The Message of 1888 Re-examined Part III

 

1890 December 23 (Advent Review and Sabbath

Herald article, “Be Zealous and Repent ”)

The Lord has sent a message to arouse his people to

repent, and do their first works; but how has his

message been received? While some have heeded it,

others have cast contempt and reproach on the message

and the messenger. Spirituality deadened, humility and

childlike simplicity gone, a mechanical, formal

profession of faith has taken the place of love and

devotion. Is this mournful condition of things to

continue? is the lamp of Godʼs love to go out in

darkness? The Saviour calls; listen to his voice: “Be

zealous and repent.” Repent, confess your sins, and you

will be forgiven. “Turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye

die?” Why will you try to rekindle a mere fitful fire, and

walk in the sparks of your own kindling? (EGW 1888

Materials, p. 765)

 

1890 (Manuscript Light in God’s Word)

We have seen in our experience that when the Lord

sends rays of light from the open door of the sanctuary

to His people. Satan stirs up the minds of many. But the

end is not yet. There will be those who will resist the

light and crowd down those whom God has made His

channels to communicate light. Spiritual things are not

spiritually discerned. The watchmen have not kept pace

with the opening providence of God, and the real

heaven-sent message and messengers are scorned.

(EGW 1888 Materials, p. 831)

 

1891 January 6 (to U. Smith)

Dear Brother Smith,— Since your visit and our

conversation I decided to place this in your hands to

read yourself, and if necessary I may read it before a

select number. I have a copy of the same. After I was so

greatly burdened the Tuesday night, the same night I

returned from Washington, I felt that I must trace upon

paper my true feelings and the things which the Lord

revealed to me. You may desire to know these things.

When you visited me yesterday Jan. 5 and proposed

such a meeting to take place I was glad because I

thought that will result in good. But when you stated

that you had not had feelings against Eld. Waggoner,

and Eld. A.T. Jones, I was surprised. Perhaps you

thought thus, but how could you think thus, is a mystery

to me. The feelings cherished by yourself and Elder

Butler were not only despising the message, but the

messengers. But the blindness of mind has come by

warring against the light which the Lord designed to

come to his people. (EGW 1888 Materials, p. 846)

1891 March 24 (Article Our Present Dangers)

In the revival work that has been going forward

here during the past winter we have seen no fanaticism.

But I will tell you what I have seen. I have seen men

who were so lifted up in themselves, and so stubborn,

that their hearts were enshrouded in darkness. All the

light that Heaven graciously sent them is interpreted to

be darkness. When the enemy presents a device of his

own, some are ready to accept that; but they have been

so very cautious that they would not receive the light

which would have made them wise unto salvation. The

mission of Godʼs servants was to open their eyes, to

turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of

Satan to God. The bright beams of the Sun of

Righteousness, if received, would have illuminated the

soul- temple, and driven out the buyers and sellers, the

pride of opinion and the lust of the flesh. But there are

some who have criticised and depreciated, and even

stooped to ridicule, the messengers through whom the

Lord has wrought in power. (EGW 1888 Materials, p.

904)

 

1891 March (Article read at Gen. Conf. of 1891)

In the fear and love of God I tell those before whom

I stand to-day that there is increased light for us, and

that great blessings come with the reception of this light.

And when I see my brethren stirred with anger against

Godʼs messages and messengers, I think of similar

scenes in the life of Christ and the reformers. The

reception given to Godʼs servants in past ages is the

same as the reception that those to-day receive through

whom God is sending precious rays of light. The leaders

of the people to-day pursue the same course of action

that the Jews pursued. They criticize and ply question

after question, and refuse to admit evidence, treating the

light sent them in the very same way that the Jews

treated the light Christ brought them. (EGW 1888

Materials, p. 911)

 

The Lord has been calling his people. In a most

marked manner he has revealed his divine presence. But

the message and the messengers have not been

received but despised. I longed that those who have

greatly needed the message of divine love would hear

Christʼs knock at the door of the heart, and let the

heavenly guest enter. But at the hearts of some Jesus has

knocked in vain. In rejecting the message given at

Minneapolis, men committed sin. They have committed

far greater sin by retaining for years the same hatred

against Godʼs messengers, by rejecting the truth that

the Holy Spirit has been urging home. By making light

of the message given, they are making light of the word

of God. Every appeal rejected, every entreated

unheeded, furthers the work of heart-hardening, and

places them in the seat of the scornful. (EGW 1888

Materials, p. 913)

 

1891 March (pamphlet Danger in Adopting

Worldly Policy in the Work of God)

In a vision given in 1880 I asked. “Where is the

security for the people of God in these days of peril?”

The answer was, “Jesus maketh intercession for his

people, though Satan standeth at his right hand to resist

him.” “And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke

thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen

Jerusalem, rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out

of the fire” As manʼs Intercessor and Advocate, Jesus

will lead all who are willing to be led, saying. “Follow

me upward, step by step, where the clear light of the

Sun of Righteousness shines.”

But not all are following the light. Some are moving

away from the safe path, which at every step is a path of

humility. God has committed to his servants a message

for this time; but this message does not in every

particular coincide with the ideas of all the leading men,

and some criticize the message and the messengers.

They dare even to reject the words of reproof sent to

them from God through his Holy Spirit.

What reserve power has the Lord with which to

reach those who have cast aside his warnings and

reproofs, and have accredited the testimonies of the

Spirit of God to no higher source than human wisdom?

In the Judgment, what can you who have done this,

offer to God as an excuse for turning from the evidences

he has given you that God was in the work? “By their

fruits ye shall know them.” I would not now rehearse

before you the evidences given in the past two years of

the dealings of God by his chosen servants; but the

present evidence of his working is revealed to you, and

you are now under obligation to believe. You cannot

neglect Godʼs messages of warning, you cannot reject

them or treat them lightly, but at the peril of infinite

loss. Caviling, ridicule, and misrepresentation can be

indulged in only at the expense of the debasement of

your own souls. The use of such weapons does not gain

precious victories for you, but rather cheapens the mind,

and separates the soul from God. Sacred things are

brought down to the level of the common, and a

condition of things is created that pleases the prince of

darkness, and grieves away the Spirit of God. Caviling

and criticism leave the soul as devoid of the dew of

grace as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of rain.

Confidence cannot be placed in the judgment of those

who indulge in ridicule and misrepresentation. No

weight can be attached to their advice or resolutions.

You must bear the divine credentials before you make

decided movements to shape the working of Godʼs

cause.

To accuse and criticize those whom God is using, is

to accuse and criticize the Lord, who has sent them. All

need to cultivate their religious faculties, that they may

have a right discernment of religious things. Some have

failed to distinguish between pure gold and mere glitter,

between the substance and the shadow.

The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at

Minneapolis are not dead by any means; the seeds sown

there in some hearts are ready to spring into life and

bear a like harvest. The tops have been cut down, but

the roots have never been eradicated, and they still bear

their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the

perceptions, and blind the understanding of those with

whom you connect, in regard to the message and the

messengers. When by thorough confession, you destroy

the root of bitterness, you will see light in Godʼs light.

Without this thorough work you will never clear your

souls. You need to study the word of God with a

purpose, not to confirm your own ideas, but to bring

them to be trimmed, to be condemned or approved, as

they are or are not in harmony with the word of God.

The Bible should be your constant companion. You

should study the Testimonies, not to pick out certain

sentences to use as you see fit, to strengthen your

assertions, while you disregard the plainest statements

given to correct your course of action. (EGW 1888

Materials, p. 953-955)

 

1892 April 15 (to J. H. Kellogg)

The many cautions that in the loving kindness of

the Lord have been sent to you lead me to write you

now in this matter. Be careful how you take a position

against Elder Waggoner. Have you not the best of

evidence that the Lord has been communicating light

through him? I have, and the people where he has

labored have been greatly blessed under his labors.

(EGW 1888 Materials, p. 977)

 

1892 July 26 (Advent Review and Sabbath Herald

article, “Search the Scriptures”)

The rebuke of the Lord will be upon those who

would be guardians of the doctrine, who would bar the

way that greater light shall not come to the people. A

great work is to be done, and God sees that our leading

men have need of greater light, that they may unite with

the messengers whom he shall send harmoniously to

accomplish the work that he designs they should. The

 

Lord has raised up messengers and endued them with

his Spirit, and has said, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy

voice like a trumpet, and show my people their

transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Let no

one run the risk of interposing himself between the

people and the message of heaven. The message of

God will come to the people; and if there were no voice

among men to give it, the very stones would cry out. I

call upon every minister to seek the Lord, to put away

pride, to put away strife after supremacy, and humble

the heart before God. It is the coldness of heart, the

unbelief of those who ought to have faith, that keeps the

churches in feebleness. (EGW 1888 Materials, p. 992)

1892 August 30 (to U. Smith)

The first thing recorded in Scripture history after

the fall was the persecution of Abel. And the last thing

in Scripture prophecy is the persecution against those

who refuse to receive the mark of the beast. We should

be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest

degree the spirit of persecution against those who are

bearing the message of God to the world. This is the

most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has

manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis

meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing,

with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it.

(EGW 1888 Materials, p. 1013)

1892 September 1 (to O. A. Olsen)

Ministers are sent, as was John, to bear witness of

that Light. The office of the messenger sent of God is

not to draw the sympathies of the people to himself, but

to direct the affections and sympathies away from

himself, to center them upon Christ. The burden of his

message should be,

“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin

of the world.” Christ “was in the world, and the world

was made by Him”; but the world had sunk to such

terrible depths of unbelief that when its own Creator

came to it, it knew Him not. “He came unto His own,

and His own received Him not. But as many as received

Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of

God, even to them that believe on His name: which

were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor

of the will of man, but of God.” This grace is not

inherited.

I wish that all would see that the very same spirit

which refused to accept Christ, the Light that would

dispel the moral darkness, is far from being extinct in

this age of the world. There are those in our day who are

no more ready to recognize and acknowledge light than

were the people when the prophets and the apostles

came with messages from God, and many rejected the

message and despised the messenger. Let us beware

that this spirit is not entertained by any one of us. [Rev.

2:1-5, quoted.] (EGW 1888 Materials, p. 1018, 1019)

Why do not brethren of like precious faith consider

that in every age, when the Lord has sent a special

message to the people, all the powers of the

confederacy of evil have set at work to prevent the word

of truth from coming to those who should receive it?

If Satan can impress the mind and stir up the

passions of those who claim to believe the truth, and

thus lead them to unite with the forces of evil, he is well

pleased. If once he can get them to commit themselves

on the wrong side, he has laid his plans to lead them on

a long journey. Through his deceptive wiles he will

cause them to act upon the same principles he adopted

in his disaffection in heaven. They take step after step in

the false way, until there seems to be no other course for

them except to go on, believing they are right in their

bitterness of feeling toward their brethren. Will the

Lordʼs messenger bear the pressure brought against

him? If so, it is because God bids him stand in his

strength and vindicate the truth that he is sent of God.

When men listen to the Lordʼs message, but through

temptation allow prejudice to bar the mind and heart

against the reception of truth, the enemy has power to

present the most precious things in a distorted light.

Looking through the medium of prejudice and passion,

 

they feel too indignant to search the Scriptures in a

Christlike spirit, but repudiate the whole matter because

points are presented that are not in accordance with their

own ideas.

When a new view is presented, the question is often

asked, “Who are its advocates? What is the position of

influence of the one who would teach us who have been

students of the Bible for many years?” God will send

His words of warning by whom He will send. And the

question to be settled is not what person is it who brings

the message; this does not in any way affect the word

spoken. “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

Truth is often preached by one who has not

experienced its power; but it is truth nevertheless, and is

blessed to those who, drawn by the Spirit of God, accept

1. But when the truth is presented by one who is himself

sanctified through it, it has a freshness, a force, that

gives it a convicting power to the hearer. The truth, in

its power upon the heart, is precious, and the truth

addressed to the understanding is clear. Both are

needful—the word and the inward testimony of the

Spirit.

In regard to the testimony that has come to us

through the Lordʼs messengers, we can say, We know

in whom we have believed. We know that Christ is our

righteousness, not alone because He is so described in

the Bible, but because we have felt His transforming

power in our own hearts. (EGW 1888 Materials, p.

1022-1024)

 

Should the Lordʼs messengers, after standing

manfully for the truth for a time, fall under temptation,

and dishonor Him who has given them their work, will

that be proof that the message is not true? No, because

the Bible is true. “To the law and to the testimony; if

they speak not according to this word, it is because there

is no light in them.” Sin on the part of the messenger of

God would cause Satan to rejoice, and those who have

rejected the messenger and the message would

triumph; but it would not at all clear the men who were

guilty of rejecting the message of truth sent of God.

(EGW 1888 Materials, p. 1025)

 

1892 September 2 (to A. T. Jones)

Elder Jones, walk carefully before God. “Ye are a

spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.” Be

careful not to present in the paper views which you

know will clash with Elder Smith; for he feels that he is

in authority to control the articles which appear in the

REVIEW; but if he makes an attempt to close the door

that light shall not come to the people, then, sad as it

may be, the Lord will remove him. But the Lord loves

Brother Smith, and be careful that no occasion shall be

given, by publishing articles that he has not seen. If after

he sees the articles and publishes them without seeing

and speaking with the author of the article, then he has

no right to put in the paper an opposite view; for he

hurts the cause of God. This is no time for dissension;

press together; seek to be a unit. There should be a

breaking down of icy reserve and a mutual confidence

and freedom exercised. Each must guard his words.

Avoid all impressions which savor of extremes; for

those who are watching for a chance will seize hold of

any words strongly expressed to justify them in their

feelings of calling you an extremist.

The crisis is just before us. The fierce conflict of

mind with mind, of principle with principle, of truth

with error, which is fast approaching, and which has

already begun, calls for constant vigilance. This world is

the great field where the last battle is to be fought. Now

every man who is on the Lordʼs side will come up to the

battle of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the

mighty, and the walls of antichrist shall fall before the

Captain of the Lordʼs host. Then let not the chosen of

God be found in opposition to the messengers and

messages He sends; but let the ability and tact of every

soul, by all Scriptural and holy means, be employed to

give greater efficiency and strength in the aggressive

warfare—not against brethren, not against the Lordʼs

anointed—but against the Satanic agencies that they

must meet.

The Lord will speak through His messengers. They

are only the human instrumentalities, possessing no

grace or loveliness of their own, and are powerful and

efficacious only as God, the eternal Spirit, shall work

upon human hearts. The treasure of the everlasting

gospel is in earthen vessels. Paul may plant, and

Apollos may water, and this is the extent of their ability:

God only giveth the increase. There must be no

dishonoring of God, no grieving of His Holy Spirit, by

casting dishonor or reflection upon God, who selects

His messengers to bear a message to the world, by

refusing the message of Godʼs words from the lips of

any of His servants, by whom He may send it. Many

souls rob themselves of great blessings, and Christ of

glory which should redound to Him; because they do

not take heed to this, there is confusion, and defection,

and weakness. (EGW 1888 Materials, p. 1037-1039)

 

1892 September 19 (to Uriah Smith)

Some have made confession, yourself among the

number. Others have made no confession, for they were

too proud to do this, and they have not come to the light.

They were moved at the meeting by another spirit, and

they knew not that God had sent these young men,

Elders Jones and Waggoner, to bear a special message

to them. (EGW 1888 Materials, p. 1043)

 

It is quite possible that Elder Jones or Waggoner

may be overthrown by the temptations of the enemy;

but if they should be, this would not prove that they had

had no message from God, or that the work that they

had done was all a mistake. But should this happen, how

many would take this position, and enter into a fatal

delusion because they are not under the control of the

Spirit of God. They walk in the sparks of their own

kindling, and cannot distinguish between the fire they

have kindled and the light which God has given, and

they walk in blindness as did the Jews. (EGW 1888

Materials, p. 1044, 1045)

 

Oh, that self may be subdued in each one of us who

profess to believe in Jesus! Oh, that pride may be laid in

the dust! Oh, that we may more fully reflect the image

of Jesus! As never before we should pray not only that

laborers may be sent forth into the great harvest field,

but that we may have a clear conception of truth, so that

when the messengers of truth shall come we may

accept the message and respect the messenger. Oh, that

darkness may not settle upon any soul, but that the

illuminating Spirit of Christ shall fall upon His people.

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and the glory

of our Redeemer is His character; this we must behold

with spiritual vision. I would pray as did the apostle,

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of

glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and

revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your

understanding being enlightened; that ye may know

what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of

the glory of His inheritance in the saints” [Eph. 1:17,

18].

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing,

because, when ye received the word of God which ye

heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as

it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually

worketh also in you that believe” [1 Thess. 2:13]. The

word of God cannot work effectually in the heart when

it is barred out by unbelief. The message which the

messengers have been proclaiming is the message to

the Laodicean church. [Rev. 3:14-20, quoted.]

This message has not had the influence that it should

have had upon the mind and heart of the believers. The

true state of the church is to be presented before men,

and they are to receive the word of God not as

something originating with men, but as the word of

God. Many have treated the message to the Laodiceans

as it has come to them, as the word of man. Both

message and messenger have been held in doubt by

those who should have been the first to discern and act

upon it as the word of God. Had they received the word

of God sent to them, they would not now be in darkness.

“For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for

you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have

not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be

comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all

riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the

acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and the Father,

and of Christ” [Col. 2:1, 2]. (EGW 1888 Materials, p.

1050, 1051)

Those who name the name of Christ should adopt

Christian maxims. They should fear to ridicule the

message or the messenger. Let no man say that this

conversation is in heaven, while he is manifestly

groveling in the dust, and his thoughts and feelings are

as far separated from God as the east from the west. The

true Christian will fear to make light of Godʼs message,

lest he may lay a stumbling block in the way of a soul

who may see and imitate his example.

The church of God is to shine as a light to the world,

but Jesus is the illuminator, and He is represented as

moving among His people. No one shines by his own

light. The Lord God almighty and the Lamb are the

lights thereof. The message given us by A. T. Jones,

and E. J. Waggoner is the message of God to the

Laodicean church, and woe be unto anyone who

professes to believe the truth and yet does not reflect to

others the God-given rays. Elder Smith, had you been

unprejudiced, had not reports affected you and led you

to bar your heart against the entrance of what these men

presented; had you, like the noble Bereans, searched the

Scriptures to see if their testimony agreed with its

instruction, you would have stood upon vantage ground,

and been far advanced in Christian experience. If you

had received the truth into a good and honest heart, you

would have become a living channel of light, with clear

perception and sanctified imagination. Your conceptions

of truth would have been exalted, and your heart made

joyful in God. God would have given you a testimony

clear, powerful, and convincing. But the first position

you took in regard to the message and the messenger,

has been a continual snare to you and a stumbling block.

EGW Materials p.1052

The Message of 1888 Re-examined Part III