } 

Original Quotation MS 71, 1903 is published in { 4MR 87.2 } 

      l a b o r    u n i o n s    a    s o u r c e    o f    t r o u b l e   for  SDA's     

Original Quotation:    Satan will do that which will close the Southern field against the truth, if the Lord does not interpose. And the trade 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, p. 3. (To Elder G. I. Butler, September 10, 1903.) { 4MR 88.1 } 

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} 

The crisis is coming soon in Battle Creek. 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. When the question arose in regard to the establishment of a sanitarium in the city of Los Angeles, I felt that I must oppose this move. I carried a very heavy burden in regard to the matter, and I could not keep silent. It is time, brethren, that we heeded the testimonies sent us in mercy and love from the Lord of heaven. { GCB April 6, 1903, par. 32 }

Original Quotation:  The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive. [Note: Rest of paragraph used for quote on page 99.4]  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. { 2SM 141.1} 

      m a n y    i n    t h e    c i t i e s    l o n g    f o r    l i g h t  &  t r u t h       

Original Quotation:   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. — Manuscript 35, 1906.  { Ev 27.4}  also found in  { 21MR 68.1 } 

Same as the Original Quotation:    The spiritual darkness that covers the whole earth today, is intensified in the crowded centers of population. It is in the cities of the nations that the gospel worker finds the greatest impenitence and the greatest need. In these same wicked cities there are presented to soul-winners some of the greatest opportunities. Mingled with the multitudes who have no thought of God and heaven, are many who long for light and for purity of heart. Even among the careless and indifferent, there are not a few whose attention may be arrested by a revelation of God’s love for the human soul. { RH April 7, 1910, par. 1 }

     e a r n e s t    e f f o r t     n e e d e d    i n   t h e    c i t i e s           

Original Quotation:   In preparation for the coming of our Lord, we are to do a large work in the great cities. We have a solemn testimony to bear in these great centers. But in our planning for the extension of the work, far more than the cities alone, must be comprehended. In out-of-the-way places are many, many families that need to be looked after in order to learn whether they understand the work that Jesus is doing for his people. Those in the highways are not to be neglected, neither are those in the hedges; and as we journey about from place to place, and pass by house after house, we should often inquire, “Have the people who are living in these places, heard the message? Has the truth of God’s Word been brought to their ears? Do they understand that the end of all things is at hand, and that the judgments of God are impending? Do they realize that every soul has been bought with an infinite price?” As I meditate upon these things my heart goes out in deep longing to see the truth carried in its simplicity to the homes of these people along the highways and places far removed from the crowded centers of population. We are not to wait for workers of the very highest talent to prepare the way and to show us how to labor; but, whether old or young, we have the privilege of understanding the truth as it is in Jesus, and as we see persons who are not in the possession of the comfort of God’s grace, it is our privilege to visit them, and acquaint them with God’s love for them and with his wonderful provision for the salvation of their souls. { PH113 5.3 } 

Original Quotation:    The warning message for this time is not being given earnestly in the great business world. Day after day the centers of commerce and trade are thronged with men and women who need the truth for this time, but who gain no saving knowledge of its precious principles, because earnest, persevering efforts are not put forth to reach this class of people where they are.  { CW 14.2}   

Same quotation also appears in 10MR:   The warning message for this time is not being given earnestly in the great business world. Day after day the centers of commerce and trade are thronged with men and women who need the truth for this time, but who gain no saving knowledge of its precious principles, because earnest, persevering efforts are not put forth to reach this class of people where they are. { 10MR 217.1 } 

Original Quotation:    A great work is before us,—the closing work of this world’s history. Solemn indeed is the time in which we are living, and heavy are the responsibilities resting upon us as a people. The third angel’s message is now to be proclaimed, not only in far-off lands, but in neglected places close by, where multitudes dwell unwarned and unsaved. Our cities everywhere are calling for earnest, whole-hearted labor from the servants of God. The message for this time is now to be proclaimed earnestly in the great business world. Day after day the centers of commerce and trade are thronged with men and women who need the truth for this time, but who gain no saving knowledge of its precious principles, because earnest, persevering efforts are not put forth to reach them where they are. { RH November 17, 1910, par. 3 }

          n o t    a l l    c a n    l e a v e    t h e    c i t i e s    y e t            

Original Quotation:     Whenever possible, it is the duty of parents to make homes in the country for their children.  { AH 141.1}   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.   { AH 141.3} 

Original Quotation:     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 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.—The Review and Herald, September 27, 1906. { 2SM 360.3} 

Original Quotation:  Our object in choosing this location, when we were establishing the first sanitarium for the Pacific Coast, was that we might be away from the confusion of the cities. 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 souls’ salvation. { 2SAT 289.4 } also Country Living, page 9

Original Quotation:   In our schools missionary nurses should receive lessons from well-qualified physicians, and as a part of their education should learn how to battle with disease and to show the value of nature’s remedies. This work is greatly needed. Cities and towns are steeped in sin and moral corruption, yet there are Lots in every Sodom. The poison of sin is at work at the heart of society, and God calls for reformers to stand in defense of the law which He has established to govern the physical system. They should at the same time maintain an elevated standard in the training of the mind and the culture of the heart, that the Great Physician may co-operate with the human helping hand in doing a work of mercy and necessity in the relief of suffering. { 6T 136.1} 

  s c h o o l s,    c h u r c h e s,    r e s t a u r a n t s    n e e d e d   in   cities           

Same as the Original Quotation:    Much more can be done to save and educate the children of those who at present cannot get away from the cities. This is a matter worthy of our best efforts. Church schools are to be established for the children in the cities, and in connection with these schools provision is to be made for the teaching of higher studies, where these are called for.  { CG 306.3}  Note:  CG published in 1954

Quotation from 1903 with more info:  Much more can be done to save and educate the children of those who at present cannot get away from the cities. This is a matter worthy of our best efforts. Church schools are to be established for the children in the cities, and in connection with these schools provision is to be made for the teaching of higher studies where these are called for. These schools can be managed in such a way, part joining to part, that they will be a complete whole. { 10MR 258.5 } 
Let us study the way of the Lord diligently, that we may discern His methods and plans. His wisdom is far reaching as eternity.—Manuscript 129, 1903, 1-7. (“How Shall Our Youth Be Trained?” October 28, 1903.) { 10MR 259.1 } 

Original Quotation:    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.—The General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903.  { 2SM 142.4} 

Same as Original Quotation:    Repeatedly the Lord has instructed us that we are to work the cities from outpost centers. In these cities we are to have houses of worship, as memorials for God; but institutions for the publication of our literature, for the healing of the sick, and for the training of workers, are to be established outside the cities. Especially is it important that our youth be shielded from the temptations of city life. { 2SM 358.3}  also  { CL 31.1} The next paragraph:   It is in harmony with this instruction, that meeting-houses have been purchased and rededicated in Washington and in Nashville, while the publishing houses and the sanitariums at these centers have been established away from the congested heart of the cities, as outpost centers. This is the plan that has been followed in the removal of other publishing houses and sanitariums into the country, and that is now being followed in Great Britain with regard to the London publishing house and also the training school there. We are now given opportunity to advance in the opening providences of God by Helping our brethren in these and many other important centers to establish the work on a firm basis, in order that it may be carried forward solidly.—Special Testimonies, Series B 08:7-8 (1907). { 2SM 358.4} 

   p r e c i p i t o u s    m o v e s    to   the    c o u n t r y    n o t   a d v i s e d         

Original Quotation:   Let everyone take time to consider carefully; and not be like the man in the parable who began to build, and was not able to finish. Not a move should be made but that movement and all that it portends are carefully considered—everything weighed.... To every man was given his work according to his several ability. Then let him not move hesitatingly, but firmly, and yet humbly trusting in God. { 2SM 362.1} 
There may be individuals who will make a rush to do something, and enter into some business they know nothing about. This God does not require. Think candidly, prayerfully, studying the Word with all carefulness and prayerfulness, with mind and heart awake to hear the voice of God.... To understand the will of God is a great thing.... { 2SM 362.2} 
I address words to the church at Battle Creek, to move in the counsels of God. There is need of your moving—many from Battle Creek—and there is also need of your having well-defined plans as to what you will do when you go out from Battle Creek. Do not go in a rush, without knowing what you are about.... O for generals, wise and considerate, well-balanced men, who will be safe advisers, who have some insight into human nature, who know how to direct and counsel in the fear of God. { 2SM 362.3} 

Let there be nothing done in a disorderly manner that there shall be a great loss or sacrifice made upon property because of ardent, impulsive speeches which stir up an enthusiasm which is not after the order of God, that a victory that was essential to be gained, shall, for lack of level-headed moderation and proper contemplation and sound principles and purposes, be turned into a defeat. Let there be wise generalship in this matter, and all move under the guidance of a wise, unseen Counselor, which is God. Elements that are human will struggle for the mastery, and there may be a work done that does not bear the signature of God. Now I plead with every soul to look not too strongly and confidently to human counselors, but look most earnestly to God, the One wise in counsel. Submit all your ways and your will to God’s ways and to God’s will.... { 2SM 363.1}  This paragraph was used in a quote about San Francisco see page 114.2 above.

     t h e    s i g n a l    f o r    f l i g h t    f r o m    c i t i e s           

Original Quotation:    It is no time now for God’s people to be fixing their affections or laying up their treasure in the world. The time is not far distant, when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the assumption of power on the part of our nation in the decree enforcing the papal sabbath will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave the large cities, (p. 465) preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired homes in secluded places among the mountains.  And now, instead of seeking expensive dwellings here, we should be preparing to move to a better country, even a heavenly. Instead of spending our means in self-gratification, we should be studying to economize. Every talent lent of God should be used to His glory in giving the warning to the world. God has a work for His colaborers to do in the cities. Our missions must be sustained; new missions must be opened. To carry forward this work successfully will require no small outlay. Houses of worship are needed, where the people may be invited to hear the truths for this time. For this very purpose, God has entrusted a capital to His stewards. Let not your property be tied up in worldly enterprises, so that this work shall be hindered. Get your means where you can handle it for the benefit of the cause of God. Send your treasures before you into heaven. { 5T 464.3} 

    s o m e    r i g h t e o u s    s t i l l   i n   t h e    c i t i e s  --   after   the  death   decress   has   been   passed               

Original Quotation:   In the time of trouble we all fled from the cities and villages, but were pursued by the wicked, who entered the houses of the saints with a sword. They raised the sword to kill us, but it broke, and fell as powerless as a straw. Then we all cried day and night for deliverance, and the cry came up before God. The sun came up, and the moon stood still. The streams ceased to flow. Dark, heavy clouds came up and clashed against each other. But there was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like many waters, which shook the heavens and the earth. The sky opened and shut and was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot and cast out stones upon the land. And as God spoke the day and the hour of Jesus’ coming and delivered the everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn. And at the end of every sentence the saints shouted, “Glory! Alleluia!” Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God; and they shone with the glory, as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked could not look on them for the glory. And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God in keeping His Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image. { EW 34.1} 

Original Quotation:    As the saints left the cities and villages, they were pursued by the wicked, who sought to slay them. But the swords that were raised to kill God’s people broke and fell as powerless as a straw. Angels of God shielded the saints. As they cried day and night for deliverance, their cry came up before the Lord. { EW 284.2} 

Original Quotation:    The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue their watch. Though a general decree has fixed the time when commandment keepers may be put to death, their enemies will in some cases anticipate the decree, and before the time specified, will endeavor to take their lives. But none can pass the mighty guardians stationed about every faithful soul. Some are assailed in their flight from the cities and villages; but the swords raised against them break and fall powerless as a straw. Others are defended by angels in the form of men of war. { GC 631.1} 

Original Quotation:  God calls for workmen. He wants those who have gained an experience in the cause to enter the work in America. He wants them to take up the work in New York and in other cities where iniquity prevails. He wants them to start the work in his fear. Just as soon as possible let schools be established and workers educated to do medical missionary work. This work is the right hand of the body. It is bound up with the ministry of the gospel. God lives and reigns, and he desires those who have opposed health reform, who have worked against it by their influence, by their actions, by their sarcastic remarks, to make a thorough change. Do not longer divorce yourselves from the medical missionary work. Dr. Kellogg has been driven almost to despair as he has sought for some way in which he could bring the truth more prominently before the world. Let every minister of the gospel heed the words of Paul: “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway.” God wants you to observe the strictest principles of temperance. He wants you to stand in a position of sacred nearness to him, where you can ask and he will hear, where you know that he will always be with you. { GCB April 10, 1901, par. 20 }