A STORM IS COMING: WM 1030
A TEMPEST IS COMING
“The tempest is coming, and we must get ready for its fury by having repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. The Lord will arise to shake terribly the
earth. We shall see troubles on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the
depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by millions.
Fires will break out unexpectedly, and no human effort will be able to quench them. The
palaces of earth will be swept away in the fury of the flames. Disasters by rail will be
more and more frequent; confusion, collision, and death without a moment’s warning will
occur on the great lines of travel. The end is near, probation is closing. Oh, let us seek
God while he may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”—Messages to Young
People, 89-90.
The following message that Ellen White related in Loma Linda back in 1908 in
the presence of her secretary, (Sr. Mclnterfer) and Elder D. E. Robinson (the husband of
her granddaughter Ella White) and W. E. Ross, should be of profound interest to all
concerned, knowing that it is applicable to the time we are living in at the present time.
Here is the message as related by W. E. Ross:
“About 1908, with Sr. Mclnterfer (her Secretary and Brother D. E. Robinson (her
granddaughter’s husband) present, and myself Sister White told us that a terrible storm
of persecution was coming, like a windstorm that would blow down every standing
object. Not one Seventh-day Adventist was to be seen. They, like the disciples, all
forsook Christ and fled. All who had sought positions were never seen anymore. After
the storm there was a great calm. Then the Seventh-day Adventist’s arose like a flock of
sheep, but without shepherds. They all united in earnest prayer to God who answered by
helping them choose leaders of their number who had never sought positions. They
prayed most earnestly again for God’s Holy Spirit, which was poured upon them, making
them fully ready for service. They then unitedly went forth ‘as an army with banners’
fearlessly and fully to give the message to all the world.’ “—Related by W. E. Ross.
The brother who related this testimony said, “I was surprised and asked, whether
this refers to Loma Linda. Her answer that this vision refers to the entire denominational
Adventist people in all the world. “This startled me,” he said, “So that I did not dare ask
further questions.”
TWO LIVING WITNESSES
TO THE c.1908 STATEMENT BY WILL ROSS
The testimony of W. E. Ross was witnessed by various church members in the
Boulder, Colorado area many times. Below is given a written testimony of two of these
witnesses who heard Brother Ross relate this experience many times, and each time
without any variation.
The first of the two living witnesses that answered to the request of many letters
of inquiry concerning the statement by Brother Ross is as follows:
Loveland, Colo.
Nov. 4, 1980
“Your letter of inquiry concerning the statement of Brother Ross is at hand, and
will write you a few lines pertaining to it. Yes, I have been acquainted with him for years.
He attended the Boulder Seventh-day Adventist church, but passed away around 1945. I
have heard him make the statement many times, which I am enclosing for you. Brother
Elmer Johnson also heard him make the statement. He is still living north of Boulder.
“You can depend on this statement as coming from a reliable source, for Brother
Ross was visiting with Sister White many, many times. He told us many of his
experiences while visiting with her.
“What brother Ross mentions in this testimony, is a statement which Sister White
made while they were standing at the railroad depot waiting for the train, and then Will
Ross related it to us as nearly as he could recall the words from her mouth.
“Personally, I am looking for that ‘Storm’ that is mentioned in this statement by
Brother Ross, to begin very, very soon now. I think that it is closely related to the
Judgment of the Living time.
“For your convenience I have taken time to type just a few of the references out,
that I think are the same or related to this Will Ross Testimony. Please look them up and
place along with this ‘Storm’ that is coming.
“1). Mal..3:1-4; Zech. 13:7-9; 6 Testimonies, 195 . . . “Overflowing Scourge.”
“2). Matt. 3:12; 5 Testimonies 80; Testimonies to Ministers, 431; Early Writings,
49...”Overflowing Scourge.”
“3). Isa. 28:1-22; Ezek. 12:21-28;—”No further delay.”
“4). Ezek. 13:1-16 “Wall” goes down.
“5). 6 Testimonies, 401— “Storm.”
“6). 1 Testimonies, 190 - “Whetting His sword ...To cut them down.”
“7). Ezek. 9; 3 Testimonies, 226-227; 5 Testimonies 211-212; 7 Bible
Commentary, 911.
“To sum it up as I see it now, it is something like this: The Lord is going to send
trouble in the form of a ‘storm’ that is like a windstorm or whirlwind, perhaps an upset of
our government or uprising in some form which brings in real trouble for Seventh-day
Adventists. It will clean out the spurious from the genuine and separate the dross from
the gold in the church. In 7 Bible Commentaries, 911, it is called “A terrible ordeal.” Look
up that word in your dictionary, please. She goes on to say that it is necessary in order
to sepparate the chaff from the grain. Personally, I think that this pictures to us the
beginning of the ‘Judgment of the Living.’ Malachi 3:1-4 states that He ‘will suddenly
come to His temple ... and sits and refines.’ Christ came suddenly to His temple in the
fall of 1844, but that was to begin the Judgment of the dead. We must remember that
many, many Bible texts have a double application, or a secondary and primary applica
tion. The same must be remembered when we try to study out of the books of Daniel
and Revelation, or other Old Testament prophets. For an example just read slowly
Jeremiah 4:1-23; Isaiah 66:15-16: “Lord will come with fire ...whirlwind ... fire and sword
... plead ... standeth to Judge ... Judgment with the ancients of His people.”
This is all I have time for now, but I have given you these references to put with
the Will Ross statement so that you will have no question, but that it all fits into a picture
of the coming persecution which is created by the ‘storm’ which the Lord permits to
come in order to secure a pure, clean, people in Israel, that they may be entrusted with
the Latter Rain. For no Latter Rain will be poured out right now, for we have too many
who are only “chaff” and will blow away on the ‘wind’ that comes.
In Christian Love,
E. A. Rogers,
1115 West Sixth Street,
Loveland, Colo. 80573
Telephone: 303-663-0627
TESTIMONY BY ELMER M. JOHNSON
OF BOULDER, COLORADO
Elmer M. Johnson was also a personal friend of Will Ross who gave the
testimony in regard to “To a Coming Storm of Persecution” as it was related by Sister
White in the presence of three people mentioned in Loma Linda, California in 1908.
Elmer Johnson’s testimony is given below:
“Brother Will Ross (now deceased) was a personal friend of mine, and an
acquaintance of about 45 years. In our church fellowship we very frequently spent our
Sabbath afternoons discussing his experiences in the message, and his conversations
with Mrs. Ellen G. White.
STORY OF PERSECUTION COMING
“ ‘Sister White told us, as we three stood there on the railroad depot platform,
that a terrible storm of persecution was coming, just like a windstorm, that blew down
every standing object. There was not a Seventh-day Adventist to be seen. They, like the
disciples forsook Christ and fled. All who had sought positions were never seen any
more.
“ ‘After the storm there was a calm. Then the Adventists arose like a great flock
of sheep, but were without shepherds. They all united in earnest prayer for help and
wisdom, and the Lord answered by helping them choose leaders among them, who had
never sought positions before. They prayed earnestly for the aid of the Holy Spirit which
was poured out upon them making fully ready for service. They then went forth `fair as
the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners’ to give the message to
all the world.
“ ‘I was astonished, and asked if that applied to Loma Linda, as we were looking
that way. Sister White replied to my question by stating that it applied to the entire
denominational world. It so stunned me, that I did not ask any more questions.’- Will
Ross.
“In the year 1943, Elder D. E. Robinson, was visiting the churches of Colorado. I
was serving as the Elder on the platform that Sabbath when Elder Robinson visited and
spoke in, the Boulder, Seventh-day Adventist church, and having with him the large
Bible which Sister White held in her hand, and leafed through during one of her visions.
“At the close of the service, Brother Ross talked with Elder Robinson and asked
him if he still remembered when he and Elder Robinson, and Sister Mclnterfer were
standing on the depot platform visiting with Sister White, when she related to them about
the terrible windstorm of persecution that was coming upon the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. Elder Robinson replied. ‘Yes, Brother Ross, I do remember it.’
“So I documented this reply on January 15, 1946. Not wishing to forget this
important narration that was related to me by Brother Ross, I frequently discussed it with
him in later years, and his statements never varied.”
SIGNED:
Elmer M. Johnson
8660 N. 55th Street, Longmont, Colorado, 80501
Telephone 303-651-2263
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES TO LOOK UP
1) Stormy Times Before God’s People. 2 Selected Messages, 246; 1
Testomonies, 211; 5 Testimonies, 546; 9 Testimonies, 167.
2) Stormy Times Coming Rapidly upon God’s People 6 Testimonies 396.
3) Storms arising, will test everyone s spiritual foundation. 5 Testimonies 129.
4) Every man’s faith will be tried by coming storm. Evangelism, 361-2.
5) Storm of God’s wrath is gathering. Prophets and Kings, 278; Testimonies to
Ministers, 182.
6) Storm is coming relentless in its fury. Evangelism, 199; 8 Testimonies 315.
7) Why God leaves His people to encounter storm. Christian Service, 275
8) Peace after Storm. GC, 212.
9) Lessons from the Experience of Christ’s disciples in storm. 4 Testimonies,
430. 10)
GET READY FOR WHAT IS COMING UPON THE EARTH
BY ELLEN G. WHITE
“I saw that the remnant were not prepared for what is coming upon the earth.
Stupidity, like lethargy, seemed to hang upon the minds of most of those who profess to
believe that we are having the last message. My accompanying angel cried out with
awful solemnity, ’GET READY, GET READY, GET READY, for the fierce anger of the
Lord is soon to come. His wrath is to be poured out, unmixed with mercy, and ye are not
ready. Rend the heart, and not the garment. A great work must be done for the remnant.
Many of them are dwelling upon little trials.’
“Said the angel, ‘Legions of evil angels are around you, and are trying to press in
their awful darkness, that ye may be ensnared and taken. Ye suffer your minds to be
diverted too readily from the work of preparation and the all-important truths for these
last days. And ye dwell upon little trials and go into minute particulars of little difficulties
to explain them to the satisfaction of this one and that.’ Conversation has been
protracted for hours between the parties concerned, and not only has their time been
wasted, but the servants of God are held to listen to them, when the hearts of both
parties are unsubdued by grace. If pride and selfishness were laid aside, five minutes
would remove most difficulties. Angels have been grieved and God displeased by the
hours which have been spent in justifying self. I saw that God will not bow down and
listen to long justifications, and He does not want His servants to do so, and thus
precious time be wasted that should be spent in showing transgressors the error of their
ways and pulling souls out of the fire.
“I saw that God’s people are on the enchanted ground, and that some have lost
nearly all sense of the shortness of time and the worth of the soul. Pride has crept in
among Sabbath-keepers-pride of dress and appearance. Said the angel, ‘Sabbath
keepers will have to die to self, die to pride and love of approbation.’ ... Said the angel,
‘those who profess His name are not ready.’ I saw that the seven last plagues were
coming upon the shelterless heads of the wicked, and then those who have stood in
their way will hear the bitter reproaches of sinners, and their hearts will faint within
them”— EW 119-121.
COMING EVENTS IN THE HANDS OF THE LORD
“The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord. The Majesty of
heaven has the destiny of-nations, as well as the concerns of His church, in His own
charge.”— 5 Testimonies, 753-754.
“God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins
in His own hands.” —Testimonies to Ministers, 300.
THE LAST CRISIS
“We are living in the time of the end. The fast fulfilling signs of the times declare
that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and
important. The Spirit of God is gradually. but surely being withdrawn from the earth.
Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The
calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are
portentous. They forcast approaching events of great magnitude.
“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are
strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world,
and the final movements will be rapid ones.
“The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us.
The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future.”-9 Testi
monies, 11.
“Not all in this world have taken sides with the enemy against God. Not all have
become disloyal. There are a faithful few who are true to God: for John writes. ‘Here are
they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ Rev. 14:12. Soon the
battle will be waged fiercely between I those who serve God and those who serve Him
not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things o that can not
be shaken may remain.”—9 Testimonies 15-16.
THOSE WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE FAITH
OF JESUS
It is this very class of people that Brother W. E. Ross was telling about in the
vision that Ellen White had which she related to the three mentioned at the railroad
depot in Loma Linda. For it said: “They then united went forth ‘As an army with banners’
fearlessly and fully to give the message to all the world.’ “
Some twenty-five years before this time, Ellen White called the attention of the
Adventist people to a similar vision that she had which reads as follows:
“In the mighty sifting soon to take place we shall be better able to measure the
strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when The Lord will manifest that
His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor.
“The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and
confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There
will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who
have rendered supreme homage to ‘science falsely so called’ will not be the leaders
then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head
of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved
themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work
few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He
cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be
disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to
Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated-blaze upon
you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior that the pure brightness of a
genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven but
do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot
distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster.
“The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the
beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands
and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that
be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and
death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of
men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness
will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we had
admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne
away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who
assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness,
will appear in the shame of their own nakedness.
“When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when
multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be
revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. Those who have
been timid and self-distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth.
The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David-willing to do and dare. The
deeper the night for God’s people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass
the faithful; but, in the name of Jesus they will come off more than conquerors. Then will
the church of Christ appear ‘fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army
with banners.’ “-5 Testimonies 80’- 82. (Please read the entire chapter in 5 Testimonies
62-84).
MESSAGE TO THE LOMA LINDA PEOPLE
Some time ago, a mother who had gone to visit friends in St. Helena, California,
called up her daughter long distance in Loma Linda, telling her of a very unusual
experience that she heard about in St. Helena. She said “During our Sabbath school
Class this morning I heard a woman relate a very unusual experience that she had while
coming to church with another lady in the car with her. They saw two men walking down
the road with Bibles in their hand. So naturally they thought. these men must be on their
way to Sabbath-school, so we stopped to pick them up. They accepted the invitation and
got in the back seat of our car. As we were driving along, one of the two men leaned
forward and said “The Loma Linda people do not realize how close the coming of the
Lord is. They are not getting ready for the coming of the Lord.”
“In amazement we looked at each other. As I turned around to ask further
questions, the two men had disappeared out of our car. We were both convinced that it
must have been angels who delivered this message to us as a solemn warning for us to
get ready for the coming of our Lord.”
This incident should remind us of the ministry of angels. Just as God has wrought
through holy angels in the past in all ages for the deliverance of His people, just so it is
in our day. God is anxious for His people to get ready, so in His mercy He sends these
angels on their mission to warn us of the coming events that are to take place. I am
reminded of a statement given in the Great Controversy pages 631-632, which reads like
this:
MINISTRY OF THE ANGELS
“In all ages, God has wrought through holy angels for the succor and deliverance
of His people. Celestial beings have taken an active part in the affairs of men. They have
appeared clothed in garments that shone as the lightning; they have come as men in the
garb of wayfarers. Angels have appeared in human form to men of God. They have
rested, as if weary, under the oaks at noon. They have accepted the hospitalities of
human homes. They have acted as guides to benighted travelers.- They have, with their
own hands, kindled fires of the altar. They have opened prison doors, and set free the
servants of the Lord. Clothed with the panoply of heaven, they came to roll away the
stone from the Saviour’s tomb.
“In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the righteous, and they
visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to Sodom, to make a record of their
deeds, to determine whether they have passed the boundary of God’s forbearance. The
Lord delights in mercy; and for the sake of a few who really serve Him, He restrains
calamities, and prolongs the tranquility of multitudes. Little do sinners against God
realize that they are indebted for their own lives to the faithful few for whom they delight
to ridicule and oppress.”—Great Controversy 631 - 632.
NO PROTECTION OF HOLY ANGELS
WHILE LIVING IN NEGLECT OF KNOWN DUTY
“In His mission to Pharaoh, Moses was to be placed in a position of great peril;
his life could be preserved only through the protection of Holy angels. But while living in
neglect of a known duty, he would not be secure; for he could not be shielded by the
angels of God. .
“In the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, the righteous will be
preserved through the ministration of heavenly angels; but there will be no security for
the transgressor of God’s law. Angels cannot then protect those who are disregarding
one of the divine precepts.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, 256.
“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 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.’ . .
“The world, who act as though there were no God, absorbed in selfish pursuits,
will soon experience sudden destruction, and shall not escape. Many continue in the
careless gratification of self until they become so disgusted with life that they kill them
selves. Dancing and carousing, drinking and smoking, indulging their animal passions,
they go as an ox to the slaughter. Satan is working with all his art. and enchantments to
keep men marching blindly onward until the Lord arises out of His place to punish the
inhabitants of earth for their iniquities, when the earth shall disclose her blood and no
more cover her slain. The whole world appears to be in the march to death.” Manuscript
139, 1903.
“Men and women living in these cities are rapidly becoming more and still more
entangled in their business relations. They are acting wildly in the erection of buildings
whose towers reach high into the heavens. Their minds are filled with schemes and
ambitious devisings.” Manuscript 154, 1902.
“I am bidden to declare the message that the 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 a nothingness. .
“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. .
“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.
“While at Loma Linda, California, 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.
“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.
“The angel that stood by 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.
“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, p. 92. (1909)
“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. After a time I awoke and found myself at
home. “—Letter 278, 1906.
“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?
“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.
“0 that God’s people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of
cities, now almost given to idolatry. “—Review and Herald, September 10, 1903.
“As I consider the conditions in the cities that are so manifestly under the power
of Satan, I ask myself the question, What will be the end of these things? The
wickedness in many cities is increasing. Crime and iniquity are at work on every hand.
New species of idolatry are continually being introduced into society. In every nation the
minds of men are turning to the invention of some new thing. Rashness of deed and
confusion of mind are everywhere increasing. Surely the cities of the earth are becoming
like Sodom and Gomorrah.”—Review.
Jan. 25, 1912.
