“Shortly before I sent out the testimonies regarding the efforts of the enemy [error] to undermine the foundation of our faith [truth] through the dissemination of seductive theories, I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept but little. . . . One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, ‘Iceberg just ahead!’ There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg [error]. An authoritative voice cried out, ‘Meet it!’ There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship [old landmarks] straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers [church] were violently shaken by the force of the collisions, but no lives were lost. The vessel [old landmarks] was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way. Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. . . ‘Meet it!’ Selected Messages, Book 1, 205, 206. “In the visions of the night I saw a large ship far out at sea. Suddenly the man on the lookout cried, ‘Iceberg ahead!’ Without hesitation the command rang out, ‘Meet it.’. . . After seeing this representation, I knew what work I must do. I knew that I must meet the errors that were coming in among us.” Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, 344.
Meet it—with the Old Landmarks
“We cannot afford to be deceived. We must point our people to the old landmarks. We are to obtain strength and courage from on high, that we may obey the command given me, ‘Meet it’” Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 384.
“The best way to deal with error is to present truth.” The Desire of Ages, 498.
Old Landmarks Established by God
“Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, Elder {Hiram} Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 206.
Visions Established our Fundamental Truths
“When they came to the point in their study where they said, ‘We can do nothing more,’ the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me. . . Ibid. The visions that the Lord has given me are so remarkable that we know that what we have accepted is the truth. This was demonstrated by the Holy Spirit. Light, precious light from God, established the main points of our faith as we hold them today.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, 53.
Holy Spirit Taught us What is Truth
“When the power of God testifies as to what is truth, that truth is to stand forever as the truth.. . . The truth for this time, God has given us as a foundation for our faith. He Himself has taught us what is truth. ” Counsels to Writers and Editors, 31. “The Holy Spirit, we know, was teaching and guiding us. . . . Very well do we know how every point of truth was established, and the seal set upon it by the Holy Spirit of God. ” Selected Messages, Book 2, 103.
Foundational Truths – SDA’s First 50 Years
“Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths that the Lord has been giving for the last fifty years?” Review and Herald, May 25, 1905. “The truths given us after the passing of the time in 1844 are just as certain and unchangeable as when the Lord gave them to us in answer to our urgent prayers.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 53. “. . .the foundation that was laid at the beginning of our work by prayerful study of the Word and by revelation? Upon this foundation we have been building for the past fifty years. Do you wonder that when I see the beginning of a work that would remove some of the pillars of our faith, I have something to say? I must obey the command, ‘Meet it!’ Selected Messages, Book 1, 207.
The Ship-of-Truth will go Through The Structure of Truth— SDA Waymarks
“The truths that have been substantiated by the manifest working of God are to stand fast. Let no one presume to move a pin or a foundation stone from the structure.” Manuscript Release, vol. 1, 55. “The truth is the same as it ever has been, and not a pin or a pillar can be moved from the structure of truth. That which was sought for out of the Word in 1844, 1845, and 1846 remains the truth in every particular.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 52. “Some of those who are newly come to the faith. . . reject the great waymarks which God Himself has established. Since their new light leads them to tear down the structure which the Lord has built up, we may know that He is not guiding them. The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 804.
Do Not Leave the Ship-of-Truth
“I know from the light that God has given me that there should be a revival of the messages that have been given in the past, . . . We must not move from the platform of truth on which we have been established.” The Upward Look, 199. “The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work . . . . We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. . . . There is need now to rehearse the experience of the men who acted a part in the establishment of our work at the beginning. Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 54. “Not one pin is to be removed from that which the Lord has established . . . Where shall we find safety unless it be in the truths that the Lord has been giving for the last fifty years?” The Review and Herald, May 25, 1905.
Denying the Old Landmarks
“In a vision of the night. . . I was shown a platform, braced by solid timbers—-the truths of the Word of God. Some one high in responsibility . . . was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, ‘Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God?’. . . The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. . . . The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure. Who has authority to begin such a movement? . . . I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met [iceberg]. Selected Messages, Book 1, 204, 205.
Ship of Error—Set Adrift
“Those who seek to remove the old landmarks . . . set the people of God adrift without an anchor. ” Ye Shall Receive Power, 235.
“At that time [1844] . . . The men whom God raised up were diligent searchers of the Scriptures. And those who today claim to have light, and who contradict the teaching of God’s ordained messengers, who were working under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, those who get up new theories, which remove the pillars of our faith, are not doing the will of God, but are bringing in fallacies of their own invention, which, if received, will cut the church away from the anchorage of truth, and set them drifting, drifting, to where they will receive any sophistries that may arise. ” Manuscript Releases, vol.4, 247.
“When once these deluded souls had departed from the old landmarks of faith, they had let go their anchor, and were tossed about like the waves of the sea..” Signs of the Times, March 27, 1884.
Shipwreck—Letting Go of the Old Landmarks
“I lately read of a noble ship that was plowing its way across the sea, when at midnight, with a terrific crash, it struck upon a rock; the passengers were awakened only to see with horror their hopeless condition, and with the ship they sank to rise no more. The man at the helm had mistaken the beacon light, and hundreds of souls were at a moment’s warning launched into eternity.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 128.
“You are in danger of failing to hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints, of making shipwreck of your faith.” Counsels on Health, 519.
“We have wandered away from the old landmarks. Let us return. If the Lord be God, serve Him;
if Baal, serve him. Which side will you be on?” Testimonies, vol. 5, 137.