Children’s
Story for Spirit of Prophecy Sabbath, October 18, 2003
STEPHEN
SMITH AND THE UNREAD TESTIMONY
In
late October of 1851, 75 Advent believers, some even from out of state, crowded
into the Washington, New Hampshire, church. It had been only seven years since
the great 1844 disappointment, and those who had not lost faith in Jesus’
coming now set about to firmly establish the church. Some who had been deeply
upset by the disappointment criticized the leadersBespecially
James and Ellen White. Among them was Brother Stephen Smith. He spoke with a
poisonous tongue and did not hesitate to cut down the leaders with savage criticisms.
During
this 1851 meeting, Ellen White, who was there with her husband, received a vision
showing the spiritual state of the Washington church members. She told her vision
during the next meeting, and all those present received it as a message from
heaven and resolved to listen to its counsel. That is, all except two individuals
welcomed the message. One of these was Stephen Smith. He opposed the testimony
so bitterly that the church group finally dismissed him from their fellowship.
But
Stephen Smith really wanted to belong to the church, so the next year he was
received back into fellowship after he had an apparent change of heart and made
a deep confession. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. He joined any opposing
movement that came along and agreed with every new attempt to set a date for
Christ’s coming. All his strength was used to help the enemies of the
infant Adventist church.
But
God loved Stephen Smith, and He sent Ellen White’s love and to encourage
him to turn from his waywardness. With prayer and painstaking patience Ellen
White wrote out the vision at her home in Battle Creek, Michigan, and mailed
the letter to Brother Smith.
The
following week Smith went to the post office to pick up his mail. He received
a long, thick letter with Mrs. White’s name and address in the upper left-hand
corner. Hot blood rushed to his face.
“So,
she has written me a testimony now,” he muttered, glaring at the unwelcome
letter. “I’ll not read it!” Jamming the unopened envelope
into his coat pocket, he rushed home. Inside the house he spied a heavy trunk
in one corner. At once he knew what he would do with the letter. Raising the
lid, he reached inside and lifted the contents until he could feel the very
bottom of the trunk. Thrusting in the letter, he slammed down the lid. Then
Stephen Smith went his own way doing his own thing.
People
who knew him said that he had the most withering, blighting, blistering tongue
of any man in the neighborhood. The Whites weren’t the only ones to receive
Stephen Smith’s criticisms. His wife and children were often the objects
of his sharp, cutting remarks. The following years, which should have been the
best and happiest of his life, were full of anger and unhappiness. Twenty-seven
years passed. It was 1884. His hair had turned white. Lines of bitterness seamed
his face. His back had bent with the years.
One
day Stephen Smith picked up from his own parlor table a copy of the Review
and Herald. His wife had remained an Adventist and she had taught the children
to be faithful. It was she who had continued to subscribe to the Review.
As he opened the paper Stephen’s eyes fell on an article by Ellen White.
Hastily he read it. Thoughtfully he laid it down. “That’s the truth,”
he admitted to himself.
The
next week’s Review brought another Ellen G. White article. Again
he read it, and again he had to admit, “That’s God’s truth.”
From then on he watched for Mrs. White’s articles weekly, and read them.
His wife and children began to notice a change coming over him. His words were
softer, his comments less sarcastic. He began to wish that he could see James
and Ellen White again, but James had been dead for four years, and Ellen now
lived in Michigan.
The
next summer, 1885, Eugene Farnsworth returned to his home town of Washington,
New Hampshire, to hold revival meetings. News of the coming revival reached
Stephen Smith, by then living in Unity, twelve miles (19 km) north. He remembered
Eugene and wanted to hear him speak. So the old man journeyed south on Sabbath
morning to hear Elder Farnsworth preach. The sermon topic that morning was the
Seventh-day Adventist movement. Just as Elder Farnsworth finished speaking,
old Stephen Smith struggled to his feet and signaled a desire to speak. Eugene
hesitated. He wasn’t sure he wanted to allow this bitter, critical man
to spoil the church service.
Stephen
spoke up. “Don’t be afraid of me, Brethren,” he said. “I
haven’t come to criticize. I’ve quit that business. I’ve been
with many opposition groups over the years, and I see now that they have come
to nothing. No honest man can help seeing that God is with the Advent movement
and against us who have opposed it. I want to be in fellowship with this people
in heart and in the church.”
When
Stephen Smith returned home he began to think over his past life. On Thursday
of that week he remembered the letter at the bottom of the trunk. For the first
time in 28 years he wanted to know what was in that letter.
It
took a while to find the key, but when he unlocked the trunk, he reached clear
to the bottom and felt around. There it was, the yellowed envelope, still sealed
just as he had left it. Opening it, he slipped out the folded sheets and sat
down to read.
In
the letter he found an exact and accurate picture of what his life had been,
for he had not changed his ways nor had he returned to God. With terrible regret
he realized how different his life might have been had he read and accepted
that testimony earlier.
The
following Sabbath Stephen Smith again returned to Washington for church. As
soon as the sermon had ended, he rose to his feet to tell Elder Farnsworth and
the congregation about the sealed letter.
“Every
word of that testimony is true,” he declared. “I know now that all
the testimonies from Ellen White are true. If I had followed the testimony she
sent to me, my whole life would have been different. It would have saved me
a world of trouble. Instead, I dismissed her writings as ‘old woman’s
visions.’ I=m
too old now to undo what I’ve done, too feeble to get to our large meetings,
but I want you to tell our people everywhere that another rebel has surrendered.”
Stephen
Smith did not live many years after that, but until he died he believed in the
Advent message.
While
most of us do not have any personal testimony from Ellen White hidden in a sealed
letter at home, we do have the precious books she has written to help us. The
blessings and benefits of her writings will come only to those who read and
follow them.BAdapted
from The Spirit of Prophecy Emphasis Stories, vol. 2, pp. 168-170.