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 Country Living

 

An Aid to Moral and Social Security

 

A Compilation From the Writings

of

Ellen G White

 

Review and Herald Publishing Association

Copyright 1946

The Ellen G White Publications

Printed in the USA

 

 

 

prepared by Maranatha Media

www.maranathamedia.com

[3]

 

 

 

THE ADVANTAGES OF COUNTRY LIVING HAVE BEEN REPEATEDLY STRESSED THROUGH THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY COUNSELS. THE GATHERING STORM CLOUDS SIGNALIZE THE APPROPRIATENESS OF RESOUNDING THE CALL TO LEAVE THE CITIES. IT MUST BE EVIDENT TO EVERY THOUGHTFUL SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST THAT CITY LIVING, WITH ITS CONGESTION, ALLUREMENTS, AND MOUNTING LABOR CONFLICTS, DOES NOT PROVIDE A WHOLESOME ENVIRONMENT FOR CHRISTIAN FAMILIES.

 

THROUGH THE YEARS THOUSANDS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS HAVE BEEN GUIDED IN THE CHOICE OF HOME ENVIRONMENTS AND IN THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO ORGANIZATIONS OF THE WORLD BY THE WIDELY PUBLISHED TESTIMONY COUNSELS ON THESE VITAL POINTS. AS THE OMENS OF THE IMPENDING CRISIS INDICATE THE SUBTLETY OF THE PERILS AND THE FURY OF THE CONFLICT BEFORE US, IT SEEMS FITTING TO REPUBLISH THIS COUNSEL IN SUCH FORM AS TO ARREST THE ATTENTION OF EVERY CHURCH MEMBER.

 

AND, CONSIDERING THE TIMES, IT IS IN PLACE, NOT ONLY TO REPEAT THE MORE FAMILIAR COUNSELS OF LONG PUBLICATION, BUT TO LEND FORCE TO THESE STATEMENTS BY PRESENTING WITH THEM THE MORE DETAILED INSTRUCTION PRINTED FROM TIME TO TIME IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD OR PENNED IN LETTERS OF COUNSEL ADDRESSED TO RESPONSIBLE WORKERS IN THE CAUSE OF GOD. SUCH ACTION IS IN FULL HARMONY WITH MRS. E. G. WHITE'S INSTRUCTION TO HER TRUSTEES IN PROVIDING "FOR THE PRINTING OF COMPILATIONS FROM MY MANUSCRIPTS," FOR THEY CONTAIN, AS SHE SAID, "INSTRUCTION THAT

THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME FOR HIS PEOPLE." THE YEAR OF WRITING OR OF FIRST PUBLICATION IS GIVEN WITH THE SOURCE REFERENCE OF EACH PASSAGE.

 

THE EARNEST APPEALS PRESENTED IN THIS PAMPHLET CALL FOR DECIDED ACTION, BUT SOLEMNLY WARN AGAINST PRESUMPTUOUS MOVES. WE WOULD DIRECT SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE CAUTIONS FOUND IN SECTION VII, "GUIDED BY GOD'S PROVIDENCES," APPEARING ON PAGES 24-28. THIS PAMPHLET IS NOW PLACED IN THE FIELD IN RESPONSE TO THE SETTLED CONVICTION OF THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH THAT THE TIME HAS COME TO REITERATE THE CRY, "OUT OF THE CITIES."

 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE PUBLICATIONS [4]

 

 

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

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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. . . .11 {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." Matthew

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 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, selfrespecting

labor; a life of simplicity; daily conflict with difficulty and hardship; selfsacrifice,

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-of-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 allround,

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 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

 

Some men have insight into matters, having ability to counsel. It is a gift of God. In

moments when the cause of God is in need of words, sound and solemn and solid, they

can speak words which will lead minds perplexed and in darkness, to see as a quick flash

of sunlight the course for them to pursue, which [question] has filled them with perplexity

and baffled their minds in study for weeks and months.

There is an unraveling, a clearing up of the path before them,

and the Lord has let His sunlight in, and they see their prayers are answered,

their way is made clear. But some rash advice may be given--only get out of Battle Creek,

notwithstanding there is nothing clearly defined as to what improvement they will make in spiritual advancement

for themselves or others in doing this. {CL 25.5}

 

Carefully Consider Every Move

 

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. {CL 26.1}

 

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.

{CL 26.2}

 

Well-Defined Plans Needed

 

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. {CL 26.3}

 

Danger Attends New Experience

 

I have seen that danger attends every new phase of experience in the church, because

some hear things with such a strong spirit. While some teachers may be strong and

efficient in teaching in the lines of Bible doctrines, they will not all be men who have a

knowledge of practical life, and can advise perplexed minds with surety and safety. They

do not discern the perplexing situation that must necessarily come to every family who

shall make a change. Therefore, let all be careful what they say; if they know not the

mind of God in some matters, let them never speak from a guess or suppose so.

If they know nothing definite, let them say so, and let the individual rely wholly upon God. Let there be much

praying done, and even with fasting, that not one shall move in darkness, but move in the

light as God is in the light. . . . {CL 26.4}

 

Move Guardedly

 

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. . . . {CL

27.1}

 

The Aftermath Of Rash Moves

 

Should some move hastily and fly out of Battle Creek, and be brought into

discouragement, they will reflect, not upon themselves for moving unadvisedly, but upon

others who, they will charge, brought a pressure to bear upon them. All their discomfiture

and defeat are charged back upon those who should not be reflected upon. . . . {CL 27.2}

 

Now, just now, is the time when the perils of the last days are thickening around us,

and we need wise men for counselors, not men who will feel it duty to stir up and create

disorder, but who cannot possibly give wise counsel and organize and arrange that every

stirring up shall bring order out of confusion, and rest and peace in obeying the Word of

the Lord. Let every man be found in his true place, to do some work for the Master,

according to his several ability. . . . {CL 27.3}

 

How shall this be done? "Take my yoke upon you," saith Jesus Christ, who hath

bought you with His own precious blood, whose servants and property you are, "and

learn of Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." If everyone will come to Jesus in a teachable spirit,

with contrition of heart, then he is in a condition of mind to be instructed and to learn of Jesus and obey His orders. . . . {CL 27.4}

 

Spread Every Plan Before God

 

We cannot have a weak faith now; we cannot be safe in a listless, indolent, slothful

attitude. Every jot of ability is to be used, and sharp, calm, deep thinking is to be done.

The wisdom of any human agent is not sufficient for the planning and devising in this

time. Spread every plan before God with fasting, [and] with the humbling of the soul

before the Lord Jesus, and commit thy ways unto the Lord. The sure promise is, He will

direct the paths. He is infinite in resources. The Holy One of Israel, who calls the host of

heaven by name, and holds the stars of heaven in position, has you individually in His

keeping.... {CL 28.1}

 

I would that all could realize what possibilities and probabilities there are for all who

make Christ their sufficiency and their trust. The life hid with Christ in God ever has a

refuge; he can say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." {CL

28.2}

 

I leave this matter with you; for I have been worried and troubled in regard to the

dangers that assail all in Battle Creek, lest they shall move indiscreetly and give the

enemy advantage. This need not be, for if we walk humbly with God, we shall walk

safely.--Letter 45, 1893. {CL 28.3}

 

Section VIII - Our Institutional Centers to Be Away From Congested Areas

 

Suitable Locations for Institutions

 

The instruction is still being given, Move out of the cities. Establish your sanitariums,

your schools, and offices away from the centers of population. Many now will plead to

remain in the cities, but the time will come erelong when all who wish to avoid the sights

and sounds of evil will move into the country; for wickedness and corruption will increase to such a degree

that the very atmosphere of the cities will seem to be polluted.--Letter 26, 1907. {CL 28.4}

 

To Avoid Temptation and Corruption

 

Some have wondered why our office of publication should be moved from Oakland to

Mountain View. God has been calling upon His people to leave the cities. The youth who

are connected with our institutions should not be exposed to the temptations and the

corruption to be found in the large cities. Mountain View has seemed to be a favorable

location for the printing office.--Manuscript 148, 1905. {CL 29.1}

 

Stormy Times Are Before Us

 

This disaster [the burning of the Review and Herald building] may make a decided

change in affairs. I hope that our brethren will heed the lesson that God is trying to teach

them, and that they will not rebuild the publishing house in Battle Creek. God means that

we shall not locate in the cities; for there are very stormy times before us.--Letter 2, 1903.

{CL 29.2}

 

Where the Youth May Be Taught Most Effectively

 

God has sent warning after warning that our schools and publishing houses and

sanitariums are to be established out of the city, in places where the youth may be taught

most effectively what is truth. Let no one attempt to use the Testimonies to vindicate the

establishment of large business interests in the cities. Do not make of no effect the light

that has been given upon this subject. {CL 29.3}

 

Men will arise speaking perverse things, to counterwork the very movements that the

Lord is leading His servants to make. But it is time that men and women reasoned from

cause to effect. It is too late, too late, to establish large business firms in the cities--too

late to call young men and women from the country to the city. Conditions are arising in

the cities that will make it very hard for those of our faith to remain in them. It would

therefore be a great mistake to invest money in the establishment of business interests in

the cities. --Manuscript 76, 1905. {CL 29.4}

 

Working the Cities From Outposts

 

As far as possible, our institutions should be located away from the cities. We must

have workers for these institutions, and if they are located in the city,

that means that families of our people must settle near them.

But it is not God's will that His people shall settle in the cities,

where there is constant turmoil and confusion. Their children should be spared this;

for the whole system is demoralized by the hurry and rush and noise.

The Lord desires His people to move into the country,

where they can settle on the land, and raise their own fruit and vegetables,

and where their children can be brought in direct contact with the works of God in nature. Take your

families away from the cities is my message. {CL 29.5}

 

The truth must be spoken, whether men will hear, or whether men will forbear. The

cities are filled with temptation. We should plan our work in such a way as to keep our

young people as far as possible from this contamination. {CL 30.1}

 

The cities are to be worked from outposts. Said the messenger of God, "Shall not the

cities be warned? Yes; not by God's people living in them, but by their visiting them, to

warn them of what is coming upon the earth."--Letter 182, 1902. {CL 30.2}

 

In Easy Access to the Cities

 

Let men of sound judgment be appointed, not to publish abroad their intentions, but to

search for such properties in the rural districts, in easy access to the cities, suitable for

small training schools for workers, and where facilities may also be provided for treating

the sick and weary souls who know not the truth. Look for such places just out from the

large cities, where suitable buildings may be secured, either as a gift from the owners, or

purchased at a reasonable price by the gifts of our people. Do not erect buildings in the

noisy cities.--Medical Ministry, pp. 308, 309. (1909) {CL 30.3}

 

Lessons From Enoch and Lot

 

As God's commandment-keeping people, we must leave the cities. As did Enoch, we

must work in the cities but not dwell in them.-- Evangelism, pp. 78, 79. (1899) {CL 30.4}

 

When iniquity abounds in a nation, there is always to be heard some voice giving

warning and instruction, as the voice of Lot was heard in Sodom. Yet Lot could have

preserved his family from many evils, had he not made his home in this wicked, polluted

city. All that Lot and his family did in Sodom could have been done by them, even if they

had lived in a place some distance away from the city. Enoch walked with God,

and yet he did not live in the midst of any city, polluted with every kind of violence and wickedness,

as did Lot in Sodom.--Evangelism, p. 79. (1903) {CL30.5}

 

Churches, but Not Institutions in the Cities

 

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. {CL 31.1}

 

It is in harmony with this instruction, that meetinghouses 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,

No. 8, pp. 7, 8. (1907) {CL 31.2}

 

We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in our efforts to secure country

properties at a low figure, and from these outpost centers we are to work the cities.--

Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 14, p. 7. (1902) {CL 31.3}

 

The Message Given by the Lord

 

"Out of the cities; out of the cities!''--this is the message the Lord has been giving me.

The earthquakes will come; the floods will come; and we are not to establish ourselves in

the wicked cities, where the enemy is served in every way, and where God is so often

forgotten. The Lord desires that we shall have clear spiritual eyesight. We must be quick

to discern the peril that would attend the establishment of institutions in these wicked

cities. We must make wise plans to warn the cities, and at the same time live where we

can shield our children and ourselves from the contaminating and demoralizing influences

so prevalent in these places.--Life Sketches, pp. 409, 410. (1906) {CL 31.4}

 

Section IX - Emergency Flight in Closing Conflict

 

The Signal for Fleeing

 

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, 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.-- Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 464, 465. (1885) {CL 32.1}